Lucky J Ranch Horse Series

Make sure to reach out to Stephanie with Premium Image Photography and get on her reels list!!!!

I am so excited to be back with Georgia Quarter Horse Association this weekend for two incredible shows: Summer Kickoff and Novice Series Show!

My team will be there to photograph all arenas so we won't miss a moment! If you would like to sign up for video reels, please fill out my online form: https://www.premiumimagephotography.com/PrivateClients/

See y'all soon!

*𝑨𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒍𝒍*
🔺🔺🔺𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐒🔺🔺🔺

🔴𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞
For this, the rider is asked to walk through or around a few cows in a confined space. The goal is not to disturb the cows or start tracking them like a cowhorse. An ideal ex*****on is quiet, confident, and consistent. Usually, judges want to see the rider use their horse to interact with the cows, but not with any loss of frame, cadence, or otherwise. The horse should walk with every bit of perfection as he did in the Ranch Riding class, it's just casually through cows this time. A real ranch horse shouldn’t pucker his butt like he’s seeing cows for the first time- quiet confidence does well in this obstacle.

🔴𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐠
For this the rider will sidepass over the pole either direction. They will start either straddling or off the log, and finish the sidepass after the log is cleared or finish while straddling. A sidepass pole makes it very easy to see how good a competitor's sidepass is, there is no lying or showmanship to save a poor ex*****on. Every part of this is judged, especially the beginning and end. Did the horse waste steps or just start sidepassing right away? Your horse’s steps are like gold, don’t give them away wastefully.

🔴𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐞
This obstacle is a tricky one that requires a closed facility to minimize risk. For this, the rider will be asked to enter a designated area, dismount, complete a task, and remount. During all of this, the horse is expected to stand still, moving will cause penalties. One to two steps will be a 1 point penalty, except shifting to balance. Three to four steps will be a three point penalty. Five or more steps will be a five point penalty. If the rider wishes to use hobbles, they can. From a judging perspective, however, hobbles can sometimes put a figurative “cap” on the amount of credit that rider can earn in their ex*****on of the ground tie. The horse didn’t move, but he didn’t really have a choice. It can be worth credit, but there's a debate as to how much. For maximum credit, a ground tie without use of hobbles is generally recommended.

During the ground tie, there is a bit of etiquette to how the reins are handled. If the rider uses split reins, one is usually supposed to hang to the ground while the other rests on the horn. This is an old cue to working Ranch Horses to stay put, otherwise they’d pop their bridles if they stepped on the rein. For romal reins, because they are closed, they should be hung around the horn, away from getting caught in the horse’s feet. The horse should be able to run away and make a fool of his rider without ever getting caught in the romals. If the rider uses a getdown rope, the verdict is split. Some will argue that the getdown rope should hang to the floor like a split rein, others disagree. At that point, asking the judge would be the smartest idea. Trail walkthroughs are the time for these questions.

🔴𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐝
The trailer load is seen in World Shows pretty regularly. For this, the rider dismounts in a designated area, leads or sends their horse into the trailer, sometimes closes the door, or simply walks in and grabs the horse and exits. The ex*****on of the trailer load varies, but the credit earning qualities remain the same. Judges want to see the horse enter calmly and without any hesitation whatsoever. Sending is a higher degree of difficulty than leading and therefore worth more points. Be careful taking gambles like sending, judges typically judge slightly harsher when the rider tries to do something of a higher degree of difficulty and fails. Once in the trailer, the horse should go all the way to the end! Horses who barely hop in are not maximizing their points. Once the horse goes all the way, he should wait patiently for his rider. Turning around in the trailer is dangerous and therefore not going to reflect kindly in the rider’s score. When exiting the trailer, the horse should wait patiently for the rider to grab hold and backup the horse calmly out of the trailer. Usually, the rider will walk in, grab the bridle and backup. On occasion, cowboys will try to show off and pull the tail to backup. Depending on the judge that may be either show boating or super cool. Its another good question to ask in the walkthrough.

