western pleasure

Question
Hi, shelly.  My 15 yr old has been riding in the 4-h circuit for 8 yrs.  she had a great western pleasure horse.  They fit great toghether.  The last 3 yrs she won grandchampion on him in our county.  We decided to sell him.  He was 16 yrs old and lindsey wanted a change.  She wants to do sisco shows.  Which is just a step under for quarter horse shows.  Indy was not showy enough.  Anyways threw an uncle we recieved a fully broke and sain geilding.  He is 4 and has has no western training he has been on many trail rides he can back up and is a slow mover.  He is a sweat gorgaus horse.  I am nervous though because He come from a blood line of halter horses.  Ive been hearing that halter horses may hold there head to high?  We are going to send him to a trainer.  I guess my question is can a horses head be trained to carry it lower?  What should I be looking for with him to see if his head is to high. Our the halter horses hard to train to pleasure?   thanks so much

Answer
Dear Patty:
Every horse needs to be evaluated based on its individual conformation. Simply because he is from halter lines certainly doesn't mean he can't be a performance horse. If his neck is set high on his shoulder or if his shoulder is too steep- he probably wouldn't be a good halter candidate either.
Remember, the big nemesis in AQHA right now is horses who have their heads too low- and at the Congress level- judges are being CREAMED for placing horses with the tip of the ears below the wither. Sadly, at local levels - inexperienced judges or local "big fish, small pond" trainers are still locked in the eighties and are using these horses.
Best wishes to your daughter and her new horse- of course the most important thing of all is that she enjoys her new riding partner!
Sincerely,
S. Evans