Category: Horse Training Tips from Professional Reining Horse Trainers

Learn training tips from some of the National Reining Horse trainers across the U.S. The sport of reining challenges the rider and the horse to be connect so completely that they perform as one. To achieve this it takes commitment and talent from both the horse and the rider.

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Horseback Riding Tips From Professional Reining Horse Trainer Brandy Murphy

Horseback Riding Tips From Professional Reining Horse Trainer Brandy Murphy

Brandy Murphy Professional Reining Horse Trainer
Brandy Murphy Professional Reining Horse Trainer

Murphy Performance Horses is located in Marysville, OH and is owned by professional reining horse trainer Brandy Murphy with help from her husband Terry Murphy. Brandy started riding at a young age and has continued to grow as a trainer and rider as she purses her passion for riding horses. Today, Brandy spends her time training horses and coaching non-pro riders as they make their own way in the world of reining. My visit with Brandy was the last stop on my trip across the U.S. visiting reining horse trainers. While I was there I not only got to work with Brandy but I also worked with Terry. We focused on the importance of keeping the horse collected and straight, fast to slow circles, lead changes, turnarounds, rollbacks, run downs, and stops.

Keeping your Horse Straight and Collected

This exercise helps you develop a feel for how your horse’s body moves and how to make corrections to keep the horse straight and collected. As you lope around, you want to have the horse’s face in line with their shoulders and their shoulders picked up. To do this you need to keep even pressure on the reins as you pick them up. If the horse is looking in, pull back with the outside rein to straighten them up. If they are looking out, pull back with the inside rein. Be sure to maintain even pressure and then release after you pull back. If the horse starts to lean in, use your inside leg pressure to prevent that. If the horse drops out, use your outside leg pressure to prevent that. This exercise can be done at the walk, trot and lope to insure collection at all gaits. Click this link to see video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PPXvKLNxcM

Fast to Slow Circles

When transitioning from fast to slow circles you need to build in the cues that signal the horse to make the change in speed. Start by loping a circle and when you want to slow down start to hum, pick up your hand as they start to come back to you drop your hand. Use your outside leg to push the hip into the circle. Then once they come back, you want to stop them. This conditions the horse that when they hear the hum they think stop. Once they understand the cues, then move on to the transitioning from fast to slow circles. Be consistent and your horse will learn how to transition smoothly. Click this link to see video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNNLjj1js88

Lead Changes

When doing a lead change, you want the cues to be very simple. This exercise is done in a counter canter circle. As you circle you want the keep your outside leg off the horse and your inside leg is used to push the horse’s hip over and maintain the counter canter. Continue to lope around like this until the horse is following the circle well. When you are ready to change leads simply close your outside leg on the horse and open your inside leg to ask for the lead change. Doing the lead change this way sends a clear message to change leads when your legs change position. Click this link to see video   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aOyNxd-ots

Turnaround

There are two exercises that we worked on for the turnaround. For the first exercise, you start by walking the horse in a small circle. While you are doing that you lay the outside rein on the horse’s neck and bump the inside rein out and slightly back to get the horse to point their nose to the inside. This helps get the horse back on the inside rear foot as well. Once the horse is responding to the outside neck rein you can ask for the turnaround. When you are working the turnaround, you want to walk or trot out of the maneuver to make the horse work harder outside the turnaround. This helps get the horse to hunt the turnaround since it is less work.

The second exercise is designed to keep the horse in the correct frame during the turnaround. With one hand on the reins start trotting a circle. Than take your free hand and close it over the reins at the level of the horse’s neck. Using both legs bump the horse’s belly to get them collected up and straight. Once the horse is collected ask for the turnaround by bumping only with your outside leg. Be sure to maintain the same hand position so the horse remains in the collected frame. This helps teach the horse not to throw their head up or turn their nose out when they are asked for the turnaround. Click this link to see video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUmwszMd5EU

Rollback

This exercise is designed to work on the rollback without having to do the rundown and stop. Start by walking your horse forward a few steps and then open your legs to stop them. Back the horse up a few steps than put your hand down. Start the rollback by looking in the direction you want to go. Next, pick your hand up and back towards the new direction. Wait a few seconds to let them figure out what you want then squeeze with your outside leg to get them to follow through with the rollback. If they continue to lag, make them turnaround a few times and start again. You can also trot them around in a small circle, pushing them into the bridle. Once you have built up the energy, stop, back the horse up and ask for the rollback. Continue to do this until the horse starts to snap through the rollback. Click this link to see video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t7gyBAG448

Rundown

To have a good stop you must have a good run down. Start your lead departure by walking the horse forward with their head straight and in the bridle. After your first strides, you will be able to tell if the horse is soft and collected or if you need to work to get them that way. When you are working the rundown, forget the stop. Use the length of the arena, even if they break down, trot them up into the bridle to the end of the arena. Once the horse is straight you can start to ask for an increase in speed during the rundown. Only after the horse is going straight and you can rate their increase in speed should you say whoa and ask for the stop. Doing this teaches the horse to hunt the stop with their head down and their body round, as well as travel straight and wait for your cue to increase in speed. Click this link to see video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkfi0_67Q7E

Stopping Exercise

Using two hands start out on the left lead across the pen on the diagonal. As you go, build speed while maintaining collection. Once you get to the half way point break down into a trot. Continue to the corner and counter bend a circle in the direction of the right lead at the trot. Now lope off in the right lead and do another diagonal breaking down to the trot to the corner and counter bend a circle in the direction of the left lead at the trot. As you are building down the diagonal you want to pick up your reins and hold them to maintain collection. Doing this helps teach the horse to pick up their back and stay collected as you drive to the stop. Click this link to see video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUChKea5TFA

One Handed Rein Control

Working your reins one handed does take practice and this YouTube video show Brandy explaining how she does it. Click this link to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yErkNA0OU-A

Brandy Murphy and Irish
Brandy Murphy and Irish

While riding with Brandy Murphy I logged 13.5 hours toward the AQHA Horseback Riding Program. 

https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and will share it with your friends.

Check out more post by clicking on this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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How to Ride Your Reining Horse with Mike Davis, V2 Reining Horses, Davenport Iowa

Mike Davis
Mike Davis

Mike Davis

V2 Reining Horses Davenport Iowa

Mike Davis is a professional reining horse trainer located in Davenport, Iowa. Together with his partner Tami Schiltz they founded V2 Reining Horses in 2007. Prior to that Mike worked for fifteen years in Texas and Italy training horses. Today he focuses on training young horses and non-pro riders. He encourages his clients to be better horsemen by teaching them how to connect to their horse so they can feel and fix what the horse is doing. As a trainer, he tries to expose horses to everything that can go wrong at home so they become a quiet and confidant horse. While at Mike’s barn we worked on steering, turnarounds, rollbacks and lead changes.

Riding is Steering

In order for a horse to be ridden they have to be able to take direction through steering. Everyday Mike starts by trotting a circle leaving his hand down on the horse’s neck. He waits to see if the horse will leave the prescribed circle. If the horse does leave the circle he picks up his reins and stops the horse and turns them around and then goes back to the circle. He will continue to do this until the horse maintains the circle with his hand down. Mike does not like to redirect the horse across the circle because he feels it take the horses’ mind off the circle onto a straight line. Click this link to see video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLGG01jbNZA

Turnaround

Irish tends to tip his nose to the outside during his turnaround which makes it harder for him to cross over in the front. Mike feels that the reason he does that is because he is trying to move off the pressure from the outside leg and the more pressure the more he tips his nose out. To fix this he works on lifting the horses front end up as they are trotting around in a small circle by picking up with the reins. At first you will need to exert a good deal of pressure to get the horse to lift their front end but as you lift and release over time the amount of pressure needed will decrease until the horse is lifted enough in the front end to be able to cross over smoothly. Click this link to see video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCm4ens9B1M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDAk5fZ72JQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wshSMpp7exc

Rollback

We worked on two exercises to improve the rollback. The first was done on the circle. Start by loping off in a circle and then stop, wait, backup, look in the direction you want to go, bring your hand to your outside hip, open your outside leg, and follow through with the lead departure with your new outside leg. If you want to work on the rollback in one direction, stop in the middle then you can rollback in the same direction over and over as you circle around the pen. This exercise also helps with speed control in the middle of the pen and teaches the horse to relax in the middle as well. Click this link to see video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6rqRQn1G5Q

The second exercise is a combination of rundown, stop, back up, turnaround and lead departure. Start at one end of the arena and lope to the opposite wall and stop. Back the horse up and then ask them to turnaround at least one and a half time and then lead depart on a straight line and repeat the exercise. Doing this exercise improve the rollback by teaching the horse to stay in motion instead of always stopping and backing up. Click this link to see video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t5No0OyRV4

Lead Change

Before loping off pick up on the reins to let the horse know that they are about to do something. Than lope a few circles picking up on the horse through center to get them to straighten up. Once the horse is picking up well than move on to the main exercise. The exercise is started by loping a straight line down the length of the arena. At the top make a counter canter circle and cross the arena picking up as you cross the middle. Continue around on the counter canter to the top of the arena and turn to go on a straight line to the opposite end of the arena. Repeat this pattern a few times picking up on the horse when on the straight lines down the center and across the middle of the arena. Once the horse is picking up and moving smoothly change legs and ask for the lead change. This exercise works well because the horse does not anticipate the lead change and all the time spent picking them up allow them to change leads smoothly. Click this link to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKWK7YOA_E4

Irish in Iowa
Irish in Iowa

I hope you have enjoyed this post and will share it with your friends.

While I was with Mike Davis I logged 6 hours toward my AQHA Riding Program Hours

https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

For more information about Mike Davis and V2 Reining click on this link. http://www.v2reininghorses.com/index.html

Check out more post by clicking on this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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Improve Your Horseback Riding with Dallas Cunningham Professional Reining Horse Trainer, Mitchell, SD

Dallas Cunningham Professional Reining Horse Trainer, Mitchell, SD 

Irish and Dallas Cunningham
Irish and Dallas Cunningham

Dallas Cunningham Performance Horses is located in Mitchell, SD. At the age of 12 Dallas started training horses and continued on to the college rodeo. After sending time working for Jim McCutcheon, Dallas and his wife Chelsie opened their own training facility. They specialize in reining, working cow, reined cow, roping, and barrel racing. While I was at Dallas’ I worked on guiding, framing up, lead changes, turnaround, and the rollback.