🔴𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩
This is usually done through poles or around barrels/kegs/plants etc in some form or another. When backing straight, the horse is expected to quietly give his head and neck and back like his feet are on fire. A straight backup is not hard, therefore the bar is usually higher to achieve credit. Backing an L is a little different. There will need to be a slight disruption to get the horse through the corner of the L without hitting it. Beside the necessary slowdown to make the corner, the backup should be symmetrical in style, balance, consistency, and ex*****on. Within reason, and without looking rushed, the rider should try to make the corner portion of the L as similar to the rest of the backup as possible. Its a higher degree of difficulty and if done right can be worth more credit. And much like the sidepass, the approach and departure are taken into consideration. How many steps were wasted while setting up for the backup?

🔴𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐩𝐞
The Gate has a unique trick to it where the rider can set a wonderful tone simply by accurately stopping the horse beforehand. Demonstrating accuracy in the horse’s feet and body placement shows the horse’s ability to get jobs done. What judge wouldn’t want to ride such a handy animal? Stopping in position means stopping where no reaching needs to occur. If the rider has to reach for the gate, it's obvious they didn’t intend to stop there. Of course, a tall horse and a short gate are an outlier to this.

As for executing the gates, the judges want to see it be done nice and tight. No cattle should be able to slip through. Panel gates should be opened just wide enough for the rider, entered, and once the rider’s knee clears the fence, the horse should be spun around and sidepassed to close the fence. Long armed individuals can execute this with a nonchalant spin and almost no sidepass, but most normal size folks will need to spin around and sidepass a bit to close the gait. The rope gate, on the other hand, is not bias to long or short arms. This gate works wonderful when entered, spun around tight, and closed. The departure from the gate should be purposeful, quiet, and without any wasted steps.
Pro tip- practice both right and left push/pull gates…

🔴𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲
The carry obstacle is usually a slicker or lariat, but creative course designers have used stuffed animal cows and other fun do-dads. Usually the rider is asked to approach a designated object, pick it up, move around a designated pattern, and put it back before continuing the pattern. Many pattern maps do not specify a stop in the written section of the map. A good rule of thumb is to do what is written, not drawn. If a stop is not specified, a simple way to increase the degree of difficulty is to grab the object on the go and return it on the go. At the walk this would look great. Depending on the horse, the trot may be considered rushing by the judge. Whatever is decided, the rider picks up the object and the horse should not react. A spook, shy, uneasy demeanor, or anything that gives the impression of discomfort will lower the score. A broke ranch horse should see it coming (with their pricked up ears and forward moving expression) and not react in the slightest when it's carried. The same principle of wasted steps applies to this as well, especially when returning the object.

🔴𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞
This is usually a pretty simple obstacle. At a walk, the rider will be asked to approach, crossover, and depart from the bridge. In this configuration, steady and consistent cadence is rewarded. Stumbling or stepping funny on or off the bridge can still be considered a hit penalty per instance. Remaining straight and centered is ideal. There isn’t a metric for judging that, but nobody can mistake the rider is in control if the ex*****on is that symmetrically perfect. Sometimes poles are placed before and/or after the bridge in walking intervals of two feet or so. This will force the rider to be very careful on the bridge, trying to count their strides. A very simple, but diabolical add on to an otherwise simple obstacle. And for the most creative ex*****on, some course will call for you to step on the bridge with the forehand, sidepass a bit with one quarter on the bridge and one on the floor, move the hindquarters around a quarter of a revolution, then walk straight over the bridge. This configuration is not very common, but easy points to pick up for a broke Ranch horse.

🔴𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞
Course designers have gotten creative with Tee-Pees, hay bales, kegs, plants, logs, fires, etc. Whatever the marker, the weave remains the same. Ranch Horse weaving can be simple, but it usually isn't. Unlike the Gymkhana serpentine, Ranch Horse Weaving usually follows a crooked or arced pattern and tends to have poles between the markers. This creates an opportunity for the horse to demonstrate how neckreined and steerable they are, while also remaining careful with their feet over the logs. Consistent cadence is always rewarded. Avoiding hitting the poles also helps. Symmetry, centered ex*****on, and a consistent picture is what the judges want to see. In this way, its never called into question whose idea something was. It was always the rider’s. Pro-tip: judges love a sharp neckrein where the horse rounds and looks away from the neckrien. Work at neckreining in a small circle at a walk before plucking the direct rein. When the horse looks to the inside, release and repeat. Do this until the horse is conditioned to look away from their neckrein. This drill works wonderfully in all bridles. A simple, but extremely helpful exercise.

🔴𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭
Depending on the association, there may be a dismount and remount obstacle or a dismount, unbridle, and bridle obstacle, or even a dismount, check all four feet, and remount obstacle. In all of these, the horse should remain still, not moving, and patient. If the judge gets a sense that the horse’s reins are tight on the horn to prevent moving, the rider is too cautious, or anything else besides confidence in the horse’s patience, the score will suffer. A keen Ranch Horse sits patiently when dismounted and remounted. From a personal perspective, the rider should consider exercises and methods to improve upon remounting. Some folks look like they are climbing their horses, and then the horse moves to rebalance. That will never look as good as the horse who never moved because the rider got on swiftly and easily. Nothing is too small.

🔴𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧
Whether the horse is asked to walk through chest deep water, small ravines, or down the base of a hill, these obstacles are quite simple. The judges want to see consistent cadence and balance in the horse. With water, they want to see willingness. There isn’t a whole lot of strategy to these obstacles- just showcase a broke horse!

In the walk through, consider asking if there are points to be had if the horse was to stop and sit patiently in the water, or perhaps walk a steeper path on the terrain. A broke horse should have no problem with these obstacles.

🔴𝐒𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫
For this, the rider is asked to carry a yellow rain slicker and return it to its hook/stand. Quiet, unflinching, confident ex*****on is most desired. Some riders flap the slicker to demonstrate how broke their horses are. Depending on the judge, there may be points in doing so. Stopping to get the slicker and return it accurately can also pick up some points.

🔴𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠
This obstacle is easy points for anyone with a showmanship background. For this, the rider is dismounted and required to hand lead the horse a certain distance at a certain gait (walk or trot). The higher degree of difficulty is to lead the horse like a showmanship pony, starting and maintaining pace at the same time. This will make it appear to the judge that the horse is a joy to lead, almost knowing how to do it without the rider’s help! Pulling on the horse and disrupting their picture is unideal and will lower the maneuver score.

To work on this, while dismounted, the rider will put their hands forward, and tap the horse’s hip with a whip, then depart at the same time as the horse. It's a simple condition response. Vocal cues can be added, they should be the same ones as under saddle. .

🔴𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1118462583411860&set=a.498246995433425

🔴𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬
Just dont hit em lol 😂
2-2.5 feet for a walk
3-3.5 feet for a trot
6-7 feet for a lope
➟Article soon to come out on poles 😂

Thank you for reading!
Johnny Flores
AQHA Certified Professional Horseman
WRHA Judge and Champion

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔, 𝐏𝐌 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬.

📸 Patti Monson Photography

🔥GQHA NOVICE SERIES KICKOFF-MAY 16! 🔥

We hope you can join us at the Georgia International Horse Park (Conyers, GA) for the first GQHA Novice Show of the year!

This is one you don’t want to miss—truly something for everyone 👇

✨ Free Clinic on Friday Afternoon
✨ Youth & Adult Classes
✨ AQHA + All Breed Classes
✨ Rookie, Novice & Open Riders Welcome
✨ Ranch, Western, English, Halter & More!

👉 PLUS — The GQHA Summer Kickoff Show runs May 15–17, giving you the perfect chance to show across multiple disciplines all weekend!

💥 Keep It Simple Format
No pressure, no fuss—just saddle up and ride.
Basic show attire, work saddle, and come enjoy the experience!

🚨 Lucky J Ranch Horse Exhibitors:
Must attend at least 2 Novice Series shows to qualify for year-end points.

📍 Location:
Georgia International Horse Park
Charles Walker Arena – Conyers, GA

📩 Stalls & RV Reservations:
[email protected]
📞 706-201-6724

🪵 Shavings & Hay (stall delivery):
[email protected]

⸻

👉 Whether you’re just getting started or bringing along a seasoned horse, this is the perfect, laid-back show to get in the pen and have some fun.

Mark your calendar for May 16 — let’s ride! 🤠

💥Showbill & Patterns found in pictures attached below: