Riding a Station Horse Pattern with Felicity Green

This article is from the December 2019 Horse Deals magazine.

South Australian Felicity Green, kicked off her equestrian pursuits in the show arena, but soon found love for the fun and challenge of the Australian Stock Horse Events and has been enjoying ASH shows, challenges and campdrafts ever since.

Felicity, has been a member of the ASHS for over 35 years and enjoyed success at Branch, Royal, State and National levels of competition in SA and Interstate. She has extensive judging experience including the Australian Stock Horse National Show, as well as other ASH Shows, Futurities and Maturities, Challenges and events at Branch, State and Royal level.

Felicity’s ASHS involvement includes: ASHS SA Central Branch Member, Accredited ASHS Judge, Branch Facilitator, ASH Inspector, Special Services Award Recipient, Youth Junior Judging Mentor, Gold Member, ASHLA Committee Member and SA State Management Council Committee Member.

This combined experience in competing, judging and mentoring makes Felicity the perfect candidate to explain what the judge is looking for in a station horse pattern.

When judging a Station Horse class, as the judge I will be looking for a horse that can be used for stock and station work around a station or property, doing various tasks as part of their daily work. The horse should show acceptance of the rider’s instructions, showing their versatility, athletic ability and paces, and to complete the Station Horse Pattern correctly and to the best of their ability.

A typical Station Horse should be able to work stock, accept a stock whip being cracked, allow the rider to open and close a gate, pick up a coat or similar items while under saddle without hesitation. The temperament of the horse should indicate a willingness to do the job at hand in a calm and relaxed manner with a good walk and paces on a light rein, as well as athleticism, and be responsive to the rider’s commands to complete the pattern as requested by the judge.

Presentation of both horse and rider is very important, and in a Station Horse class they should be shown in Australian Stock Horse tack and rider attire. They must be neat, clean and professional in appearance to gain maximum points.

Be courteous to your steward and judge, and if you are at all unsure of the pattern, do not be afraid to ask them for clarification. The use of a cone or marker for the centre of the pattern is optional and is at the discretion of the judge, so be prepared to choose your own centre and work from there.

The pattern is to be ridden with points allocated to each section to work toward a total score. So use your ring craft and make sure you use the area allocated for the pattern wisely and ride even circles, maintain your centre point and remember to smile!

You might find that there are parts of the workout that may not be your horse’s strongest or best movement, but keep in mind it is only one small portion of the workout and you can make up other points in those areas of the workout where you are stronger and able to show off the ability and training of your horse.

For the purpose of this article we are going to be going through Station Horse Pattern SH4, which is judged on a total of 140 points. There are a wide range of patterns for station horse, hack and working classes which can be viewed on the ASHS website.

1. Type, Presentation and Overall Impression (10 points)

I am looking for an ASH Type that is a very good representative of the breed, with clean and neat presentation that shows attention to detail of both the horse and rider, to give an overall impression of a station horse and rider ready to do start their work.

2. Walk to the gate and pass through gate, keeping hand on gate at all times (10 points x 2)

The horse should be showing a nice relaxed even walk with no trotting or jogging, and the rider needs to ensure correct positioning of the horse alongside the gate to be able to open and close the gate without taking their hand off the gate in the process. This sounds straightforward, however can often prove tricky if the gate is different from the one that you practice on at home and the horse is unsure or gets distracted in the process. Make sure you practice your gate open/close as often as possible to make this an easy task in any workout. Ride through the gate slowly and steadily in your own time.

3. Walk to the drum, pick up coat, trot around drum, then replace coat on drum (10 points)

Again the walk should be relaxed and even with a nice halt next to the drum, with no fidgeting or backing away by your horse, so the rider should easily be able to lean over to pick up the coat. Once the coat is securely placed on the pommel of the saddle in front of the rider I am looking for an even rhythmic trot circle with bend and flexion around the drum before placing the coat back on to the drum once again. (To show versatility, this part can be ridden one-handed with your other hand holding the coat from moving.)

4. From drum, trot to A & trot a half circle left, then canter half circle left, back to A (10 points)

In the trot to A, you will need to ensure your ridden line to A is nice and straight before commencing the half circle at trot. You do not want to lose points here, as the judge will easily see any wobble of a hindquarter as you approach A and I often see this section to A completed as a sitting trot, and then riders start the first part of their circle in rising trot to clearly define the point A as the centre of their circles. The horse should be soft and responsive, and as they commence their canter half circle maintain shape and evenly complete the circle back to A. Remember to give your horse the space to canter and prepare for the next change of pace, as the half-circle canter is often rushed as a result if started after the half way point.

5. At A, flying change and canter circle right (10 points x 2)

As you complete your canter half circle left you should be setting your horse up for the flying change, so that it is done neatly and cleanly. The flying change should look smooth, calm and straight with a minimum of fuss. I like to see an attempt at the flying change as you are scoring double points here, and if you do a simple change only, you will not score any points as you have not ridden the pattern correctly. Your canter circle to the right should be the same pace and rhythm as they earlier half circle left. Sometimes following the flying change, a bit more speed can creep into the canter circle to the right, but try to keep your shape and bend in your horse to maintain even paces, especially as you prepare for the next section of the pattern.

6. At A, gallop circle right then continue through A to B (10 points)

If the pattern says gallop, I like to see the horse gallop showing speed with calmness, control and safety providing the ground surface is suitable for ridden work at speed. Ensure that your gallop circle is larger than the previous canter circle and again ride your pattern correctly using the appropriate area. As a judge, any competition area needs to be inspected for horse and rider safety before asking for speed and turns in any pattern.

7. At B, haunch turn right and gallop onto C (10 points x 2)

When galloping into a haunch turn, you need to prepare and set yourself up for a nice, neat controlled turn with continuous movement and obedience. Remember to always complete your turns toward the judge! The horse should be light on its feet, well balanced and responsive to the rider to complete the haunch turn with the minimum of fuss and move onto the new change of direction with forward impulsion. At this point, if your haunch turn falls out or you lose momentum, keep going forward as you cannot afford to lose pace.

8. At C, haunch turn left and gallop onto D (10 points x 2)

Again when setting up for your haunch turn, keep your momentum going as it is only a short distance between the two haunch turns. Keep the turn neat and tidy and make sure your line is straight coming out of the turn to the left, as this is easily seen by the judge as you ride across to D. Remember double points apply for the haunch turns, so make them the best you can do!

9. At D, stop, settle and rein back four paces (10 points)

STOP at D, not a halt, not a couple of extra steps, or a hindquarter movement... just a STOP, nice and even and straight. And settle means just that; settle, take a few seconds to just wait, stand still and relax, then prepare for the rein back. Often at this point we see the horse fiddle or move following the gallop, but do not rush into the rein back. I am looking for obedience and hind engagement with a nice soft, clean, straight rein back. It is important to take your time in the rein back, count your horse’s paces 1-2-3-4.

10. From D, walk back to judge on loose rein cracking whip (10 points)

As you turn to walk back to the judge you should unfurl your stock whip to be ready to crack it. Your horse should be accepting of the whip and not change pace or move away off the line from D back to the judge as you commence cracking it. Three to four cracks is sufficient to show your horse accepts to whip and that the rider has the ability to crack it safely and maintain a nice walk in a straight line to present before the judge. Take the time to practice your whip cracking at home with your horse so that there are no surprises on the day.

Acknowledge the judge once you have completed the workout.

Felicity’s Tips

• Ride to the pattern. If you see a rider before you do something differently, clarify your understanding of the pattern with the judge or steward.

• Do not overthink it. If you are given the pattern on the day, just ride each section as best you can to score the most points. If you are able to learn the pattern prior to the event, try to ride the pattern in sections to keep your horse fresh and practice the parts that you feel you need to improve on before riding the whole pattern at event, so you do not continually ride the same pattern over and over again.

• Keep calm and breathe. You have got this. This is a learning experience for both you and your horse, so smile and most of all have fun!

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