Guiding

Dallas starts everyday by making sure the horse is guiding well. We would start by trotting a small circle and expect the horse to remain in the circle we set out. Once the horse is following the circle well we would ask them to cross the circle by laying the outside rein on the neck. If the horse doesn’t move off the rein, then we would turn them in a tight circle a few times before going back out on the main circle. Once the horse was guiding well in both direction at the trot we would repeat it at the lope. Dallas believe that a horse has to be guiding well before working on any other maneuvers. Click this link to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yp7Zjw9MeY

Once the horse is guiding well, we went out to a larger circle and ask the horse to follow the circle while keeping our hand down in the center of the horse neck. The horse should go in the direction you are looking without having to pick up your hand to steer. If the horse doesn’t maintain the circle we have chosen, we would use the rein to direct the horse across the circle. If the horse resists the rein, then turn them in a tight circle and lope off. Allowing the horse to make the mistake of going off the circle and then correcting the mistake, helps teach the horse what is expected of them. Click this link to see video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdcDHRFziZU

Lead Changes

For the lead change Dallas prefers to keep it as simple as possible. He feels that the horse should be able to change leads whenever they are asked. In keeping with that philosophy, he does not do much in the way of setting the horse up. He leaves his hand down and asks for the lead change by changing legs.  To practice this, we loped a counter canter circle and maintain light leg pressure to maintain the counter canter. Once the horse was moving well we simply changed legs to get the horse to change to the correct lead. Dallas feels this method helps take the anticipation out of the lead change because the horse never knows when it is coming. Click this link to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfAEdOtqTHY

Turnaround

This turnaround exercise helps develop a snappier turn by teaching the horse to move their inside front leg back and their outside front leg to push off and cross over. Start the exercise by trotting a small circle with your inside rein up and slightly forward and your outside rein on the horses’ neck. If the horse is leaning to the outside with their shoulder, you want to bump your outside leg to get their shoulder to commit and then ask for the turnaround. Once they are turning well, trot out to a small circle again and repeat the exercise until the horse will commit to the turn as soon as you lay the outside rein on their neck. Click this link to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7GQlJD1Kek

Rollback

The key to a good rollback is to stop squarely, wait, look in the direction you want to go while drawing your rein back at the level of your hip and follow through by asking for the lead departure in the opposite direction with your new outside leg. To practice this Dallas, like to lope around the arena and ask for the rollback at any time. He believes the horse needs to be able to rollback when ask as if they are chasing a cow. Click this link to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S9mm9M7lKw

I hope you have enjoyed this post, feel free to share it with your friends

While I was with Dallas Cunningham I logged 20 hours toward my AQHA Riding Program Hours

https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

For more information about Dallas Cunningham Performance Horses click on this link http://www.dcperformancehorses.com/

Check out more post by clicking on this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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Ashley Villmow Professional Reining Horse Trainer, Gillette, WY

Ashley Villmow Professional Reining Horse Trainer

Gillette, WY

Irish and Ashley Villmow
Irish and Ashley Villmow

Ashley Villmow is a professional reining horse trainer located in Gillette, WY. Kluz Performance Horses has been in business since 2008. Ashley specializes in training reining and all-around show horses. I worked with Ashley for three days and focused on rollbacks, lead changes, backing up straight and practice patterns. As with each stop along my trip Ashley help build my knowledge base as a rider. Irish also helped teach her horse Augie that being next to a horse he doesn’t know isn’t so scary.

Rollback

Taking a page from Ashley’s cutting horse background she used her horse Augie to incentivize Irish to depart out of the rollback faster. We lined both horses up parallel to each other, then backed them up so they had their weight on their back end. Ashley would than roll Augie back toward me and lope off down the straight line. I would have to shadow her by rolling Irish back toward her and chase them down the straight line and stop. Doing this exercise really helped get Irish to snap out of his rollback and depart more quickly in the opposite direction.

