When I get frustrated because I'm not riding the caliber of horse I would like to be riding I think about being a good horseman. You have to have a special, athletic, good minded horse to do well in reining competition. So when I'm not riding one that fits this description I need to remind myself that I can still be a good horse technician and work on doing the very best with what I have. So when I do get that good one I'll be prepared. Also, its rewarding to know you've been the best horseman you can be and got as much out of a particular horse as possible, even if your the only one who knows it. There is pride in that and it will not go unrewarded.
A good way to discover if your riding a decent horse is to watch a video of it or watch someone else ride it. Its a good way to bring you back down to earth if you find yourself thinking your horse is better than he is.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tie downs
They work good- If a horse is fighting the bit and raising their head up I'll just tie it down. They seem to deal with it better than if you fight with them to keep it down- it works- The bottom line for me isn't to have perfect hands, although I pride myself in having knowledgeable hands, the bottom line is to end up with a broke, broke horse. If I have to use a tie down to do it, so be it. The horse stays happy and thats how you get them broke, not by upsetting them day in and day out. Brett Stone won the 92 futurity on Boomernick. I think he trained him in a tie down often.
Bits
I love rotating bits. I like to get them really really broke in the snaffle, ie, smooth snaffle, gag snaffle, gag snaffle in draw reins, small twisted wire- a young horse will bridle up pretty nicely in a small twisted wire snaffle, in one hand if you get him really broke to the snaffle.
After they get pretty broke in the snaffle, moving to the shank snaffle they feel surprisingly broke, when they get good in that, if you've done your homework they will feel fabulous, (Humble - 3) in the correction bit- then if you use a correction to bump that nose or chin in, they take you very seriously.
I like to keep rotating bits draw reins etc and not keep them too long in any one shank bit if I can help it. Like to rotate around in the snaffles to keep them fresh.
After they get pretty broke in the snaffle, moving to the shank snaffle they feel surprisingly broke, when they get good in that, if you've done your homework they will feel fabulous, (Humble - 3) in the correction bit- then if you use a correction to bump that nose or chin in, they take you very seriously.
I like to keep rotating bits draw reins etc and not keep them too long in any one shank bit if I can help it. Like to rotate around in the snaffles to keep them fresh.
Looking the right way in the spin
If they get to tipping the nose out in the spin it helps just to hold the nose in and not punish to much if they want to look out.
Occasionally popping the inside rein will tip the nose correctly but it will make the jaw stiff.
If you just keep getting them broke, eventually shoving that outside spur in the side and waiting for them to turn works- they figure out, sometimes with a little help from you that its easier to look where they are going and will look away from that spur.
Like Mike Helson says, "become part of the equation" (help them in the turn, dont punish them)
Occasionally popping the inside rein will tip the nose correctly but it will make the jaw stiff.
If you just keep getting them broke, eventually shoving that outside spur in the side and waiting for them to turn works- they figure out, sometimes with a little help from you that its easier to look where they are going and will look away from that spur.
Like Mike Helson says, "become part of the equation" (help them in the turn, dont punish them)
Guiding in Circles
Sometimes they learn to keep their nose tipped in if you do it when they're bridled up- by bumping that nose in and showing them firmly.
Sometimes just pitching them away and bumping that chin up and over when it tips the wrong way will help them learn to not look to the outside while circling- Helped 3 year old Humble a lot, leaning to circle one handed. Sometimes it even helps if a horse is sticking that shoulder out to the outside- to bump that outside rein up on the chin to straighten them up. The downside is you lose some softness- So it might not be the best thing to do in every circumstance.
Sometimes just pitching them away and bumping that chin up and over when it tips the wrong way will help them learn to not look to the outside while circling- Helped 3 year old Humble a lot, leaning to circle one handed. Sometimes it even helps if a horse is sticking that shoulder out to the outside- to bump that outside rein up on the chin to straighten them up. The downside is you lose some softness- So it might not be the best thing to do in every circumstance.
Lead changes
The number one rule when teaching lead changes is still the same. Dont Panic.
If they miss a lead change just relax and stop. Make sure they are moving off your legs before asking again.
If they are green and dont change at all when you ask just quit asking for a stride or two or three or four or so and then go to asking again for a stride or a few. If they still dont change just repeat the entire process, its no big deal. Dont get after him and scare him. If he still doesnt change just stop and work on getting him to move sideways, or laterally as they say, off of your legs. Maybe do some twenty fives before asking him again. He might not be ready yet.
If they miss a lead change just relax and stop. Make sure they are moving off your legs before asking again.
If they are green and dont change at all when you ask just quit asking for a stride or two or three or four or so and then go to asking again for a stride or a few. If they still dont change just repeat the entire process, its no big deal. Dont get after him and scare him. If he still doesnt change just stop and work on getting him to move sideways, or laterally as they say, off of your legs. Maybe do some twenty fives before asking him again. He might not be ready yet.
Relaxing in the circles
If the horse wants to continually speed up in circles, teach them to relax by breaking down to the trot, then walk, then stop and back or walk a quiet circle. Humble, our five year old derby horse, we hope, quit being so nervous in his circles when he learned to neck rein into a smaller circle, then break down into a jog, then a lope, with light contact, until he learned to do it on his own- then when I'd neck rein him in and he wanted to slow down, all I have to do is ad a little leg or a chirp and he keeps going. This is much better than having to pull on them all the time.
