What
is a "Solid Foundation"?
By Todd Martin
I
hear myself say quite often how important it is to have a solid
foundation on a reining horse, or any horse for that matter. But
I do sometimes forget that not all of us understand just what
a solid foundation is and just how it correlates to the finished
product of an event horse. Therefore, I have decided to write
a series of articles that discuss the fundamentals and explain
how these fundamentals are used to teach the horse more advanced
maneuvers. In this article, I would like to address the spins,
how I take a young horse into the beginning of the spins, and
how the fundamentals help me to teach the horse the correct way
to spin.
First
and foremost, it is important for a young horse to learn to be
comfortable and confident in the walk, trot and lope on a loose
rein.
Secondly,
I want to see one learn to follow his nose. By that, I mean that
when I place his nose in a certain direction, his entire body
follows the imaginary line that I've put him in. For example,
if I ask for him to go to the right at a walk by pulling him to
the right, then his entire body should follow. His head should
not be going right and his shoulder and hip leaning to the left
or the opposite direction as he resists with his head and leans
his body in. A good indicator of this from the saddle is that
if his lead leg is not stepping in the direction of his nose,
then he is not following it. If I have him turning in to the right,
the more that I direct him in to the right the deeper to the right
his front right leg should step. Eventually, I should be able
to direct his nose at slightly more than a 45 degree angle to
the right and his lead leg should start to almost step back to
the right at the same angle that his nose is pointing. I would
like to point out that at this stage it is not important that
the horse plant his back inside leg. What is important is that
he keeps forward motion and that his second step always crosses
over and in front of his lead leg. If you do not have forward
motion at all times in the spin, your horse will never be fluid
in the spins. He will question you when you get to the point of
teaching him to begin the spin from a standstill which you will
need to do in competition.
Thirdly,
the horse must yield to leg pressure willingly at both the shoulder
and the hip. Without this, I cannot motivate for speed or ask
for more collection and more importantly, I cannot correct him
if his body is out of alignment. For example, if he is turning
to the right and stepping around nicely but starts to lean his
shoulder out of the spin or begins to swing his rear end out of
the spin, I need to be able to push (with leg pressure) his body
back into proper alignment.
Finally,
the horse must have a good understanding of rein pressure. Eventually,
I want the horse to be able to move and stay moving in the spin
with outside rein pressure. I should not have to constantly be
required to pull the nose in order to spin. Here is a very helpful
hint which will make you happy that you read this whole article:
When teaching rein pressure to a young horse--if they question
you as to what the outside rein pressure means--rather than pull
harder across the neck, slide your reins up closer to their ears.
This will provide more bend in the neck and will help them understand
more quickly than pulling harder would. Along with getting more
bend in the neck, they will tend to put their nose in the correct
direction in which you are wanting to go.
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Todd
& Taumi Martin
39 Toepperwein Rd.
Boerne, Texas 78006
Cell Phone (210) 825-1114
Home Phone (830) 249-7835
Email: todd@toddmartin.net