Lead Change

For this exercise, I made a figure eight shape around the arena. Starting on the correct lead I loped around one end and then turned to cut across the center of the arena on a diagonal into the other circle on the counter canter at the opposite end of the arena. I would then continue around and across the center maintaining the counter canter. Once at the opposite side of the arena I would be back on the correct lead. As I turned to cross the arena again I would ask for the lead change on the straight line just before or after I passed center. Once the lead change was done I continued around the circle and stopped as I started the next diagonal line across center. This exercise allows you to work on lead changes without the horse starting to anticipate the change. Click this link to see video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btt6swO5Xec

Stretching

Two exercises that we did were more for me as a rider. One was to help stretch my lower back and the other was to help balance my weight evenly in my stirrups. Ashley had me place my free hand on Irish’s mane and slightly round over to stretch my lower back as I loped around. She regularly does this to help loosen her lower back to allow her to move in fluidly with the horse. The second was done by lifting my butt slightly out of the saddle and asking Irish to back up. This helps to keep you centered over the horse and prevents you from shifting your hips from side to side as you back up. The goal is to help the rider to have correct body position which helps the horse to back up straight. Click this link to see video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDQ1_ab9IPk

Backing up straight

Backing up straight seems like an easy thing to do but getting your horse to do it does take some practice. It is important to have your weight balanced and look straight ahead as you back up. If you are leaning it can cause your horse to back up crooked. Once you are sure you are straight, ask your horse to back up. If they are leaning off to one side continue to back them up but turn them in a circle in the opposite to the way they are leaning. After repeating this multiple times, your horse will begin to learn that staying straight is easier and start backing up straight more consistently.

Pattern Work

Anyone that shows reining horses knows they need to work on patterns. Ashley’s method for pattern work is to do modified combinations of reining horse and horsemanship patterns. You can combine multiple maneuvers into to short combinations to practice moving through a pattern. Doing this helps you think about pattern flow without constantly repeating the patterns that you have to do in the show pen.

While at Ashley’s’ I logged 8 hours toward the AQHA Horseback Riding Program. https://www.aqha.com/riding

I hope you enjoyed this post and please share the information with your friends.

While I was with Ashley Villmow I logged 6 hours toward my AQHA Riding Program Hours

https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

Please visit the Kluz Preformance Horses website at http://kluzperformancehorses.com/ for more information about Ashley Villmow.

Check out more post by clicking on this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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Riding a Reining Horse with Jay Dee Anderson Professional Reining Horse Trainer Wilsall, MT

Jay Dee Anderson Wilsall, MT

Irish and Jay Dee Anderson
Irish and Jay Dee Anderson
Wilsall, MT

Jay Dee Anderson is a professional reining horse trainer located in Wilsall, Mt. During our stay with Jay Dee we worked on the turnaround, rollback, lead change, lead departures, large fast circles and stops. We also participated in our first all day reining horse clinic with seven other riders. Each day we warmed up by trotting small circles and collecting the horse up and making sure he was guiding well. After doing that in both directions we repeated it at the lope. Once the horse was warmed up and guiding well we would start working on our maneuvers.

Turnaround

Before you ask the horse to turnaround you need to work on collection. Jay Dee does this by walking a small circle. He pushes the horse’s hip into the circle with his outside leg. With two hands, he picks the reins up in a “V” shape and bends the horse’s neck to the inside of the circle. He uses his inside leg to prevent the horse from dropping into the circle or turning. This exercise helps pick the horse’s front end up and teaches them to turn without sticking their nose out. The more collected the horse is in the turnaround the easier it is for them to cross their legs over and turn smoothly.

Starting the turnaround. Jay Dee trains his horses to turnaround as soon as he lays the outside rein on their neck and kiss. He does this so that when anyone gets on the horse they don’t need to think about the turnaround, they just need to lay the outside neck rein and kiss and the horse will turn. In addition, he feels using your outside leg to start the turnaround often causes the horse to look in that direction instead of keeping their head looking in the direction of the turnaround. He keeps his outside leg next to the horse’s body but does not squeeze with it. If he needs more speed he will bump with the outside leg and kiss. To stop the turnaround, he says whoa and puts his hand down. He does not like to stop every turnaround, but likes to walk out into a small circle, this help keeps the horse from anticipating the shut off of the turnaround and work on collection. Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/qtFdCeZz_6g

Rollback

We did two exercises to help improve the rollback and departure. The first was to back the horse up in a small circle. With the outside leg, we pushed the horse’s hip into the circle. At the same time, we pick up the reins with both hands and bend the horse’s head slightly to the outside. This exercise helps clear the hips and the shoulder in preparation for the rollback. Once you have done this and the horse is moving well ask the horse to rollback to the outside of the circle.

The next exercise for the rollback is done in the circle. Jay Dee lopes around in a circle and stops and rolls the horse back. This teaches the horse to roll completely around into their tracks and drive out in the other direction. Click this link to see video. https://youtu.be/CpgzCaQLp2o

Lead Changes

For a horse to do a lead change easily they need to be straight, collected and moving forward. This simple counter canter exercise helps you achieve all three. Jay Dee likes to counter canter a square at one end of the arena. Doing a square gives you four straight lines to use to change leads. The corners also allow you to practice squaring off your straight lines which you need to do to get a good rundown for the stop. Once he has done a number of squares he will ask the horse to lead change. Because you are riding in a square it also helps teach the horse to change leads and stay straight. Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/2ZTneQSUrOc

Lead Departure and Building Speed in the Circle

For the lead departure Jay Dee picks up the reins and applies light pressure to the bit and asks the horse to lope off. After a few strides, he breaks the horse down to a walk and repeats the process. This teaches the horse to allow you to pick up on the reins and to keep their head down in the lead departure. The next step is pick up on the reins and increase the speed by kissing and bumping with your legs. This technique allows you to pick on the horse in the show pen to increase speed while remaining collected. Once he has the speed he wants he puts his hand down and bumps with his legs and kisses to speed the horse up if they start to slow down.Click this link to see video  https://youtu.be/yK2rGjiH84M

Run Down and Stop

Jay Dee likes to work on the run down and stop by doing a rectangle around the arena. The first step is to lope around the arena and make a small to medium size circle at the end of the arena. After doing that a few times he starts to build speed for the rundown and maintains that speed into the circle at the end of the arena. Once he has done this and the horse is straight and building well he will ask for the stop by saying whoa. The goal of the is exercise to prevent the horse from anticipating the stop and slowing down before you tell them to whoa. A good stop requires an increase in speed on a straight line with the last stride being your fastest.

Anderson Training Stables Sign

While I was with Jay Dee Anderson I logged 16 hours toward my AQHA Riding Program Hours

https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

I hope you enjoyed all the training tips and videos from Jay Dee Anderson and feel free to share this with your friends.

Please visit Anderson Training Stables website at http://www.andersontrainingstables.com/

Check out more reining horse trainers by clicking this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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Riding a Reining Horse with Patti Cusker Professional Reining Horse Trainer Missoula, MT

Patti Cusker Missoula, MT

Irish in Missoula, MT
Irish in Missoula, MT

We made a short stop with professional horse trainer Patti Cusker. The farm is located in a tranquil river valley just outside the city ofMissoula, MT. While we were there I worked on my turnaround and rollback. In addition, Irish was able to experience the native wild life as they meandered around the outdoor arena. I have to say he is really starting to just go with the flow when it comes to all the new sights and sounds.

The Turnaround

Patti’s approach to the turnaround it to ue the horse by turning your head in the direction she wants to turn, as well as opening her inside leg and putting pressure on the horse with her outside leg. She uses very light contact with the outside rein to start the turn and prefers to say whoa to stop the turn. The goal for teaching the horse to turn using more body and leg pressure is to be able to turnaround without pulling on the horse’s mouth. The overall result is a responsive horse with a very soft face.

For my turnaround, we worked on keeping my horse head position correct. He likes to turn his nose to the outside of the turn. When he does this, it hinders his ability to cross his front legs over in a smooth cadence. In keeping with Patti’s soft hand approach to training I would use my free hand to lightly pick up the inside rein and drop it to get his nose to straighten up. This is a soft movement just like tapping someone on the arm to get their attention. The end result was a smooth turnaround with more natural speed.

The Rollback

We started the rollback exercise by trotting a small circle next to the fence. Once you have done a few circles you want to stop your horse at about a 45-degree angle to the fence. The fence helps to direct the horse in the opposite direction. You ask for the rollback by looking in the direction you want to go and laying your inside rein on the horse’s neck. At the same time, you open your outside leg and push the horse through the rollback with your inside leg.

Patti likes to sit deep in the saddle and drive the rollback with her legs. She feels that if you pull too much with the reins it causes the horse to drag in the rollback. So, she likes to get light contact with the horse’s mouth when she asks for the rollback. The drive for the rollback comes from her seat and her inside leg. When you do a rollback, you need the horse to move their shoulders as well as their hips in the direction of the rollback. By maintaining a deep seat, you can stay balanced through the rollback and feel if the horse is engaging their hips to drive out of the rollback. If your horse doesn’t engage their hips you want to stop the forward motion and pick the horse up in the front end to move their shoulders and move their hips with your leg into a two track until their shoulders and hips are moving together. Than go back to the exercise and ask for the rollback again.

Please feel free to share this post with all your friends

While I was at Patti’s I logged 6.5 hours toward the AQHA Riding Program https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

Check out more reining horse trainers by clicking this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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How to Ride a Reining Horse with Mack Weaver Professional Reining Horse Trainer, Morgan, UT

Irish and Mack Weaver
Irish and Mack Weaver
Morgan, UT

Mack Weaver Morgan, UT

Mack Weaver is a professional reining horse trainer in Morgan, UT. While I was at Mack’s I worked on all the maneuvers that make up a reining pattern. Each lesson would build on the one from the day before. This approach allowed me to apply what I learned to the next set of maneuvers and to improve every aspect of my riding. Riding one handed was the biggest change for me. Mack believes that riding one handed allows you to find the holes in your riding faster. This was very true for me, but it also helped me make the transition from riding two handed to one handed. This post has more video links to watch, which I think helps explain things more than just reading about how to do it.

