Lessons
WW Stables offers a variety of services for our customers and their horses; Horse boarding, Riding lessons, Horse Training and Horsemanship Camps.
We have beautiful trails leading thru the Assiniboine Forest for the recreational rider and we also accommodate the competitive rider.
Wendy is a EC Certified Coach and Judge, available to help you polish your horsemanship and showmanship skills. We welcome horse enthusiasts of all disciplines. WW Stables specializes in a variety of Western and English disciplines, including Reining, Western Pleasure, Western Horsemanship, Trail and English Flat Classes.
WW Stables is a year-round facility designed for the horse enthusiast. You will ride in comfort as you work towards achieving your goals.
Reining — What Is Reining?
Reining is a judged event designed to show the athletic ability of a ranch type horse within the confines of a show arena. In NRHA competition, contestants are required to run one of ten approved patterns, included in the NRHA Handbook.
Each pattern includes small slow circles, large fast circles, flying lead changes, roll backs over the hocks, 360 degree spins done in place, and exciting sliding stops that are the hallmark of the reining horse.
The NRHA Judging System is recognized as the leading format for judging an equine event that combines technical and stylistic elements coupled with consideration of “degree of difficulty”. Many equine disciplines have openly embraced the NRHA Judging System.
Western Pleasure — What is Western Pleasure?
The basic idea is to show a horse that is a pleasure to ride, The horse should show behavior and moves that would assure a pleasurable ride if one were to go from A to B, or just take a leisure ride across country. Competitors show their horses on a reasonably loose rein for the relaxed “pleasure to ride” appearance.
The Western Pleasure class is a judged class, where competitors are judged concurrently with the other competitors entered in the class. Each horse enters the ring and is judged on the rail at the walk, jog, extended jog (sometimes), and lope in both directions.
Western Horsemanship - What is Western Horsemanship?
The western horsemanship class is designed to evaluate the rider’s ability to execute, in concert with their horse, a set of maneuvers prescribed by the judge with precision and smoothness while exhibiting poise and confidence, and maintaining a balanced, functional and fundamentally correct body position
Essentially, the skill of the rider is tested, as well as the degree of training of his or her horse. Basically, what counts is how well the two work together, how harmonious their concerted performance is. This is a class only for Amateurs and Youth contestants. The judge designs a pattern which the participants must perform.
The correct execution of the pattern is evaluated, in correlation to the rider’s seat, posture and position. How the maneuvers flow, with accuracy, finesse and harmony between rider and horse are being judged, with cues looking almost invisible.
Trail - What is Trail?
Trail was designed to confront a horse with obstacles and tasks likely to be encountered when trail riding, such as: opening a gate, riding through it and closing it, riding over a bridge, riding through water, negotiating over poles, etc.
However, today’s, trail horse is finely-tuned to the rider’s cues, and move away from the rider’s legs to side pass, etc. Judges want to see a horse that displays brains and skill, the capability to negotiate on his own the obstacles of the western trail class.
Negotiating the trail course faultlessly is only one aspect when showing in trail. The judge will also look for a horse that does it in style. Given a horse that did not make any mistakes like touching a pole, showing reluctance to, say, cross a bridge, etc. but appears not to take any particular interest in the task at hand, will lose to another one that is just as correct, but shows attentiveness, displays an interest in the obstacles, points his ears and appears to study the obstacles and to competently pick his own way through the course of the western trail class.
English- What are English Flat Classes?
English “flat” classes are classes in which the horse is judged on its performance, manners and movement without having to jump. There are several Flat Classes including; English Pleasure, Hunter Under Saddle, Road Hack and English Equitation.
The most important thing an English horse can have is manners! He needs to be willing, obedient, and sound. He should pick up his correct leads when you ask for them and be able to travel in a straight line down the rail.
The horse is shown at extended, regular and collected versions of the walk, trot and canter, as well as performing a hand gallop, halt and the rein back. Particular emphasis is placed on gait transitions and obedience. While fluid, smooth gaits are always desired.
