Roping horse vs. driving horse

[Marsha Cassada]

The farrier was out on Friday to trim my little horses. He said he thinks a roping horse requires a lot more training and skill than a driving horse.

Of course, it is a totally different sport, but it gave me something to think about.

 

[Minimor]

That is one persons opinion....and of course it all depends how well trained that driving horse is that he is comparing to...

 

[Jill]

Actually, I would agree from what I've seen of Ropers (limited) and Western Pleasure Horses (more). There is A LOT of work, and far more than a few months of training, to turn one out. It sort of has made me "smirk" over the years that it's the English seat disciplines that get the most credit, but when you see what goes into making the horse, it's really the Western Pleasure types of disciplines that honestly take the most training, talent and pre-disposition.

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

I don't know how roping compares to driving, but I know my Equine Evaluation teacher said that Western Pleasure was very difficult for the horse--maintaining headset, frame, carriage while going so slowly, which is harder than doing it at a more "normal" pace.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I think it really depends on what type of driving training you are talking about. It doesn't take much to train one and hook it up for the show ring, sure it can take a bit longer to get that horse lookin real nice but it also depends on the individual themselves how much expierence that one person has and also what that horse is like. I know of a horse that only had 4 days of work in the cart and then was taken into a show ring teamed up with another horse and shown in chariot and they got 1st place and they did great!

I think it does take time to train one say to rope or barrel race in a performance division vs one just going out to drive, and IMO same can be said for the western pleasure horses but say training one for CDE can take more training involved I'm sure, those horses have to be solid.

So again it depends on the person thats training that horse or the horse themselves how easy they can learn and enjoy their jobs. But IMO I would have to agree that a roping horse can take more training then just a typical show ring driving horse.

 

[Minimor]

I think it really depends on what type of driving training you are talking about. It doesn't take much to train one and hook it up for the show ring, sure it can take a bit longer to get that horse lookin real nice but

I agree with this. There's no way that training a top level CDE horse or a high level dressage driving horse...properly trained in both cases... takes less time or skill than training a rope horse or a western pleasure horse. If we're talking about basic show ring driving or a family fun horse that gets hitched up and goes down the road for a Sunday afternoon drive then no, the rope horse may very well take more time and skill. Likewise there are some rope horses that don't have very much time or skill at all put into their training!

 

[dangerranger]

Having sat on a few roping horses, Id say that the training that goes into a great roping horse is equil to what it takes to make a great driving horse. But....Great roping horses are more a product of instinct. Much like retriveing dog breeds would retrive without any training, but with training they are so buch better. I guess it would take much more training to make a Std Bred ot Tenn Walker into a roping horse that to make a Quarter horse pull a cart. DR