Circles

How to keep your horse on the circle when riding one handed. Start by keeping your hand in line with the center of the horse’s mane and keep your shoulders square. Look in the direction you want your horse to go. Your horse should stay on the path you are looking toward. If the horse leaves the circle to the outside you want to stop the horse and turn the horse around to the inside of the circle. Lope off, then cut the circle in half so that you get back to the spot the horse left the circle faster. Frequent repetition allows you to correct the horse in the trouble spot. Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/7UGWl3dW5TY

Riding With Your Legs

Riding with your legs helps keep the horse balanced while they are loping the circle. Mack rides every stride of the lope. The way he does this is by kicking with his outside leg slightly before his inside leg.  Doing this helps keep the horse following the circle. If you kick with both legs at the same time you cause your horse to go straight, which will take the curve out of your circle. Click this link to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfrP5rhdu34

Rein Control Video

https://youtu.be/zEua8RgiToU

Lead Changes

Mack believes that you have to practice lead changes to be able to feel comfortable doing them. The way he does this is by making the center line anywhere down the length of the arena that crosses the middle of the pen. Making the center a different place allows you to work on the lead change in such a way that the horse will not anticipate the lead change. He likes to set the horse up as he comes through center by picking up on the reins and getting the horse straight through center. Doing this on the correct lead and the counter canter over and over until the horse is relaxed with coming through center and has their body straight. Once they are relaxed he will ask for the lead change but he will continue in the same circle on the counter canter. Staying in the same circle helps prevent the horse from dropping into the opposite circle after the lead change. Click this link to see video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEua8RgiToU

Turnaround

On an older horse, Mack works a lot on their start. He wants the horse to move off the neck rein as soon as he lays it on their neck. If they don’t move than he will pull them around and stop and ask again until they start to respond to the neck rein as soon as they are asked. Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/XIiWVo-81lA

Run Down and Stop

This exercise for the run down and stop helps keep the horse from running off after you turn the corner at the top of the pen. It also allows you to practice the maneuver without having to lope as much.  Start by walking half way across the top of the pen and loping off. Once you turn the corner for the run down you want to see if the horse is waiting on you to go to the stop. If not turn the horse into a small circle and stay there until you feel the horse is listening to you. Once the horse is, go to the top of the pen and walk across half way and lope off and try it again. If the horse is waiting on you for the run down go ahead and continue down the pen and stop. Wait at the end of the pen for a minute or so and walk across the pen half way and lope of and repeat the exercise.

Rein length is very important when it comes to getting a good stop. If your reins are too short the horse will not be able to drop their head and move as well in the stop. Short reins can cause you to pull on the horse’s face causing a jarring of bit in their mouth as well as stopping their forward motion. Mack likes to have a shorter rein around the top of the pen, but when he turns the corner for the run down he will shake out some rein so that the horse is on loose rein for the run down and stop. Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/V6iMIxrpyq4

Rollback

There are four steps to think about when doing a rollback.

  1. The run down
  2. The stop
  3. The release – is after the stop and you allow the horse to stand up briefly and you release their face.
  4. The rollback – is when your hand, shoulders, and head all turn in the direction you want the horse to go.

As you turn around in the rollback you want to use your new outside leg to push the horse through the maneuver and lope off in the opposite direction. If the horse lays on your outside leg you want to turn them around a few times and then lope off in the opposite direction.

If your horse is slow departing after the rollback you can try this exercise to help your horse to move through the rollback and depart. Have someone pretend to be a cow. When you do this your horse’s head needs to stay even with the person as you travel up and down a parallel line to the person. The idea is to have your horse shadow the movements of the person. So, if the person backs up or turns or runs off you need to do the same thing with your horse. Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/lm2Ayg34OOo

While in Morgan, UT I logged 7.5  hours of riding time toward the AQHA riding program. https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

Scenes from around the barn!

I hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to share this with your friends.

For more information about Weaver Performance Horses click this link: http://www.weaverreining.com/

Check out more reining horse trainers by clicking this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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How to Ride your Reining Horse Better with Nathan Kent Professional Reining Horse trainer Kuna, ID

Nathan Kent Professional Reining Horse Trainer, Kuna, ID

Irish in Kuna, Idaho
Irish in Kuna, Idaho

Kuna, ID is as far west as this great adventure is taking us. We rode with professional reining horse trainer Nathan Kent. We worked on our roll back, large fast circles, lead changes, turnarounds and what to do if your horse spooks at things outside the arena.  Nathan’s overall approach to horse training is to find what works for each horse. Even if the horse is not going to be a reining horse he will train the horse so that it could be ridden in another discipline like cutting, ranch riding or trail riding. He feels that this approach is what keeps horse training interesting and challenging.

While we were in the area we were able to go to the Great Western Reining Horse Association reining horse show in Nampa, ID. The fun thing for us was we got to see three of the trainers we visited Mack Weaver, Nathan Kent and Jay Dee Anderson all at the same show. Watching the pros that you worked with show is always a great experience. It inspires you to work toward whatever riding goals you have set. The other great thing about the GWRHA show was the support the members gave every night from the stands as their fellow rider competed. The GWRHA show also had a class called the red shirt futurity for four-year-old horses that did not compete in their three-year-old year.  There were quite a few entries in this class and the GWRHA was really promoting this class for the future.

Rollback

To do a rollback you want to bring your outside leg back and away from the horse’s body to open the door for the horse to move through. You want your reins to come up and across the horse’s neck in the direction you want to turn. Your hand should point in the direction you want the horse to lope off in once they have rolled back. In order to get the horse to snap out into the lope after the roll back kick with both legs in the belly. The goal is to have the horse roll back on their hocks. To do that you need to be soft with your hands during the roll back and firm with your legs to get the horse to snap out into the lead departure. Once you have done this over and over the horse will learn to speed up on their own during the roll back in order to depart fast after the roll back.

Something we have never done before to get that snap out of the roll back was working with a cow flag. A few of the trainers have suggested trying it but we never had time to do it until we got to Nathan’s. The flag is shaped like a cow and is attached to a pulley system that runs back and forth along the wall. The idea is to give the horse something to follow in the roll back.  By working the flag, you are able to sharpen the stop, the roll back, and the depart in the opposite direction faster. My horse wasn’t sure of the cow flag at first but once he got the hang of it he started following that cow like a cutting horse. This was really fun for both of us and it also helped our roll back in the process.

Circles

Nathan likes to warm up for circles by trotting in a small circle.  From a small circle, you ask the horse to follow the path you chose for that circle. If the horse leaves that path, lay the outside rein, and move them back on the path of the circle. This is also done at the lope. Doing this exercise gets the horse sensitive to the neck rein, which teaches them to guide with very little pressure.

If a horse does not want to stay on the circle the other exercise you can do is to stop the horse and turn them around a few times and lope off. You want to turn them into the circle to teach them to follow it. You want to keep doing this exercise until the horse is soft in the face and following the circle with very little pressure from the outside rein. Click this link to watch the video explaining the circle exercise. Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/RMEurlwTr7w

Large Fast Circle

When running a large fast circle your hand position needs to be close to the horse’s neck and forward.  To guide the horse in the circle from that position Nathan likes to have his hand lined up with the horse’s inside ear. This position allows you to direct the horse without lifting up or pulling back on the reins. It also gives the horse a clear direction to follow because your reins are contacting a sensitive part of their neck.

Lead Changes

This exercise is done by making your circle into an oval shape. You want to lope off and start making your oval. As you come through the center of the arena on both of the long sides of the oval you want to pick up your reins and keep your outside leg on. This is how you set the horse for the lead change. You don’t want to do the lead change until the horse is relaxed and straight as you set up for the lead change. Once you have the horse soft and straight, go ahead and change leads. Once you change leads you want to remain in a counter canter circle. Doing the counter canter circle helps keeps the horse picked up and prevents the horse from dropping into the other circle. You can counter canter a few circles and then move into the circle onto the correct lead and repeat the exercise. This exercise helps teach the horse to relax through the center and not anticipate the lead change. It also allows the rider to practice the lead change in the center without the horse getting sour in the middle. Click this link to watch the video explaining the lead change exercise.C lick this link to see video   https://youtu.be/v_56fsgvjMk

Spooking Horse

If your horse is like mine and gets spooked by things moving outside the pen than you can use this technique. Nathan likes to make the horse look into the circle. If that isn’t enough than he makes a small circle and keep the horse looking into that circle. You can also break down to a walk and pump the horse’s face down until they are more focused on you and what you want than what they were looking at.

Turnaround

Nathan likes to trot a small circle in a counter bend to work on the turnaround. To do this you pick up your outside rein and bring it across and above the saddle horn. This bends the horse’s neck to the outside of the circle. The inside rein is back and just above your hip to help balance the horse’s face. Using your outside leg, push the horse’s hip to the inside of the circle. Doing this gets the horse’s front and back legs to cross over. After the horse has crossed over a few times release their head and let them turn in the direction they were crossing over to. So, if the horse was crossing to the right you want to turn right. This exercise helps get the horse to drive from behind for the turnaround. You don’t want the horse to only pull from the front on the turnaround. When you ask for the turnaround this exercise has conditioned the horse to use their whole body to execute the maneuver. Click this link to watch the video explaining the turnaround exercise. Click this link to see video  https://youtu.be/buFxHccptQ0

While in Kuna, ID I logged 9 hours of riding time toward the AQHA riding program. https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and keep watching for more about our trip across the U.S. and all the great people and places we experience. Please share this with your friends.

For more information about Nathan Kent Performance Horses click on this link: http://www.kentperformancehorses.com/

Check out more reining horse trainers by clicking this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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How to Ride Your Reining Horse with Steve and Dori Schwartzenberger Longmont, CO

 Steve and Dori Schwartzenberger Professional Reining Horse Trainers Longmont, CO

We arrived during breeding season at Schwartzenberger Equine. The barn was busy with foals being born and breeding for next year. While we were there a filly was born and we were able to see her just hours after her first steps. That same day we watched a 7-week-old embryo be transferred into a surrogate mare and another mare be artificially inseminated. All this while the everyday business of horse training went on.

Lead Changes

We started the lead change exercise by counter cantering the circle. The advantage to the counter canter is that it helps the horse to frame up and stay in shape themselves. Once in the counter canter circle you want to have the horse’s head and body following the circle as if they are in the correct lead. By doing this it helps keep the horse’s shoulder picked up before you ask for the lead change. Having the horse following the circle as if they are the correct lead keeps the lead change simple for the horse. Their body is already following the circle so all they have to do is change their feet and they are in the correct lead.

