American Quarter Horse Association Professional Horseman Gil Galyean, of Purcell, Oklahoma talked Western Pleasure Thursday afternoon in a Nutrena Ride the Pattern clinic at the World Championship Show now underway in Oklahoma City.

Galyean, who was recently honored as the first exhibitor to reach the National Snaffle Bit Association’s $1 million mark in earnings, told the audience that improvements in breeding are the driving force behind the changes in the pleasure industry.

“The pleasure industry has changed so much over the years and the key factor is the breeding,” he says. “Back when I started showing they use to breed just about anything and the biggest concern was if you picked up the correct lead in a pleasure class.”

Galyean says the now breeders are focusing on three things:

• Conformation
• Movement
• Mind/Temperament

“When I’m looking at a Western Pleasure prospect there are several questions I ask,” he explains.

• Does it look like a pleasure to ride?
• Does it enjoy it’s job
• Is it easy to ride?
• Does it have self carriage?

“In every Western Pleasure class there are three gears every horse is asked to perform,” Galyean told the audience. “In the first gear, or walk, the horse needs to look comfortable and move forward. In the second gear, or jog, there must have cadence and the diagonals have to match at every step. In the third gear, or lope, horses must drive from behind and can not use their head and neck to balance themselves.

Galyean admitted his biggest pet peeve is watching a horse in a Western Pleasure class that appears as if it is going to break gait because the rider has it so shut down that it is not being allowed to complete its stride.

Galyean said in a Western Pleasure class the judge is looking for a horse that has flow at the walk, jog and lope.

“Western Pleasure is not judged on who can go the slowest,” he insists. “It’s judged on movement. “Never shut one down and sacrifice its movement just to stay behind another horse. On or off the rail you always want to show your horse in a pace where it looks comfortable.”

The Nutrena Ride the Pattern clinics are taught by AQHA Professional Horsemen and are free to the public at the World Show. Donations are accepted to benefit the Professional Horsemen’s Crisis Fund. The crisis fund helps professionals in times of need, arising from sudden and demonstrable hardship or disaster of a severe and unexpected nature or from serious physical illness. On Sunday, Nov. 15 Brad Kerns will conduct a clinic on Showmanship, starting at 3 p.m., in Barn 8. Then at 4 p.m. Texas trainer Bruce Walquist will focus on Horsemanship in his clinic. On Monday, Nov. 16 clinics get started with Trail, presented by Tami McAllister and Tim “the Trail man” Kimura at 5 p.m., in the Performance Arena. Meanwhile, over in Barn 8, Chele McGauley will address Ranch Riding in her clinic, also starting at 5 p.m.

More than 4,760 entries from the United States, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Germany and Switzerland are competing for 99 World Championships and 79 Level 2 honors.

Several new Amateur World Champions have already been crowned including:

• Hunter Hack and Level 3 Working Hunter– Doyou Have Themagic and Hannah Bedweel, Ball Ground, Georgia
• Amateur Jumping – Navier Stokes and Raymond Coutley, Lexington Park, Maryland

Several Open World Champions have also already been named, including:

• Senior Hunter Hack – Go Big Sky, Linda Crothers for Rodger Call, Fort Worth, Texas.
• Junior Hunter Under Saddle (Level 3) – Not Just Anyhoo, Beth Case for Rebecca Kazakevicius, Ocala, Florida.
• Jumping – Elegant Dimensions, Megan O’Brien for Meredith Van Benthuysen, Azle, Texas.
• Junior Hunter Hack – What I Know Now, Lanie Deboer for Margaret Roth, Forest Lake, Minnesota.
• Junior Pleasure Driving – Must Be A Hot One, Brian Holmes for Lori Walker, Rhome, Texas.
• Senior Hunter Under Saddle (Level 3) – Willy Has Potential, Beth Case for Shelby Ratliff, Lewisville, Texas.
• Junior Working Hunter (Level 3) – The Fire Escape, David Miller for Lauren Rodberg, Dana Point, California.

Progressive Working Hunter – Thumbs Debut, Cindy Hale for Sydney Shafer, Garden City, Kansas.

• Senior Working Hunter (Level 3) – Go Big Sky, Linda Crothers for Rodger Call, Fort Worth, Texas.
• Performance Halter Geldings (Level 3) – Mytesly, Ted Turner for Gerald Fleisner, Carthage, Missouri.
• Performance Halter Mares – Most Appealing Dream, Ross Roark for Randy Alderson, Sharpsville, Indiana.
• Performance Halter Stallions – Hez Unstoppable, Ted Turner for Ellen Jost, Janesville, Wisconsin.

Junior Western Riding (Level 3) – Snap Krackle Pop, Blake Weiss for Twylla Brown, Perry, Missouri.

• Senior Western Pleasure (Level 3) – Only A Breeze, Rusty Green for Capital Quarter Horses LLC, Pilot Point, Texas.

Competition continues through Nov. 21. For more information on this year’s World Show, including complete results visit: https://www.aqha.com/shows/world-show/

For candids from the show, courtesy of Brad Borton, click here: