Fencing

I cant say enough about the attributes of fencing, building speed, teaching them to run straight and fun fast. Of course it has to be controlled, and you have to stop if they anticipate running too fast and try to take over. But if you throw in a stop or two they start to pay attention and tune in to you and arent quite so anxious to go fast.

After sending them down the arena fast its a good idea to fence the horse slow now and then to keep them honest. Also, if they want to stop too abruptly and jam the front end I like to start to pull them into the ground but then trot them forward before they can fully stop. Sometimes right on up to the fence especially if jamming is a chronic problem.

Also you dont necessarily have to jam them right up into the fence, sometimes I like to let them break down and trot to the fence. But they should also be able to run uphill (accelerating) to the stop and slide to the fence. The more you do it and the faster you go the more effective it becomes- that is, if you have a good foundation on them and you dont go too fast before they are ready. After I let them stand quietly for a few seconds with their head down sometimes I like to turn them around a little bit to get their mind on something else before fencing them again. It is amazing how much harder and cleaner they spin after they have been fenced hard. When they are ready I like to run them really fast and boot them in the belly if need be or smack them on the butt with the reins if they are lagging back. I only do this if I know it wont blow their mind. So you have to be careful. Also, I want them to have to have a solid foundation of listening to me, and waiting on me and being so backed off that I have to constantly urge them to go forward. Then its ok to swat them or boot them with your calves to shoot them forward, but after they shoot forward I'd like them to want to slow back down after the acceleration.

It seems like they really start wanting to stop when you get to fencing like this. They really start cleaning up their turn arounds, It really cleans up the way they run. So I like to do my fencing before circling, because they rate better, they run cleaner, they want to go slow - as long as you've pulled them into the ground when they went faster than you've asked. Basically they are better collected in everything they do. You dont have to spend all of your time softening the face and pulling and picking on them to "collect" them. You absolutely have to work hard at keeping them soft, but the running hard and fencing will take care of so much of this for you and save you all kinds of work and its fun. It really makes them pay attention, respect your reins and legs, become way more attentive and try harder.

Most likely you've got way more horse under you than you realize. The best way to find out how much horse you've got is to start fencing.