Pulling them in the ground helps sometimes but if you do it too abruptly you can scare or sting them and they get wound up again. So stopping them by removing your legs or saying whoa, or quietly breaking them down to the trot, then walk, stop, back up- whatever, just dont scare them.
Also, taking a little time and refreshing them in backing off when you remove the slack from the reins, ie rock back, remove your legs from their slides and slap the shoulders without scaring them will remind them to go slower in their circles.
Pulling them in the ground helps sometimes but if you do it too abruptly you can scare or sting them and they get wound up again. So stopping them by removing your legs or saying whoa, or quietly breaking them down to the trot, then walk, stop, back up- whatever, just dont scare them.
Also, taking a little time and refreshing them in backing off when you remove the slack from the reins, ie rock back, remove your legs from their slides and slap the shoulders without scaring them will remind them to go slower in their circles.
Backing off
Getting my horses backed off by backing them by slapping them in the shoulders with my feet when I take the slack out of my reins helps a horse stop and learn to slow down in rundowns and circles. Works best if you do it in straight lines first.
When they get good at backing when the slack is removed from the reins I do it at a walk, then a trot, and then a lope then at speed. You keep your legs on the horse, walk him forward remove your legs and if they dont back you slap them in the shoulders- but you can only do it moving forward when the horse gets really good from the standstill.
Once you do it at a lope, starting with his butt to the fence like your gonna fence him. Young horses learn to stop better this way. Lope off, after about fifteen or twenty feet remove your legs and back to the fence. Work at getting them to back to the fence just by slapping them in the shoulders, not by picking up the reins - at least shoot for that. If you ask a young horse to gallop three quarters of the way down the arena they kind of forget how to stop and stop on their front ends sometimes. But if you stop and back up before you get a quarter or half way down the arena and back to the fence they learn to stop on their back end. When they stop and back on their own, immediately when you remove your legs from around their belly they will really learn to stop on their back end.
If they get chargy in their circles, quit, go to the end of the area, or do it where you are, remove your legs and back up a few times at the walk, jog and lope, then go back to circles and they'll sometimes chill out.
When they get good at backing when the slack is removed from the reins I do it at a walk, then a trot, and then a lope then at speed. You keep your legs on the horse, walk him forward remove your legs and if they dont back you slap them in the shoulders- but you can only do it moving forward when the horse gets really good from the standstill.
Once you do it at a lope, starting with his butt to the fence like your gonna fence him. Young horses learn to stop better this way. Lope off, after about fifteen or twenty feet remove your legs and back to the fence. Work at getting them to back to the fence just by slapping them in the shoulders, not by picking up the reins - at least shoot for that. If you ask a young horse to gallop three quarters of the way down the arena they kind of forget how to stop and stop on their front ends sometimes. But if you stop and back up before you get a quarter or half way down the arena and back to the fence they learn to stop on their back end. When they stop and back on their own, immediately when you remove your legs from around their belly they will really learn to stop on their back end.
If they get chargy in their circles, quit, go to the end of the area, or do it where you are, remove your legs and back up a few times at the walk, jog and lope, then go back to circles and they'll sometimes chill out.
Twenty fives
Have not blogged in a while, but one thing thats helped a bunch when training horses and teaching others to train is twenty-fives. The bottom line is to ask a horse twenty five times - give him twenty five chances to be corrected or perform a low level exercise before moving on. Some examples would be: A chargy or fast horse- do twenty five relaxed rollbacks instead of punishing him. If twenty five doesn't work, do fifty.
For lead changes lope the horse the length of the arena twenty five times asking him to move his hip over on the straight aways, each way. If you did this for twenty five days lead changes would probably be easier. Besides whats the rush.
Twenty five is the minimum number. If twenty five doesn't work, do fifty, if that isnt enough do 100- I'm not talking about high pressure stuff- I'm saying repeat over and over and if the horse isnt getting it repeat some more- don't get in a big fight with the horse and punish him. Also, I'm not talking about doing strenuous stuff thats gonna run him out of air and over stress his hocks or injure him.
There is nothing special about twenty five of anything. It just makes you slow down when you get compulsive and want to rush. It works. Its as much for the rider as it is the horse.
For lead changes lope the horse the length of the arena twenty five times asking him to move his hip over on the straight aways, each way. If you did this for twenty five days lead changes would probably be easier. Besides whats the rush.
Twenty five is the minimum number. If twenty five doesn't work, do fifty, if that isnt enough do 100- I'm not talking about high pressure stuff- I'm saying repeat over and over and if the horse isnt getting it repeat some more- don't get in a big fight with the horse and punish him. Also, I'm not talking about doing strenuous stuff thats gonna run him out of air and over stress his hocks or injure him.
There is nothing special about twenty five of anything. It just makes you slow down when you get compulsive and want to rush. It works. Its as much for the rider as it is the horse.
Heuristic Horse Training
Word for today. Heuristic :
1.Serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2.Encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error.
3.Of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
4.Denoting a rule of thumb for solving a problem without the exhaustive application of an algorithm
When I help people serious about training their horses- This is what I try to instill in them because while you can have a formula, all horses are different and to train horses you have to think and troubleshoot. You also have to feel and know what you want which comes from experience.
1.Serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2.Encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error.
3.Of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
4.Denoting a rule of thumb for solving a problem without the exhaustive application of an algorithm
When I help people serious about training their horses- This is what I try to instill in them because while you can have a formula, all horses are different and to train horses you have to think and troubleshoot. You also have to feel and know what you want which comes from experience.
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