More Beginning Neck Reining

I received a couple of questions on training your horse to neck rein recently. Themizuwolf asked "Does it matter how old your horse is? Mine is 19. Can I still teach him to neck rein or do you only have a window of time when they're young? Thank you." And Jerri, via e-mail, asked "I was watching a clinic two weeks ago and the trainer kept saying something to the effect - do not let you left hand cross over to the right side of the mane or neck, and viceversa. I really did not understand what this was about. Can you explain this rule?"

First of all I think a 19 year horse still can learn to do many things if made clear to him what you are asking. Some older horses have had several owners and are now a compendium of mixed signals and bad habits. Lesson horses are great examples. Having many riders of all levels, usualy beginners, pulling on them and kicking on them can make them somewhat dead sided and hard mouthed, but I still think you can overcome this.

If direct reining is a pull - pulling the horses head to the direction you want to go, then using a neck rein is a push. I really don't like using the terms "pull or push", but I'll use them to explain neck reining. To get a horse to neck rein is simply a process of the horse associating feeling the rein on his neck as pressure and he moves in the opposite direction.

Predominant in past years, people used reins made from horse mane or tail hair which are prickly and this provides a better feel on the neck, but make no mistake, the horse can feel smooth reins as well. I start the process of neck reining by laying the neck rein on the neck (this is the push) just before I tip his head in the opposite direction with a direct rein (this is the pull).

What the clinic trainer was talking about saying not to let your hand cross the neckline, is because it can put the rider out of position or balance, and, can cause that rein to become tight giving the horse a mixed signal. Hopefully, my demonstration of this in the video is understandable.

When I ride, I am not too concerned about using a neck rein and my hand crossing over the neck line since I try to ride on very loose rein. This to me is functional neck reining.