Western Riding (horse Show) - Example of A Pattern

Example of A Pattern

Pattern One from the AQHA Hand Book Show Rules 453B Western Riding can be described as follows: The horse enters the ring at a walk. It passes the starting cone and continues walking a few strides before jogging. It is traveling down a long side of the arena. Once it jogs, it jogs over the log, which has cones placed to either side of it. Once it has crossed the log and all four feet are on the second side of the log the horse picks up a lope. It lopes around the short end of the arena passing a cone on its left. Now the horse is moving down the second long side of the arena. Once it has passed the cone, it moves left switching its lead to the right lead. The horse passes the next cone on its right and starts shifting right switching its lead to the left. The horse will continue on this shallow serpentine through the cones for four loops completing the four line changes.

Effectively about half of the pattern is completed. Next, the horse will continue on his left lead down the second short end of the arena turning at another cone for a 180-degree turn at a lope. It will cross the arena completely making a lead change in the middle between the last cone and the next cone. Passing this cone on its right the horse will do another 180-degree at a lope continuing this large serpentine pattern around the cones for a total of four lead changes all completed around the centerline of the arena. During the large serpentine, the horse will lope over the log while loping around the cone. Once the horse has completed all the lead changes, it will pass its last cone on the left. Now it will do a 270-degree circle loping up the centerline of the arena. It will halt in line with the cones at the center of the pattern backing.