Differences in starting Young Horses and Restarting Old Horses: Jasper, Part 1

A friend of mine stopped by a few days ago and asked what I had been doing. I replied "in the process of starting a 4 year old and just picked up an older horse and will be re-starting him." My friend asked "what's the difference,....starting a horse and re-starting a horse?"

Good question! It's really nothing I have thought about defining or differentiating before. So off the top of my head, as I recall, I said "from my perspective, young green horses are most often a clean slate with less human baggage attached to them, and seem to be trying to understand what you want from them in order to get peace, a break from pressure and feel good and feel safe. Older horses, also want peace and safety, but it seems to me that these older horses, some of them, not all, can be a bit more defensive or appear resistant, based on what they have come to expect from humans. Sometimes they can tell you where they have been. However, I can only get fleeting glimpses of that,...I suspect there is much more to learn about that."

Something bothered me about my reply, so later on I started to unravel that and figure it out. I think most of us accept that horses live in the moment and we have all seen horses that have been handled pretty rough that are still good minded. But we have also seen horses who have been pulled on by their reins, perhaps being ridden for years in a long shanked bit, seated too deep in their mouth and being jerked and pulled on by their rider. And then a rider with soft hands, maybe using a snaffle bit seated just at the corners of the mouth, begins to pick up on the reins and the horse's head jerks up in reaction to a learned memory that a sharp pull or jerk is coming next. So I'm thinking both can be true, the horse can be a product of it's less than refined handling but also live in the moment, and its in that moment that measured asks, good timing on the release, and building that good responses with softness can be built. I am the farthest person from and knowledge about psychotherapy, but maybe this is something learned people call building new neural pathways?

Well, I'm not going to let things I don't understand like that get in the way of starting/re-starting/developing (whatever term best describes it) an older horse. I had just brought the older horse in. He's a 16 year old, solid sorrel gelding, 15.1 hands high. What I was told about him was: he doesn't come to you, but easy to get a halter on; can't hard tie him as he pulls back; doesn't like to be petted or rubbed on; but puts up with humans and is very rideable, but difficult to get into a canter.

This horse, whose name is Jasper, had plenty of old scars on his face, chest and hip. The ranch I bought him from did not know much about him, and nothing about the origin of the scars, but that bodily roadmap made me like him immediately as his face and body are pretty much the same. Another thing that stuck out about him was he had the most intense side eye.....it seemed to be that he was looking at you with distrust. So home he came with me. He walked right into the trailer and I did not hard tie him, instead just fed the lead rope through one of my Functional Tie Rings and closed him in the slant load. An hour later I got him home and he had pushed so hard on the slant load gate latch mechanism that he jammed it up pretty good - and yes, I had put WD-40 on it before I left to pick him up. So, I had to fetch a hammer and piece of wood to free it. The noise gave him some trouble and once the gate freed up, he felt the lack of resistance on his hip and came flying backwards out of the trailer. I was ready for it, stepped aside and grabbed the lead rope feeding out of the tie ring as it dragged past me. Okay got it. That's all fixable or at least getting him much better.

Anyway, so what am I doing different with him than I would a basically untouched 3 or 4 year old? Nothing really. Pretty much left him alone in his pen for the first two weeks as I transitioned him over to my feed program, put him on Platinum Performance CJ supplement, and worked on him giving to pressure on his poll and his nose with my hands. It seemed to me that he hadn't ever been asked to give to pressure, let alone present any softness, but I was going to need that as I began two days of ground work. I'll continue Jasper's progress in a article in a few days.

New Horses and Good Rope Halters

Before I write about rope halters, I wanted to just note briefly that along with my 4 year old who had a delayed start, I am also re-starting an older horse that I picked up from a ranch in Southern New Mexico. The ranch manager and head wrangler is a young woman who asked to shadow me starting and re-starting horses at my ranch, so of course I said yes, by all means. Anything I can do to help, directly or indirectly, someone who is serious about a life with horses is a no brainer. For the past three weeks, working one day a week with her, I have not had the time to write about that, nor takes very many pictures and virtually no video yet. That will be coming in the near future. So,....about those rope halters.

A good rope halter is a necessity for me. While I have had many different halters from various makers, the 'go to' halter has always been from Double Diamond Halter Company. They still make and offer great halters and lead ropes for that matter, but you have to buy them from a distributor such as saddle shops and tack stores that offer quality gear. Other sources of good halters,...Craig Cameron comes to mind, offer very good rope halters as well. However, if you purchase a rope halter and lead rope for $15, you are very likely not getting a real good quality item there.

Lead ropes usually last longer than rope halters, so sometimes you can buy the halter without a lead rope and just use your old lead rope, especially if it's good quality. I use tied on lead ropes, so I never have the potential problems of a metal snap, such as dirt impinging the spring loaded mechanism, or the snap breaking. I like a 14 foot lead rope, however about half of my halters have 12 foot leads. Some people don't like that much rope to handle but I'd rather want more length than I need in the moment, than not enough. And just the other day, I used a 18 foot lead on a very reactive horse that I was asked to work with.

About a year ago I discovered 310 Ranch Life Halters and Leads. They offer 12 foot lead ropes, which are great quality, albeit without a leather poppers on the running end. But the halters have a long tail (that goes over the bridle path also called a poll latch) to tie through the loop on the end of the throat latch. These tails are longer than all of the other rope halters I have which make them easier to feed through the tie loop, fits horses with bigger heads, and allows a overhand knot at the very end of the poll latch so you can slip it over a horse's head one handed if you are putting a halter on another horse while you are horseback.

310 Ranch Life also offers other products as well as instructional videos on roping and such. And as usually, I do not get paid not otherwise compensated for advertising anything, just passing along gear, equipment and information that I think is good quality and useful.

Colt Saddle

A fella named Jerry M. contacted me to ask who made the saddle he saw on my 4 year old Curly Zeke that I have been dropping articles on, so I thought there maybe another one or two people who are interested in the particulars. BTW, I'm not selling it. The interest would be in a good quality saddle, from a well known maker, for such as reasonable price.

The past 18 months, after the passing of my wife, have been really different than preceding years. I have seen more young, green horses in the last year and a half than I have in 10 years. So I was looking for a bit lighter and less expensive Wade saddle that I can put on green horses and save my best custom saddle for my horses that are further along and a little more trustworthy. This likely stems from an incident years ago (sometime in 2004 as I remember) where I had a young horse's feet go out from underneath himself and he tumbled resulting in a completely torn stirrup leather and a torn out breast collar D ring.

Thankfully the horse was fine and as a result of this accident a friend of mine introduced me to an 80 year old Mexican gentleman, who was the last of the S.D. Myres saddle makers, and he repaired my saddle. This was actually a pretty funny story as he reattached the breast collar D ring, put a new stirrup leather on and replace the fleece and he wanted to charge me $75, which was like 1940's prices. I gave him $250 and we ended up bringing him a load of wood for his wood stove in his shop as we discovered that his wife had long past kicked his out of the house and he was living in his shop of all things. br>

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The saddle on Curly Zeke that Jerry wanted to know about was made by Heritage Horseman Supply, the saddle making and tack part of Scott Grosskopf's Buckaroo Businesses in Billings, Montana. They don't know me from Adam, and likely only saw my name once - on the purchase invoice - so there is no relationship between us, I am just pleased that they offer a line of quality saddles for a very reasonable price. On the phone with them I was told their idea was to offer a good saddle that working cowboys could afford. And they achieved that. The saddle (see photo above and video below) is the Yellowstone Series Classic 15" Wade.

I like smooth, unpadded seats, but on this saddle I wanted the seat and fenders in rough out as I can use all the help I can get to stay on board if a green horse thinks he has a little bronc in him. I also wanted a Cheyenne roll on the cantle to give myself something to hold on to as well. The Wade saddle with a deep seat and big diameter, low profile horn is a good design if you are going to work, rope and dally cattle.

Anyway, here you go Jerry and any others interested - This is the link to Heritage Horseman Supply.

Third Ride Outside the Pen on Curly Zeke

I really, really like a horse that I can smoothly open and close gates on. In fact, it's manditory, although when I ride a green horse out of the round end for the first few times, I'll usually ride the horse out through and back into an already open gate. I'll open the gate and push it open then ride through. If you are some people who have had their knees or legs banged up against the gate posts going through or coming out, you know what I am talking about. Going through an open gate a few times gives me a pretty good idea if I can keep him in the middle.

I have had some video camera malfunctions on the first couple rides. Okay, not really malfunctions, but I either didn't orient the camera properly or have a charged battery in place. So the video below is Zeke's third ride outside the round pen. He still is bracing on left and right lateral flexion, more so on the left, so we're working through that. At the walk, I concentrate on giving him a fairly loose reins when he is straight, even for a moment, all rein and leg pressure are non-existent and eventually he will understand that and seek that feeling. When I ask Zeke for a transition into the trot, I don't force him to keep the trot. If he needs to go back to the walk that's fine. Soon he'll keep the trot. You can get into trouble asking the horse for something he's not mentally prepared for and if you let him take his time to be comfortable, it'll be no time at all until he is.

The same is true, I believe, about a horse speeding up. We have a tendency to rate them down, but it's confusing to a green horse, and unless he's a run away horse, the horse will soon rate himself back down. We can direct them, but pulling on both reins is confinement and invites a troubled horse. I only have a little over five acres to ride on without getting on the county road to get to the open desert but I have all sorts of new things for a green horse to explore, so that's what we are concentrating on in the short term.

The first video below is an initial ride out of the round pen and spending a short amount of time doing some 180 degrees turns at a walk. This builds confidence in each other outside the round pen where he horse not may be as comfortable. I'll try to go back forth the round pen gate a couple times. I didn't expect to have issues with Zeke, and nothing came up. So the next time, or even the time after, I can work on opening and closing the gate on horseback. To have a good chance of doing so without any troubles, I'll rely on the work we have did on bringing his front end over, controlling the front end independently of his hind end, and his hind end over, indepndant of his front feet, so I can position the horse up on the gate without having to lean too much to access the gate latch. Side passing over to the gate will come later.

In the second video (below), I'm asking him for a trot so the asks for lateral felxion and a change in direction come a bit quicker. I have to be cognizant of his compromised hing end (missing lateral patella ligaments) and am trying to ask for wider turns so it's easier to keep his momentum up. That'll soon lead to asking him to step undernath himself with the inside back foot, building him up to turing like a cow horse.

Continuing the Starting of Zeke

I am continuing starting Curly Zeke which I began as a long 3 year old, after the diagnosis of this gelding missing his lateral patella ligaments on both back legs. So the plan is to work him on the ground to build up his endurance and muscularity and minimize or at least carefully watch how much time I spend on his back as to reduce the burden on him. I give him one to two days off between sessions to let him rest and any residual inflammation from his patella joint injections and Adequan IM injections, I am reminded every time I work him that it's a shame that such a good minded horse, with otherwise great conformation, had the bad luck to born without these ligaments.

In exposing a horse to new things it is easy to overload the horse and when the fear and flight instinct dominate it is practically impossible to change his thought or reaction process until he can come down from the height of his fear. Generally, when beginning to expose the horse to a scary object, his body language lets us know that the horse is beginning to exhibit concern or even fear, and, it lets us know when to stop, retreat if necessary, then proceed (sometimes by inches). Such body language is stopping forward momentum; tension in the horse's body and even weight leaning backwards about like he's going to do a turn on the rear end; head comes up to elevate line of sight and see directly of the center of the eye; ears turned and pointed forward; and, the horse quickly and nervously looking left and right and to his rear. These are major things the rider or handler on the ground can observe.

So the reason we expose horse's to things that are bothersome or fearful to them is to try and exercise the thinking side of their brain as opposed to the reactive side. Horses are doing to be different and the level on what scares them. Working in our favor is the horse's natural sense of curiosity. One of Zeke's really good points is his curiosity and acceptance of new things. In between short session of lunging or riding him I have been experimenting on what he accepts and just how fast he does it. The ever present West Texas wind was blowing a meal bucket against a tie rail making a lot of racket when I had him tied to the trailer using a Functional Tie Ring. Zeke would glance between himself from time to time, so I untied him and led him to the offending bucket. And even though the noise and movement of the bucket was pretty loud, he walked right over and punched it with his nose. We just stayed there for maybe 30 seconds until he was distracted at something else, then we went back to what we were doing.

During breaks in the working sessions, I have sacked him out with a crinkly bag, pulled a cans of tin cans and with minimal ground work with ropes all over his body and legs, I have thrown loops off of him. The videos below of exposing him to the crinkly bag and pulling the sack of cans were the first time each that he had been exposed to that stimulus. In the video throwing a loop off him, that was the second time I had done so.

Curly Zeke, Part II Questions on Lateral Flexion

Just a couple days after I published the article on working on lateral flexion on starting Curly Zeke, my coming 4 year old QH gelding, I received a call from Laura who asked me some great questions concerning Zeke and my improvement/non-improvement and issues with him understanding a soft ask for lateral flexion. These question made me think on how I was approaching the whole thing as I had to explain it. While I really don't care what other people think of me,......wait,.....the FBI. I do care what the FBI thinks of me. Or the IRS for that matter. Anyway, I do care what my horses think of me and if I can do something better for them, I need to find that way. Here are her questions, my thoughts and answers to her, and some self reflection on what I could have done different.

How much do you accept? Meaning when I am asking a horse, in this case Zeke, for a soft give to an ask for lateral flexion, how much bend in his head and neck, giving to the ask, do I need from him before I stop that lesson to resume another day, and how much lateral flexion do I need before I can ride him?

I should only ask what he can give at the moment. Going into working with him, I should not have precoceived ideas on how much I watn that day from him. But I'm guilty on not following that. I went back to just asking for a few degrees or inches of flexion, then buildig on that, slowly. Its actually a faster way, but more importantly its more accepting to the horse. WHat also is so important, is the pause givbene between asks. Again guilty of getting in a hurry, so I have to cognizantly recognize that trait in myself.

Laura said she understood the idea of letting the horse find the release when giving to the rider asking for lateral flexion, meaning waiting on the horse to give and find the release, but is there a point when you demand a give such as with bumping?

Demand is a big word. Not really a good word or thought to use with horses. Maybe insisting on a try, but even the thought to try is sufficient. I think poor or fristrated horsemen have an instinct to pull hard. Evne worsea a jerk. While bumping has it's place it's best used sparlingly and differenty on horse to horse. When Zeke braces for an ask for lateral flexion to the left, he like other horses has a tendancy to fade to the right. Sometimes I'll switch to an ask for right flexion and use my right leg to get him back on his line. Sometimes, I'll bump just a bit on that left rein and sometimes I change the angle of the rein slighlty higher as to lift his shoulder and ask for the left leg to step out and forward and use my right leg to reinforce the ask for flexion. You'll just have to experiment with your horse, and even on another horse, do something different. Helping the horse untrack in his hind end as shown in the video below is good for both getting a horse to follow a feel for lateral flexion and to help him untrack his hand end.

Curly Zeke Part II, Getting Lateral Flexion

Continuing with starting Curly Zeke, I have been working on him understanding and following the feel on the lead rope or reins when I ask for lateral flexion. He definitely has a weak side giving to the left with a brace, and on both sides he is tipping his nose and keeping his head low so his ears are not level. Obviously we would all like and need lateral bend of the head and neck in a horse where he keeps his ears mostly level, especially during forward momentum if we want a balanced horse.

I'll work him in halter and lead asking for lateral flexion but not more than he is ready to give. I think there is a tendency to get a horse bending his head and neck round way past 90 degrees, in effect touching his nose to his shoulder or to the stirrup, and that is more lateral flexion than I need or can use. I may change my opinion on that down the road as the horse gets more handy and soft. One of my other horses, a 13 years old gelding, is very responsive and soft when I ask and always gives me more than 90 degrees. I do not intentionally ask him for that much flexion, he just gives it to me. But again, 90 degrees is more than I need to turn or position up a horse, especially starting to ride a green horse.

The videos below of working Curly Zeke in a round pen asking for lateral flexion for circles and 180 degree turns at the walk and trot are pretty much what I have to have going on with him before the first ride out of the round pen, as well as being able to untrack his back end. So the same with any horse, being able to direct him or turn him and untrack his hand end. The four videos go from on the ground with Zeke in a snaffle bit, from the saddle, then at a walk and trot.

I try not to just drill, drill, drill on lateral flexion. I'm hoping the videos and description of starting Zeke will give people a basis for comparison so if there is any frustration people can see the issues and progression of Zeke and we begin to work through them. While I'm putting a ride on Zeke, first in the round pen, then later outside, I'll also work on the beginnings of good stop, backing up (but just a couple steps), and, bringing a front foot out to the side as in the beginnings of a turn on the hind end. And lastly before I've done really any of the above, I've got Zeke responsive and soft at untracking his back end while I'm in the saddle. He's doing very well with moving his back end that we could move to asking for the untracking and expecting him to pivoting with a front foot instead of taking a step or two forward.

Curly Zeke_Part I

In May 2024 I picked up a well bred 2 year old Sorrel Quarter Horse Gelding. This is his story, so far. At the annual sale, which was a University Horse Program sale, I watched several two year olds being jipped round a round pen while the announcer detailed the colts' lineage and such. After doing a hands on inspection of these 2 year old's after they were brought out of the round pen and tied up for a bit, I decided that I wasn't going to bid on any that I had seen. Nice well bred horses but they were from lineages that cultivated petite heads, small bone structure (even for 2 year olds) and small feet. On my way out, I saw this sorrel gelding in a pen and wondered why I did not see him earlier but realized that I had got to the sale just a bit late so thought he must have been introduced earlier. I asked the attending horse program student what he could tell me about the horse and all he could say was that the horse was a biter. I replied that most colts are mouthy and that didn't concern me. Anyway, I checked the colt out, smallish but big boned and good sized feet, and despite not seeing him move around, when I got home, I made a bid online and won him. Picked him up a few days later and brought him home.

My intention was to do ground work on him and get him gentled to a saddle for a couple short rides, then at three years old put some more understanding on him and at four years old add onto to his work load and riding time. However, that saying "the best laid plans,......." struck again. Last year I noticed that the horse, who I named Curly Zeke for his flowing wild mane and forelock, would often drag a back leg until it was nearly straight then jerk it back up. It looked like what is commonly called 'fixating patella'. I turned him out often so he could move in a bigger area and intended to get images on him to see what was going on.

In January I took him to a Vet, experienced with injuries associated with racehorses and overworked futurity prospects, and Zeke was diagnosed with missing Lateral Patella Ligaments, bi-laterally with inflammation of the patella joint. Those ligament were not blown or torn. He was missing that ligament (on both sides) that was apparently a birth defect. The only good news is that the Vet said that of the patella ligaments, this one was the least consequential for the 'stay' mechanism which allows the horse to lock his legs and sleep standing up. So after injections into the joint, the plan became to put Zeke on weekly Adequan injections, for 7 weeks, to help maintain joint health and build cartilage, and to gradually build him up. However he would never be a horse that could be used on 12 hour gathers riding big circles in a big pasture - the patella joints would just become too fatigued. And after six months, take him back for more imaging. He is, like all my horses, on Platinum Performance CJ supplement.

So Zeke's condition does not make him any else valuable to me. I'm going treat him now as I start him as I would any four year old but with considerations of his hind end which will limit his endurance, and I'll always be looking for signs of discomfort so I can ensure he has as pain free life as I can provide. Starting him as already taught me or re-taught me lessons, and that's the whole point in the horsemanship journey, to never stop learning. Unfortunately, I don't have enough years left to learn to become adequate but I'm still going to try.

What I did with him before sending him around wearing a saddle, and before the first ride, was pretty much standard: I began getting the horse soft in the face and head. Willingly breaking at poll, lowering head, nose vertical to ground, poll on or about in line with the withers. This gets the horse ready for haltering and later bridling, Giving to pressure on the head helping relax the horse, gentles the horse about having ears handled, when you ask the horse to drop his head from your hand pressure on his poll.

Getting a halter on the horse, have the horse get soft and drop his head, use voice commands and pressure on poll to do so.

Broke to Lead; following a soft feel. Becoming increasingly soft and responding to the change in feel of the lead rope (pressure and angle) to move his feet, or to not move his feet. Horse should stand and stay in front of you on a loose lead, until you pickup the lead (pulling the slack out of it) which changes the feel and the horses moves towards you. Being able to back on a wiggle of the lead rope. This understanding also allows you to stop him coming forward. Start him understanding the feel of the lead rope when asking him to step obliquely with a front foot.

Standing near the shoulder or just in back of it, being able to tip his head slightly and ask his hind end to untrack away from you. Before get on him for the first time, I also get him decent as giving me lateral flexion with his head and neck.

Being able to send the horse past you with the lead rope. This should rapidly progress to asking and the horse responding to moving on a loose lead. In the beginning it will likely be necessary to use the poppers of the lead or a flag to get forward movement. I just do so with the least amount of pressure as necessary. This progresses quickly to asking the horse to untrack his hind end away from you, so he ends up facing you. Pretty soon, you ask him to untrack then bring the front over the other way to go the opposite direction.

I'll get the horse ready for a snaffle bit, but putting a thumb or a finger in the corners of his mouth to get him used to opening his mouth. Start with like a half second then build up gradually to keeping your thumb/finger there for maybe 5 seconds. I do the same with the end portion of a lead rope so he can feel something across his tounge.

I'll get the horse sacked out with a flag.

Desensitize the horse's barrel, flank, legs with a rope. I start with the lead rope, then move to a lariat. I make sure he is good at having a rope under his tail which will freak out some horses. I'll work on getting the horse use to the lead rope and later a lariat spinning around him and going up over his head.

I'll get the horse good at sending like I described above then into a trot. Allowing the horse to find the end of the lead rope bumping his nose and he'll learn or find a comfortable spot keeping his head straight or at least not positioned to the outside.

I work at getting the horse comfortable about positioning up to the fence as later I'll mount him from the fence or another platform.

I get a saddle on a horse as soon as possible to get him used to the weight and the sounds associated with the saddle. I begin to saddle with the lead rope in the crook of my arm and as the horse lets me know he's good at that, I'll use a tie ring.

So I do all this before I throw a leg over. I plan on doing a couple more articles and videos on Zeke as he progresses.

Blindfolding your Horse

Many years ago I wrote about blindfold training and what prompted me to do so was two incidents (each time a different horse) where I was stuck in a hail storm without any cover and I took off my long sleeve Wrangler shirt off to drap over my horses' heads, with my forearm on their brow and nose in a kind of tenting the shirt fashion, to reduce the impact of the hail hitting them. Another reason to get your horses used to blindfolds is in case you have to lead them through smoke and fire as in evacuation from a wildlands fire.

And yet one more reason to blindfold train your horse is to just add to all the gentling you done on them and add another drop of sand in the trust bucket the horse has for you. For this reason, I drapped a bandana over one of my horse's heads, covering his eyes, and led him around on the ground with the lead end of my mecate reins. It was pretty anti-climatic. The first time, both horses I did this on the other day, was not a big deal. One horse is coming 12 or 13 years that I had been riding for 2 years and the other a green horse coming 4 that I have had about 6 or 8 rides on. Both initially hesitated for a second or two as I asked them to follow a soft feel, but led out quiet and following the direction of the lead. Because it's windy almost year round here in West Texas, I didn't want the bandana blowing off so I tucked the middle or short triangle end under the browband headstall then each of the long tails underneath the headstall check pieces.

And I didn't just wrap the bandana over their eyes and get to leading. I started with covering one eye then the other, then both while standing quiet. Then I started over again and asked for the horse to keep the bandana covering both eyes for a longer period, maybe 15 seconds. Since both were good and conformable with that, I covered one eye and asked for a step forward, and repeated on the other eye. Then both eyes. But the idea is to take the bandana away, in a slow, quiet way, before the horse gets anxious. Petting on them on their neck while the bandana is covering an eye or both is a good idea as well.

When asking the horse to follow a guiding or directional feel of the lead rope, give the horse more time to react to that signal as they no longer can see or read your body language. Ask for one step or even a leaning forward, stop, then ask again building on each progress. Sometimes even on a horse that is not blindfolded, the horse may not react to the soft guiding feel of the lead rope, even if they have been routinely leading and following the lead. It may help to change the angle of the ask of the lead rope, stepping out to the horse's frontal oblique before quietly drawing the lead rope up.

Finally, horses are going to be much better about things moving around and over their heads if you get them used to this early on, such as flipping the lead rope over their heads until there is no response, brushing the sweaty, matted hair behind their ears after a ride, sitting in the saddle and rubbing on their neck and checks with the coils of your lariat, and things like that. I think that all makes better, more accepting horse and safer too.

Does Performance Dictate Training, and Training Dictate Performance?

I was thinking about this subject the other day when I was remembering trail rides I would go with my late wife, and thats been awhile since she was unable to ride for the last few years of her life. But, God Bless her and her thoughts for the horse, she would kind of nag on me for working on things with my horse rather than what she termed as just enjoying a trail ride. So I would go back and forth on the question of 'when is riding just riding, and not training'?

It's been said by many much more learned people than I, that giving your horse a job where he can focus on performing what he needs to do, to assist the rider in getting that job done, is a strategy on making a better horse. When people hear that, like I do, we all nod our heads...that makes sense. But invariably, the thought comes up on what is the difference between teaching a horse or giving him an understanding on something like doing a turn on the hocks or crossing a bridge, and an actual job like moving cows or checking fence?

One of those differences may be the level on which the rider holds himself/herself and the horse responsible for how they do something, as opposed to the focus on just completion of the task. If we are trotting miles to get to a pasture gate, we would very likely be much more forgiving to the horse on their straightness then we would if in an arena trying to achieve straightness. I am not advocating riding with acceptance of poor performance, nor am I suggesting that we have to correct small imperfect movements in the horse, but it does seem to me that 'training' and performance (doing a job) are sometimes, maybe a lot of times, different.

If you are at a competitive event, which is performance, at some point that ends and what you are left with is your memory on what you need to work on. Same thing with doing more traditional work, like gathering or sorting cows, you would finish that and look back on how and what you need to do to improve.

Decades ago, when I discovered that there was more to riding horses than pulling on the reins and kicking them in the belly, everything was learning what my holes were in what I could do horseback. Sometimes giant holes, and today if seems like I haven't filled too many of holes up sufficiently. But those difficulties shaped what I would work on.

When I was an Army Range Rider, my horseback patrols would highlight many things that I would work on when riding for myself off duty. It was just necessity as I did not want to find myself without skills or tools to handle the difficulties I had just experienced. Riding on a narrow trail with a steep drop off into an arroyo (a dry river bed) and uphill on the other side with thick Cholla and Prickly Pear cactus, I learned that my horse and I needed to be able to back uphill a bit, walk forward in a very small circle and/or do short, sharp serpentines in order to get turned around when that trail ended. And through necessity a horse just can't back up hill without being soft in the poll, head down and vertical so his weight is balanced and he doesn't drag his front end and fall with the back. A horse can't do small circles with balance unless he is soft and giving to lateral flexion and the rider has to b able to control his feet with the reins and use his legs to bend the horse and get the hind end to untrack. I'm here to tell you that the first time I looked at a 20 foot drop off and did not have those tools sufficiently to be pretty sure that we could get out of such a predicament, I worked on that until my horse and I were sure.

Another time, I was checking wind mill fed stock tanks in grazing units when I saw a dead cow blocking the sluice from the wind mill tank to the dirt tank. To make a long story short, there was no way because of the uneven and steep terrain that I could throw a rope on the dead cow and pull her out of the sluice so I had to dismount, put a loop around the dead cow's hind end, loop the running end of my rope around the saddle horn and ask my horse get his dead cow pulled out by getting my horse to back up with me helping to pull on the end of the rope around the dead cow's hind end. While I had pulled logs on horseback on this horse I wasn't sure we would be able to do it from me on the ground, but eventually did, so what did you think I did at home? I practiced getting my horse to back on a feel on the lead rope from me in front of him and then pulling short logs then railroad ties in the same fashion. Funny thing is that have never had to have a horse pull or drag something with me on the ground since.

More thoughts on pre-ride ground warmup

I have written before about owing it the horse to get him warmed up in both his body and mind before throwing a leg over and heading out. I recently listened to a podcast where the speaker talked about working on a crew at a large outfit where most of the cowboys after saddling their horses would spend the available minutes, before trotting out behind the boss, talking and telling stories rather than warming their horse up then wondered why some of them would be bucked off.

It's also pretty much common knowledge that lunging, or other ground work warming up, won't necessarily get the buck out of a horse by itself, but certainly a quality warmup allowing the horse to operate off a soft lead rope or rein can get him to looking to the handler, getting his mind on following direction, and getting blood flowing to his major muscle groups. It also allows the handler to discern any stickiness in the horse's gait which could indicate lameness. I have never had a problem having to wait on people to saddle up whether they were taking their sweet time grooming, tacking up, warming up,.....whatever. And I can't remember anytime when I hurried saddling a horse when I thought people were waiting on me. Didn't bother me much as I was there for my horse and not to satisfy people I was riding with or people in a clinic. Of course, that wouldn't be proper nor tolerated working for a cowboying outfit as you need to be ready to ride before the Boss is, but being ready to ride before the last man would get you a few minutes to get that horse warmed up and to his mind ass well.

Sometimes, when I pull a horse from his pen, the 2-3 minute walk to the tie rail can become a ten minute walk as I check him out enroute.....positioning up correctly when leading, stopping, backing, coming forward one foot at a time as I ask, swinging a front leg out, untracking his back end, etc.. So if he is not accurate on leading up, we'll correct that. All this reinforces the horse listening to your direction on the end of a lead rope. So if it's necessary to lead a horse, it's worth doing it with quality.

After saddling, and before I throw a leg over, I'll back the horse up using the as soft a feel as I can get by with and ask him to stand quiet, reinforcing ground tying, then ask for him to come forward sometimes using the lead rope of my mecate and sometimes using a hand signal. I'll ask for a front leg to step out laterally and sometimes ask for the hind end to untrack away from me. Again, getting the horse to look to you for direction.

Lastly, I'll direct the horse in a circle, first at a walk then a trot, getting the proper bend for that size of a circle and doing so on a loose lead, then untrack his hind feet with the hind foot nearest me stepping underneath his body and in front of his outside hind foot, then bringing his front end over and heading in the opposite direction.

So I do all this, usually spending 5-10 minutes at maximum, because I think I owe it to the horse to get a it warmed up and prepared for the ride.

Question on Lateral Flexion and Reset

Cathy sent in a question on lateral flexion. "Hello, I wonder if you could write about some tips for lateral flexion issues in my 4 year old Morgan gelding. The woman who I bought him from tried to start him several times, but had to quit each time due to reoccurring health issues. So I am restarting him from scratch. He is saddle broke so I can ride him around in a arena without any trouble except he is not very responsive when I ask for lateral flexion. After working on this, several days a week over the last 2 months, he still is (most of the time) stiff when I pull on a direct rein to get his head to one side or the other. I understand and use the pressure release concept but as I reach a point where he is stiff I don't feel like I can release because he is not giving. And then very oddly enough, once in a while, or actually more often than not, he will keep his head turned when I release the direct rein and I want to go to the other side. Trying to pull him in the other direction is difficult and I usually have to wait until he brings his head back straight to try again which seems to take a while. Is there anything you can say or suggest that may help?"

I might try starting back on the ground in a halter again as it may help to remove any distractors to your gelding such as you in the saddle. Standing to one side, by the front cinch, or his shoulder if he is not saddled, and try not to ask for a lot at once, but pick up the lead rope, take up the slack and hold just to get a inch or two of lateral flexion. Be aware of your timing. Just as soon as he begins to give lateral flexion, maybe not even giving you anything but just before he does, give him a release. Pet on him, wait 6 or 8 seconds and begin again. This seems like it will take forever, but it will get you to where you want to be faster with the horse understanding how to get the release. You build on how much he gives you.

I think everyone has had these lateral flexion issues. I know I certainly have. Sometimes I have went to bumping a little on the reins for lateral flexion. And bumping is really not the best description, more like a small shake to bring his mind back to the taunt rein asking for that lateral give. If I would get it (the horse giving me lateral flexion) but it wasn't soft, meaning when he does give but remains tense, I would hold and await on him following what I wrote above and it payed off.

What you are describing when your gelding does give you lateral flexion, but still has the brace in there, is like a grudging concession rather than a willing give, if that makes sense. And what you describe being on your horse, once giving to an ask for lateral flexion and him keeping his head turned (basically his nose to your stirrup) after releasing contact of the rein...I have experienced that many times as well. What I used to do is put a little bump or feel in the other rein to the side to direct him back towards the center line. Sometimes I use would put a little bump upwards in the opposite rein to do the same. Neither with good consistent results. But, what works for me these days, and is less confusing to my horses, is that when his head is off to one side and he seems content to keep it there, I'll touch him on the opposite side, usually just behind the front cinch with my spur or inside heel of my boot. And I'm talking about a touch. I am not applying pressure. This will direct his mind to the other side and he will bring his head back to the center. This same thing or concept is also useful during forward momentum when your horse bends his head to the side by moving forward to perhaps look at something. I think most of us want our horses looking where we are going and not to the side. But I am not unrelenting on this. I'll allow a horse to look briefly to one side or another, but it has to be brief and not much of a over bending of his head and neck.

The short video above is my three year old gelding Curly Zeke who is just not that interested in lateral flexion, but what is interesting is that he is good on one side, but less so on the other. I can direct, changing directons, in him moving out, on soft direct rein, its just the standing still lateral flexion asks are not where I would like him to be. In the video I ask him for lateral flexion to the left. His head stays there after the release, so I use my right spur to touch him on the right side, like described in the above paragraph. It serves to bring his mind back to the right with his head and neck moving to the center. I would suggest you play around with this, just remember it's a touch and not a lingering feel on his barrel.

Getting a Green Horse backing out of a Trailer

I received a call from very nice lady named Loretta who asked about tips on getting a young horse to back out of a trailer. "Hello, I wonder if you would have some tips on how to get a horse to back out of a trailer? My 3 year old readily gets into the trailer and stands calmly but when I try to get him to back out, he won't. He just picks up his rear hooves and puts them down and I can tell he is worried."

This is what I might try and I have been doing the same on a 3 year old gelding I have. First I would ensure the horses can back up off a soft feel. He should stand still with a loose lead rope on a halter, and when you pickup the lead rope and wiggle/shake it, with as minimal energy as you can get by with, to get him to back up. What I work for is soon having him back up when I just pick the loose lead up and hold it head high. That shows he is operating on a soft feel. You don't want to have to chase him back. That's going to work against you when you are asking him to back out of a trailer when he is already fearful about stepping out into space.

Another thing I find useful is to back him along side a fence. I start first by sending him along a fence, and when he is good at that, I narrow the space between myself and the fence and send him. You only do this if you feel he is sufficiently good enough about going between you and the gate - you don't want your horse to run you over or step on your feet. Soon I'll stop them right between me and the fence, and I'll ask the horse to back a few steps. This also works as preparation to go through a gate, especially narrow gates.

Once the horse can back softly on firm ground, then you might try leading him onto a piece of plywood or some other platform that is close to the ground and when the horse does that willingly and softly, then stop him on that platform and ask him to back off it. I actually don't use plywood, but that would be a good low platform to start with. I have a bridge that I sometimes used in the Arena Challenges that I put on in the past, and the bridge is narrow enough to neceesiate having your horse backing straight so he doesn't step off the side. It's also a good exercise for you and the horse as you have to be accurate with your timing when you ask him to stop in the middle of the bridge after he steps on.

I use my shoeing stand which is on the back side of one of my hay barns and has three open sides. My 3 year old is comfortable here as he has been trimmed a half dozen times or so on the shoeing stand. I start with bringing him onto the shoeing stand from the lowest side, maybe a four inch rise from the ground. Get him settled then ask him to back off it and give him a pause. I actually let grass grow on this side, fed by the water run off when I hose down the stand. I let the horse take a few bites of grass. Then I'll move him to another side of the shoeing stand that is maybe 6-7 inches off the ground and ask him to step up.

I'll repeat getting him settled then ask him to back off the stand. I do this as many times as he needs to step confidently and without worry. Then I move to the highest side of the shoeing stand which is about ten inches off the ground and repeat the whole process. The video below is asking my three year old Curly Zeke to step off the high side of the shoeing stand.

When you get him back into the trailer, then you may try this: Bring him as far into the trailer as you can. Then ask him to back a step or two, stand for 5-10 seconds, bring him forward and repeat. As he gets more comfortable backing a few steps, you can ask for more steps, but as the trailer flooring feels much less stable than the ground or rubber mats on a concrete shoeing stand, the horse is going to be a bit less confident about backing and stepping off into space, so give him time to get comfortable.

And finally I think there is no bad stigma on turning a horse around in a trailer and leading him out,......in the beginning. Every time he is led into a trailer and is comfortable, he gains confidence, and soon the less than absolute stable trailer floor concerns him less and less. But certainly before you turn a horse around and lead him out, try bringing him into the trailer as far as you can and giving you a few steps backing. I would try all this a few days in a row and would be very surprised if he wasn't backing out of the trailer in an increasingly soft manner by then.

Check your Bits for wear and damage

I almost always wear gloves when handling horses. Mainly because my hands have been chewed up over the years, splitting from dryness, being cut, etc., and I always check out my bridles before I put one on a horse, making sure it is still in good working condition. Part of that is running my hand over the bit mouthpiece and swivels. A couple days ago, I happen to grab a bridle with a snaffle bit, to put on my horse Hays, with a bare hand and I felt burrs on the snaffle mouthpiece. This was a snaffle with a solid copper mouthpiece. Copper is a bit softer than steel or sweet iron and I reckon after years of riding in it, it just got a chewed up some. So I changed out the bridle for an almost brand new snaffle bit to ensure my horse's comfort.

When I was running annual arena challenges, I would often get donations from horse tack distributors and every once in awhile, not often, but it happened where I would receive bits that were pretty cheap. Like the snaffles bit that are offered for $20 or $30.  I keep these lower quality items off the prize table and would just donate these bits to a horse rescue with the caveat that these bits were low quality and be careful using them. <br><br>

While some may balk at $120 snaffle bits, it does pay to buy quality gear. This may be more apparent when buying braided rawhide hackamores. Beveled strands of rawhide and tight braids on a quality hackamore (bosal) from well known braiders, and taking care of those works of art, will pay off. You don't want to buy a cheap $60 rawhide bosal with rough parts that would sore up a horse's nose. I realize the many people can't afford really nice gear - I've been there and it's taken me a long time to accumulate really good equipment - but quality tack with usually last a lifetime.

I think my horse Hays was supervising the bridle/bit choice when I discovered the burrs on my decades old snaffle with solid copper mouthpiece.

Thoughts on Obstacle training

Sheridan wrote me to see if I have a list of obstacles that I train my horses on. "Hello, I like your website and check it often to see if you have added more articles. By chance would you have a list of obstacles that you train your horses on? If you do, could you list them on your site or reply back to this e-mail with a list? Thank you in advance."

I really don't have lists, except maybe for grocery store trips. While there are some obstacle type exercises I do with horses, I don't have a checklist of what I want one of my horses to be able to do at any stage. I haven't really decided if obstacles and desensitization exercises are the same thing. If they are not, then both have overlapping purposes. At the origin, getting a horse good at an obstacle, can help the horse think through a problem as opposed to just relying on their instincts. If, of course, the rider goes about introducing the obstacle in a manner that a horse can accept. In the column on the right hand side under Annual Arena Challenges there is a bit of information on the type of obstacles and tasks I asked riders to do in these past events.

In those Annual Arena Challenges that I ran for nine years, I tended to stay away from the "carnival" type obstacles, instead I used props they were related to horsemanship and functional tasks. When I was a Army Range Rider, when the horses I rode would encounter new things that trouble them. I would make a mental note and when I was riding for non work related reasons, I would set some things up at my home ranch to continue to expose the horses to those new things. One time I was riding up a hill to get a view point to glass a valley. The hill was rocky with ledges like stairs. So later at home I built a set of stairs using railroad ties and dirt fill to ride my horses up and down.

One of things we encountered on duty as an Army Range Rider was supporting Army Change of Command Ceremonies. We would ride onto the parade ground and up to the viewing bleachers where we would receive a bouquet of flowers in those noisy crinkly plastic wrappers, which the noise always unsettled the horses, so we could dismount and give the outgoing Commander's wife the flowers, and the in-coming Commanders wife flowers. So the logically thing to do was to stop at Wal-Mart buy some flowers in those crinkle wraps and sack the horses out with them. You may have first put a fly mask with Velcro straps on a horse and found out that the first few times the horse flinched or spooked at the Velcro ripping away.

Another time, four of us Range Riders rode in a PRCA Grand Entrance for the National Anthem as we had to ride down a narrow entrance lined with supporting signs and banners. That troubled the horses, probably mine most of all, so at home I hung signage and tarps across the fences until the horses never minded them. Didn't take long.

Doing ground work with the young, green horses or restarting older horses, I sometimes drag a bag on the ground with tin cans with the rope on the bag on one hand and the lead rope in my other. I set it up so the horse is following the bag and me on the ground leading, but soon I will stand by the horse's head and drag the bag towards us. This may only take 5 minutes for a horse to get used to, or may take 30 minutes, Once the horse is comfortable with it, I'll mount and using a 14-18 foot long rope without dallying it on my saddle horn, back the horse so the bag is coming towards us. Not always, but most times I'll drag for a few feet then walk the horse forward and let him drop his nose on the bag until he becomes disinterested in the bag, then back the horse up, pickup slack in the rope and begin again.

Another thing I'll do on a green horse is set up a couple of parallel ground poles and a traffic cone at each end maybe 10 yards away. I can trot the horse around a cone, then straight through the ground poles, then around the other traffic cone in the opposite direction. I'll change that up sometimes with a turn around the traffic cone then going wide and across the ground poles. I'm trying to put a reason into the horse following a feel on the reins and my legs. See diagrams below for clarity.

You can extend the distances between the traffic cones and ground poles in the beginning the benefit and tighten it up as your horse get better at turning in small diameters then going straight, between your legs and reins, through the ground poles. I got onto being able to walk then trot very small circles, without losing forward momentum, as some of the trails I followed into the mountains, checking for Mule Deer and Adaud Sheep sign, would sometimes lead me to dead ends when I would have to turn uphill around and in-between Cholla and Prickly Pear cactus. It became just necessary to be able to do that.

I think that doing many different things and exposing your horse to odd things just helps them learn they can think through a new situation. But a key point here is to allow them the time to do so. Pushing a horse through something scary to them causes them anxiety from both ends,...the scary thing (obstacle) and you pushing them or banging on them. You may get the horse through it, but he will still be troubled. One of the key points in the Arena Challenges I ran is that I did away with a time constraint. I did not want a horse to balk at crossing at bridge then given only 30 seconds to get comfortable with another try. Sometimes, I had horses and riders take several minutes to do an obstacle. I can't remember anyone verbalizing an issue with the lack of a time requirement. Besides a 30 second delay in a horse doing an obstacles would seem like 5 minutes for the rider so sometimes a rider would quit the attempt before success, despite my urging to just let the horse settle, relax then try again. Funny thing about horse's and their curiosity, if a horse you are riding becomes concerned at some object, they will often stop. If you do not try to push them forward before they are mentally ready, they will often resume taking another fee steps forward before stopping again. This is a win for the horse. Let him settle and he'll often continue a few more steps. Eventually arriving at the object and dropping his head and nose on it.

So take a look around at your environment. If you are riding on a county road with the occasional ATV or side by side, or even loud motorcycle driving by, then it would pay off for your horse to have seen this before and became used to it. One my youngest horse, the first time he saw the tractor right by his pen, he became frantic and ran to other end or his pen. So for a couple days in a row, I would drive the tractor up to his pen, work the bucket, dismount, call the horse over and pet on him, then get back on about my tractor business. After a couple days, three days maybe, he didn't pay it any mind. They can get used to a lot if we give him the time necessary to understand in their minds that the obstacles or situation isn't a threat.

Sorry I really didn't cover a list of obstacles, but really any object that the horse needs just a bit of time to accept becomes an obstacles. What I have available and sometimes use are ground poles to step over/side pass over or to back between; bridges to cross; platforms to step on with the front feet and do a turn on the front end; slickers - picking them up off the fence, putting then on, and sometimes handing them from a bow gate so the horse has to walk by it or underneath it; pulling a bag up using a rope over a bow gate and backing your horse; tarp to drape over the horse and have him carry it, and/or walk across it when it's on the ground. I have coffee cans with upright 6 foot PVC poles cemented into the cans, much like poles for pole bending, and sometimes place them so I can ride the horse through them set up as tight switch backs - you'll need good control of the horse's feet to independently control the horse's front and rear feet to get the bend with forward momentum necessary so do this without knocking over the poles.

Whatever you use for objects and obstacles, I would think that these things are important:

Slow is fast - meaning give the horse time to accept the object and he will rapidly progress as pushing him through on your time will just extend the time necessary for him to get comfortable with the object and increase his anxiety, perhaps learning that you are not a very patient leader.

Make sure whatever you ask the horse to do is safe. An example is using a old dry rotted tarp and ask him to step on and walk over it, could run the risk of the horse foot penetrating the tarp and getting stuck to on e of his feet, especially if he is wearing shoes. I have saw this happen. Same for a wooden bridge or piece of plywood as a platform. Just look at the obstacles and minimize potential mishaps.

Lastly, in my mind the objective is not getting the horse through an obstacle. It is how you ask and how he does it. An example is asking the horse to back through parallel ground poles. A rider may be happy with a horse that is backing straight through the poles. but if the horse's head is high and his mouth gapping and he is pushing with his front feet and falling backward with his hind end, well that's a plain ugly, imbalanced backup basically using pressure in his mouth through the bit and the horse will soon get bracey and worse about it. Instead, back more with your seat with the horse's broke at the poll and nose vertical where he is stepping with the hind end and picking up his front feet to follow to follow the diagonal.

Restarting Monte, Last Day and Postscript

On the last day that Monte's new owner was here, I showed her how I went about loading Monte in the trailer. He had only been in a trailer once since he was brought home seven plus years ago. When I started to get him ready to load the week before, he was hesitant to load, initially putting his front feet in the trailer then stepping back.

So I just waited on him. Asking him to step up again on a soft lead, put both front feet there and keeping them in the trailer, for several times, was a good start.

When he was good about just keeping his front feet in the trailer, then I would softly touch him on his barrel (I got Monte used to my hand, the poppers on the lead gently swinging up sand touching him, and the flag as well), where the rear cinch would go, in order to get him to bring a rear foot up preparing for a step into the trailer. If you have done your work sacking him out with the flag, this works the best or even use just a stick to extend your reach. This step is often skipped by some and results in a horse's having to jump into the trailer creating nose and anxiety, and we all want a nice calm horse stepping into the trailer without any drama.

Once I had a rear foot step forward, the opposite rear would follow by itself or with another touch on his barrel. Then I could ask for a step into the trailer using a bit of feel on the loose lead rope. Many horse's have issues with backing up in a trailer and having that step down. While this is not a trailer loading article, if Monte wanted to backout on his own without me asking, I let him, and I waited on him to figure out the stepping down business. Soon he was stepping right into the trailer and waiting on me to ask him to back. What we did not video was sending Monte into the trailer, that is standing outside the trailer and using a loose lead, asking him to go forward into the trailer, which he was a champ at. I had worked on trailer loading, prio to Arlene getting here, so by the time we shot the below video, Monte was good and calm at loading. I trailered him to the Mobile Vet clinic, a few days before, for a Coggins blood draw, so the time we got to his new owners last day here, he was just as good as could be loading and unloading.

When the transport rig showed up, Monte stepped right into the slant load and was a gentleman about it. I am going to miss him. He had the kindest eye of any horse and all the visitors to the ranch always gravitated to Monte. He is now at his new home, running around a 10 acre turnout with his new barn mate, a 16 year old mare.

Restarting Monte, Part 5

When we started with ground work on Monte, I introduced him to following a feel on the lead rope moving to be able to control a foot with the lead rope and now in the saddle with a snaffle bit outfit, I continued that with asking him to step out with a front leg. With more of a horse's weight on their front feet, often when you ask the horse to walk off either straight or at an angle, a front foot may move forward and it seems like a stumble or a hard step and sometimes it seems like the back end is an after thought or follows like being pulled forward.

So for much of when I ask for forward movement after I throw a leg over a horse, I ask for the horse to step to out to the side a front foot. In the beginning it helps to rock a horse back so his body weight is shifted some to the hind end. This is much like a human rocking weight to one leg/foot in order to push off with that foot and step out with the other. Putting a change, even a small change, of the weight on the hind end makes it easier for the horse to pickup a front foot and place it out.

I think of it as picking that foot up with a direct rein, much like I did on the ground with the lead rope, and placing that foot outside and to the front. This is the beginning of a turn on the haunches and is going to help you be able to do turn arounds on the horse. With a horse having a difficult time picking a front foot up and out, it is sometimes beneficial to back the horse a step and as a hind foot makes contact with the ground going back an a front foot will be doing the same (as they back in the two beat foot fall pattern). Then ask for the front foot that is coming off the ground to step out. Certainly some will try to get a front foot to step out thinking it has to do so on a particular back foot making contact with the ground, either the same side hind or the opposite hind. I think both are actually correct. On turn arounds with forward momentum, I leave it to the horse to choose that hind foot but if he is sluggish, I'll often stop, back a step then ask for the turn, much like a roll back. But I getting ahead of myself, Monte was in the beginning of picking up a front foot and placing it out on an ask with the rein.

Onto side passing. This is something I'll normally work on later in a horse's development, I am including it for two reasons. 1 - because a lady wrote me a week before I re-started Monte asking for help in getting her and her mare to side pass, and 2 - Monte was getting capable at side passing as I had pretty good early control of his head and neck, front end and hind end which are all necessary to being able to side pass. I wanted him to have a basic understanding of this before he was shipped out.

In clinics I'll ask riders want they want to work on. When I get a response like, "I'd like to be able to side pass or open gates", I get the rider's to work on control over head and neck (lateral flexion and vertical softness), and moving front end independently from the hind end and vice versa. Sometimes I'll get a comment like, "I already do that, I'd just like to work on side passing". Invariably, or at some riders and their horses don't have an understanding of asking for the independent movements of those parts of the horse. Otherwise they would be better prepared to side pass and open gates.

When you ask for a side pass using your leg (calf) right behind the front cinch (think of it as stirrup position 2) the horse not understanding at first will likely move either the front end or the hind end over first. As the horse moves sideways, the front end or the hind end may lag behind hence being able to control and move the lagging part to catch up is necessary. The more you do this, the smoother the horse will get. In the beginning only asking for a small side pass and build on that and later don't be greedy and ask the horse to side pass 30 yards. Stop asking before the horse gets dull.

The side pass without checking the horse's forward movement or asking for continuous forward movement becomes a leg yield. That is sideways movement with forward momentum. This is also called two tracking. That would be another understanding for the horse and valuable as you can control the position of the horse much better and useful in everything from to controlling better and rounder circles, to leg yielding or getting forward lateral movement towards a gate or around an obstacles, to keeping a horse looking at something like a calf while you position his body with lateral movement.

Restarting Monte, Part 4

Once in the saddle, beginning on Day Two of Monte's restart, I worked on lateral flexion and untracking his hind end using as minimal leg pressure as I could because he was , at first, very reactive to it. I need the lateral flexion to control direction and the hind end untracking (often also referred to disengaging the hind end) to do so many things from stopping him to turn arounds.

In the beginning Monte would jump sideways from any pressure with my leg to untracking his hind end, but from Day Two to Day Three he made good progress responding softly to my ask for his hind end to untrack....again something we could build on. As for lateral flexion, Monte would give me his head and neck pretty softly, but would also untracking his hind end without me asking for that, which is real common.


I think there are two basic things to remember here, 1 - when you ask for lateral flexion as soon as he gives you that and is soft, meaning no brace or pushing on you, then the release have to be immediate (the all important timing and recognition of softness) and the pause, before asking, again is sufficient. I have seen some riders ask for lateral flexion, left then right, then left then right, without any pause whatsoever, so the pressure just runs into each other becoming one long pressure where the slight and short releases and non existent pauses don't mean anything to the horse. 2 - when you ask for lateral flexion, if the horse untracks his hind end, wait for him to stop, then when he is not moving nor leaning, give him the release. With Monte he was not 100% consistent with always giving lateral flexion on the ask, but he understood enough to be able to build on that. I did not expect anything different, but he was better than I was expecting.

So now we are moving onto directional control with forward momentum. Since nothing I had done with Monte so far involved using both my legs at the same time, it was easy for him to quickly understand that slight pressure with both legs, using my calves, was asking him to transition from the walk to the trot. He is a naturally forward horse, unlike some, so it was really easy to get him to move out. In the beginning he would jump out being reactive to pressure, but I minimized that concentrating on as light as pressure as possible on his barrel and giving him a loose rein. What is not shown in any video is earlier is when I was sending Monte around from the ground I would pickup the stirrup with my free hand and touch him on his barrel preparing him for the cue to go forward from the walk to the trot. This is good to do on young horses as the first time they experience pressure on their barrel from the stirrup or your calf/heel on the ground they will better be able to handle that from the saddle....normally.

For directional control at the trot, I was first using a direct rein, then the inside leg to untrack in a turn, then I added a neck rein or using the outside rein first before the other two cues. Later on he could turn with just a neck rein. What we did not video was Monte's trot to canter transitions which were pretty smooth. Not flawless, but something to build on after just 10-12 rides.