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.