What to do if your horse is looking out of the circle.

If a horse is looking out of the circle you want to use your inside rein and bend the horse at the pole by bring your inside rein back and up to your hip. Keep your forward motion as you ask for this bend and continue to ride half way around the circle and release the rein so the horse is following the arch of the circle. Continue to do this until the horse understand that they are to follow the circle without looking out.

Turn Around

For this exercise, we trotted a small circle with the horse’s front end squared up. Once the horse is collected up and lock into the circle ask for one or two turns and trot out into the small circle again. Continue to do this exercise and ask for more turns each time. Soon the horse will be hunting the turn around and crossing over correctly in the front and planting the pivot foot behind.

The interesting thing about the turn around that I learned was that the inside front leg needs to step laterally to allow the outside front leg to cross over. To help teach the horse to step laterally with their inside leg you want to bring your inside rein over your inside knee and lay the outside rein on the horse’s neck. This will cause the horse’s inside leg to follow the inside rein. The result will be a clean cross over with the outside front leg. Click on this link to watch the youtube video.https://youtu.be/Y-qKbgLqn-s

While in Longmont, CO I logged 7.5 hours of riding time toward the AQHA riding program. https://www.aqha.com/trail-riding/programs/aqha-horseback-riding-program

I hope you enjoyed this post and fell free to share it with your friends

For more information about SS Equine clink on the link: http://ssequine.com/

Check out more reining horse trainers by clicking this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o

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How to Ride Your Reining Horse Better with Jim and Linda Hitt Professional Horse Trainers, Elizabeth, CO

Professional Horse Trainers, Jim and Linda Hitt,

Elizabeth, CO

Jim and Linda have experience in multiple riding disciplines which was great to be exposed to. Jim focus is on training horses for trail competition and Linda is the reining trainer. Having the opportunity to ride with both of them exposed me to a verity of training techniques.

Reining Lesson with Linda Hitt

Transitioning from a large fast to a small slow first

Linda likes to think of the circle having spotting points in the shape of STOP sign. By thinking this way gives you the visual of the center of the circle being a straight line. Linda placed two traffic cones on each side of the center line. This created an alley way to guide through as you go from your large fast circle to your small slow. This add really helped me to stay straight through center and to time my transition to the small slow.

Lead Changes with Linda Hitt

The lead change exercise was a new one for me. We counter cantered around the outside of the arena being sure to stay away from the walls. After multiple times around the arena I would ask for the lead change by laying my outside leg on and releasing my inside leg and kissing for the lead change. This was done on the long straight line of the arena. I have to say I was not good at this exercise. Every time I took my inside leg off my horse thought I wanted him to stop.

Suppling Exercises with Jim Hitt

Jim likes to start his week by doing suppling exercises with his horses. He feels that these exercises help the horse become more balanced and helps the rider to be able to bend the horse in the pole, neck, shoulders, barrel and hips. When a horse is supple throughout their body we are able to place the horse where we want them to be in each maneuver.

The first exercise is done at the trot. You pick up your inside rein and bend the horse’s head to the inside and maintaining forward motion with your legs and the outside rein. Once the horse is bending well to the inside do the same bending to the outside of the circle by picking up the outside rein and maintaining forward movement with your legs and the inside rein. When doing this exercise the rein that is bending the horse’s neck is slightly higher than the non-bend rein. Keep both reins in front of the saddle horn while doing this exercise. You want the horse to pick their shoulder up and become round. They need forward motion to achieve that collection. Once the horse is moving well at moderate jog Jim likes to do the same exercise at what he calls the power jog. He asks for more forward motion and does the same bending. Doing this requires the horse to use their body more allowing them to self-collect. Jim also does this exercise at the power jog, which is a faster more forward trot.

Turning on the forhand at the trot

This exercise requires the horse to move their hind end around faster than the front end. To do this start by trotting a small circle. Than pick up the inside rein and bend the horse’s head to the inside and push the inside leg on the body to get the horse to cross their back legs over. Horses want to back up out of the exercise, so it is important to maintain forward motion as you move the horse’s hind end around. This link will take you to a youtube video of the exercise.  Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/nLCcf4KoF6w

Lead Change

We started out loping circles on the correct lead and that came through center and loped circle in the counter canter. While doing the counter canter you maintain the same leg and hand position as you had in the correct lead circle. Once you have loped a few circles on the counter canter come straight down the long side of the arena and place your outside leg on and open your inside leg and change your reins so that the new inside rein in slightly higher than the outside rein and ask for the lead change by kissing. Changing the rein position helps to lift up the inside shoulder and clears it for the lead change. This link with take you to a youtube video of the exercise. Click this link to see video https://youtu.be/vRxyqwPW2pY

While in Elizabeth, CO I logged 6 hours of riding time toward the AQHA riding program.

Please feel free to share this information with your friends.

For more information about Jim and Linda Hitt at Gambel Oaks Equestrian Center clink on this link: http://www.gambeloaks.com/index.html

Check out more reining horse trainers by clicking this link: https://horsetaillegacy.com/063o