I have written quite a few articles on training, and thought with cooler weather around the corner( I hope), I should get back to the basics. We will talk a little bit about properly warming up your horse before you start to train.
Keep in mind I did mention this is before you train or work you horse, and that I do not feel that this is really training, yet a very essential part of your program. You can over do this and end up with a horse that eventually starts to hide his face or have a horse that guides like a wet noodle between your reins. The purpose for flexing and warming your horse up is the same reason why the gym teacher in school had us stretch before we started running or playing a sport. It was to prevent injuries to our muscles and tendons. I will give you a basic overview of my routine, that by the way I vary quite often as to keep them from thinking that it is a routine. I like to start them off with some flexing and asking them to move off the bit and follow their nose. I don’t want for them to put their nose to my foot right off the bat. If they do this, I know that it has become a routine and not a stretch. I will also ask them to move out at a walk, while at the same time I am asking them to bend and flex at the neck. This allows me to get a deeper stretch, which helps me loosen the shoulders. As they progress in training I want to be able to get this kind of bend and softness at a trot and a lope. You should do this one side at a time, and slowly progress into their training so that the horse can softly go from far left to far right with out a pause or hesitation in the middle. This will help them later with guiding and eventually with lead changes. Before I trot them off and get their legs loose, I like to make them move off my legs at the shoulder and the hip. I start with the inside leg and move to the outside leg. Once I have done this the fresh has diminished, and they are ready to move out a little and stretch the legs. I prefer to start with a slow and supple trot moving into a long trot. How long I stay at a slow trot depends on the horse. If it is a horse with a bit of a motor I will spend a little more time on the soft trot. The long trot is something that I have found to be a very important part of my routine. This allows the horse to really stretch out the muscles and tendons in his legs before we go to work. O.K. now for the time frame. This is something that depends on where the horse is at in training. On young horses that have just started in training I will spend quite a bit of time here, because they are still learning how to give to the bit and move off of my legs. For them this is training too. So I will spend about 15 minutes here maybe 20 if the horse is in his first 90 days of training, and that depends on how fast he is picking things up. Now, if he has been ridden for quite some time, then I will spend 5 to maybe 10 minutes depending on the horses muscle mass. The thicker the horse the more time and the slower I ask for the bend, because there is more muscle to flex. The important thing to keep in mind is that if you start out on your horse and begin to ask for him to flex and bend to the right, and he automatically puts his nose to your boot, then you have probably done a little bit of overkill. You will probably need to spend some time sending them out forward at a long trot and work on going straight for a while. If not it will effect your guide when you try to work one handed. Just remember, flexing and stretching is something you do before you exercise and work, it is not the actual work it self.
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I have a new widget that is going to turn the horse world on it’s ear. This is a tool you can use to train your horse to do anything in any event. This new tool has to be used in conjunction with a part of you anatomy that some people let lie dormant and is not exercised enough. Want to know what it is and how much it costs? The tool is knowledge and education and the part of the anatomy is your brain. What does it cost? Time and consistency.
One very useful place to get education and knowledge is clinics, demonstrations, and private lessons from accomplished trainers. Don’t shy away from going to a clinic or lesson from someone if you think that your horse is not ready, or is not at that level yet. How else are you going to get to the level of riding that you want to achieve if you do not know where it is that you are going. Sometimes clinics may not be as educational as you would like, or has a method that you do not agree with. But, you are still being educated as to what not to do. This is the same way that good trainers become great trainers. I feel that I am a fairly knowledgeable trainer. But, I did not get here by sticking to myself. I continue to learn from other trainers and work hard to increase my knowledge and skills. The only kind of trainer that I will not go to for knowledge, or attend one of their clinics, is the one that says his way is the only way. Why? Because it means that he has stopped learning himself. Another great place to expand your knowledge base is a competition of the event that you are wanting to compete in. This is a good place for you to again, see where it is that you are going. This does not mean that you should limit it to a local event but, take a vacation and go to a national level or world competition. Where else are you going to get to see the level of competition at its best, than a high level competition. It is a place where the arena is exactly right, and the horses and riders are prepared to their best. This is a great way to see where it is that you are going. It is extremely important that your quest for knowledge include education about the tack and tools that you use. Let’s take a look at a couple of the tools that we as horseman use. Some in our everyday work and some that we use on occasion to help us get through a sticky spot. It is important that you not only learn how they work, but how to use them in a way that does not cause you to rely on them as a crutch. The first tool that I will talk about is the martingale. The most important part of a martingale is that it is adjusted correctly. Make sure the rings that the reins run through are long enough. When the horse’s head is relaxed and the neck level, the rings should be adjusted long enough to reach the throat latch. If they are shorter, then you are limiting the amount of lateral or side to side work on your horse. Having it shorter helps you to keep your horses head down, but it is being used as a crutch. A good way to see if it is being used as a crutch is to take it off. If your horses head goes up when you pull, then you have over used or improperly used your martingale. The thing to remember is that the horse learns from the relief of pressure. Make sure that when your horse gives to the pressure of your reins, and the downward pressure of the rings on the martingale, you give relief by giving more reins. If you have any questions or would like for me to address a particular piece of tack in the next article feel free to email with your suggestion or question. I will not start to introduce young horses to cattle until they have got a firm working knowledge of the fundamentals. They need to be getting off of neck rein pressure, have at least a short correct stop, and be proficient at moving off of leg pressure at the hip, shoulders and the ribcage. It really helps to have the horse to a point in his training that his response to these pressures are almost second nature so they can concentrate on the task at hand.
Your first time introducing your horse to cattle should be done with a no pressure approach. You do not want his first experience to be something that causes him to loose confidence or scares them. Instead, it should be done rather light hearted. Your job as the rider should be nothing more than to help guide the horse, and teach him to follow the cow of your choosing. With this in mind, find a cow that is slow and somewhat unassuming. Once you have picked a good one to follow, just help your horse do nothing but mirror the cow. If the cow stops, you stop. If the cow turns, you turn. While mirroring the cow do not try to get or stay ahead of the cow, or try to crowd the cow. This will cause the cow to speed up, or worse yet, cause you to rush the cow. This causes you to rush your horse, and in the mix you will cause to much confusion for you and your horse. Your horse is likely to loose focus. Your soul purpose is to keep plenty of distance between your horse and the cow, and just follow. Why plenty of distance, because the more distance between you and the cow, the less pressure the cow feels. Which means it will be less inclined to run harder. This allows things to move at a slower pace and allows you to help your horse in position with out being rushed. How long should we follow before closing in? The best answer is when your horse tells you he is ready. When you start to feel the horse stop because the cow stopped, and not because you pulled on the reins. Or when the horse turns when the cow turns and not because you assisted in the turn. That is when you know that he has started to hook on to the cow. Once you have started to feel the cow pull the horse along, then start to allow your horse to make a decision or two on his own. Just be there to help, but don’t push to get them to close in on the cow to early. Pushing to early will crowd the cow and speed things up, which will result in loosing the cow and also loosing the horses confidence in his ability to stay with one. It is much better to take these steps slower and build upon the horses knowledge and confidence, then to start out breaking their confidence and having to rebuild this. One big thing to remember and keep in mind while working a green horse is you can work a cow and mirror a cow from 50 feet away easier than from 5 feet away. Start at 50 feet and work your way in over a period of days or weeks instead of minutes. Also, make sure that the you get the following part down first, long before you start to send your horse past a cow in order to turn it. It is much easier to build confidence in your horse than it is to rebuild it. Look for next months article on how to read cattle. It is that time of year when we are starting a lot of prospects, so what better time to get some training tips for getting those youngsters started. Once we have done the basics, teaching the young horse to accept a saddle and understand the basic round pen work, we then start teaching them to ground drive. The purpose for ground driving the young horse before getting on their back is so when you get up there for the first time you will have some kind of guide and steering.
You can teach ground driving in a snaffle or with a side pull. I like to start one ground driving with a side pull or a pencil bosal. I will start some in a smooth mouth snaffle if I have had their teeth checked and their mouth looks OK to accept a bit. I do not want to put a snaffle in one’s mouth if they have sharp edges on their teeth because the snaffle will push on their cheeks and rub them against their teeth. It becomes uncomfortable and that is not the way I want to introduce the bit. If you have not checked their teeth and do not have a bosal or a side pull then you can use a halter. Just attach the driving lines to the sides of the halter, this will work the same as a side pull with just a little less bite on the nose. The first thing that you have to accomplish when driving is to get the horse to go forward. If you have done your round pen work then you have a place to start. The easiest way to start driving is to start in a round pen with you in the center. Just the same as if you were going to lunge the horse. For example lets work the horse in a circle to the left. To start you will encourage the horse to go forward by using the right driving rein to bump the horse on his rump to get them to move forward . You will use the left driving rein to help keep the horses head looking into the circle. Your position in relation to the horse should be behind the shoulder but not directly behind the horse. If you are directly behind the horse you will end up doing just a much work as the horse and will probably poop out before they will. If you are positioned behind the shoulder you can work the horse around you and not wear out before they do. Once you have gotten the horse relaxed, walking then trotting and loping in both directions you are ready to teach them to stop. When teaching the horse to stop on driving lines you will find out quickly that you are not strong enough to pull the horse to a stop. Instead use the round pen fence to teach them to turn and go the other direction. To do this you will encourage the horse to go forward and start guiding them to work closer to the rail. While they are on the rail you will slowly turn the nose toward the fence, eventually they will stop and go the other direction. Just remember to allow this to happen and not try to make it happen. The more you let the youngster do this naturally the more they will have time to figure out how to position their body correctly to perform the maneuver correctly. Ground driving is a great tool to help get your youngster going along faster once you are in the saddle. Here is a important tip to go along with ground driving. If you are not the most coordinated person make sure that you keep the excess driving reins from becoming coiled around your legs. Especially if you have spurs on. I have seen people get tied up in their driving reins and get drug around a pen. I prefer driving reins that are one piece or connected in the middle, this way I can just keep the driving reins over my shoulders and nothing is left dragging around in the dirt to get caught up in my feet. Have fun with your babies! When watching a reining pattern, we are often enamored with the big stop and the awesome speed which these great athletes reach when going into their stop. However, when we go home and practice our stops, they are not quite as dynamic. Often, what is missing in the non-pro’s program is the importance of the approach and the control needed in the rundown.
First, your horse must be at the point of stopping on a consistent basis, using his hindquarters and responding to rein pressure when driven into the bit. By this, I mean that when driven forward with the legs in a straight line and when slack is taken out of the reins, the horse drives forward with his hindquarters and elevates his shoulders while yielding to the bit. The rundown is important because it dictates how your horse is going to stop. If he is running down the pen and leaning to the left or right, he is going to stop that way. The mistake commonly made is the correction or over-correction when the horse is not running straight. For example, if the horse is leaning to the right, your natural instinct would be to steer to the left; you want to avoid doing this. Instead, ask for straight by taking the slack out of the reins and driving the horse lightly with your legs straight into the bit. Once straight is accomplished, allow the reins to loosen. The release is the reward for doing it right. The other important point is making sure that your horse is gradually building speed through the stop. Notice that I did not say “to the stop,” but rather “through the stop.” In order for the horse to stay collected and rounded in the back, he must be driven from behind while slightly gaining speed. You do not have to be going at breakneck speed, but you need to avoid letting the horse lose speed. To do so would allow him to elongate his stride, which makes it more difficult for him to be collected in the stop. It is important that you gradually introduce the increase of speed to your young horse. You do not want him to become scared of running fast. As much time that is spent running to a stop, just as much time needs to be spent running to increase speed and then being shown how to come back down and relax. The horse needs to realize that there is not always a stop to the end of every rundown. Even though he is running fast, he also needs to be listening to the rider. If not, you will get a horse that starts running off in order to hurry to the stop because there is release at the end. One last tip: If your horse continues to lean in its rundown, there comes a time when you will need to let him fully make the mistake of running in the wrong direction. This will show him that it is not a good thing. What I like to do is if the horse is leaning to the left in a rundown, I will let him fully make the mistake of going completely off to the left. Once the mistake is completely made and he is heading towards the left fence, I will pick up the reins and redirect him completely to the right, and vice-versa. The important part to this technique of correction is that you let him fully make the mistake, because without doing so, he will never be sure why he is being driven off in the opposite direction. This also makes them start listening to you as a rider rather than just being a passenger. The last article that I wrote took us to the use of the snaffle bit. So it only seems fitting that we continue with bits and take you into the shank bits or the bridle. I think the best place to start with this is the first bit that I use when transitioning a horse into the bridle. That bit would be a short shank snaffle bit, like a Tom Thumb style bit. I actually do not like using the Tom Thumb bit. They just do not feel right to me in my hands and I think they are an ugly. I have two short shank snaffles; one is custom made and the other I can’t remember when or where I got it. The short shank snaffle has a shank that is around 4 to 5 inches from the snaffle part that goes in the mouth to the ring or hole where the reins attach. This gives you plenty of leverage to start with but not to much for the young horse. One thing to be mindful of when purchasing any of the shank bits is the distance from the mouth piece to the hole or ring where the headstal and curb chain attach. The more distance between the two the more leverage that you create on the curb chain. By the way, even if you have a separate hole to attach the curb chain to on the bit you should still attach it in the same hole where the headstal is attached. Also, when attaching a curb chain make sure that it is not twisted or kinked. This will create more bite and is also illegal when showing. The chain should lay flat against the chin of the horse, and you should be able to put 3 fingers in between the chain and chin when the bit is relaxed in his mouth. Also, if you do not use a curb chain you have no leverage, which defeats the purpose of having a leverage bit. The shank snaffle works the same as the o-ring snaffle but now with leverage.
Once I have introduced the horse to a short shank snaffle, I will advance to a knuckle bit, or hinged bit. This bit is made very similar to the snaffle in the mouth piece, but the connection in the middle of the mouth piece is a hinge that only allows the for movement forward and backward. I use this bit because it has the same feel to the horse as the snaffle. However, it has less movement which slows the horses movement down from side to side. Slowing down the movement helps me teach the horse to stay between the reins better. If the horse is doing all that I want for it to do and can do it well in this bit, I will leave them in this bit. I do not advance to anything more. I have some other favorite bits that I use quite often. The one that I use the most is the correction bit. This is a good bit to transition into from the knuckle or hinged bit. The correction bit, like the snaffle, hinged, and knuckle bit, works on the bars or corners of the mouth, but also introduces a port. The ports in the correction bit come in several different sizes. The one that I like the most is the low port correction which is also one of the hardest to find. Another of my favorites is the medium port grazer type bit. The one in particular has a wide opening at the bottom of the bit. This one is used primarily for a horse that has an injured tongue, but I use it for a narrow jawed horse which gives him some tongue relief. The grazer type bit is also great for the older horse that looses some of his flexibility. I also use this bit to finish horses because, it has none or next to no movement. This allows me to really get a horse to level out and stay straight between my reins throughout his whole body. Now we have hit a couple of the bits that I use on a day to day basis. However, there are a ton more out there. But, the most important part to the bit, in my opinion, is the hands that use them. No bit out there is going to fix everything and if not used properly it will not fix anything. It is also important to remember the quality of the bit that you are using is extremely important. You have to understand that a horses mouth is very sensitive. If the bit that you are using is not quality made and smooth then it will not be accepted well by the horse, no matter how good the bit looks to you. 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. |