How to Riding a Reining Horse

With Melanie and Sebastian Petroll

Melanie and Sebastian Petroll are professional reining horse trainers located in Whitesboro, TX. While I was there I rode three different horses and worked on guiding with the neck rein, lead changes, turnarounds, stopping, and rollbacks. I found the Petrolls through the NRHA’s Buy A Pro Program. In 2015 this program replaced the regional clinics as the primary fundraiser for the NRHyA. Anyone that wants to take a lesson from some of the best Reining Horse trainers are able to bid on the trainers that are taking part in the program. I decided to bid on Melanie Petroll during the auction. The auction allowed for two lessons with that trainer. I added additional lessons privately so that I could ride with both Melanie and Sebastian.

Guiding (Sebastian Petroll)

Reining horses are guided off the neck rein. The goal is to maintain a low hand position and have the horse move off the neck rein pressure. You want the horse to become responsive to the rein on their neck and not be dependent on the bit for guidance. Whenever you ask for the horse to do something it has to pass from your head to your body and hands to their body and neck to their brain. It is important not to ask the horse to do something too quickly or things will not be communicated clearly to the horse. No matter what speed you are going you need to ask the horse the same way every time. Do not over guide the horse. They must have some responsibility to maintain the circle, or straight line on their own, don’t do all the work for them or they will become less motivated to do the job.

Guiding exercise (Sebastian Petroll)

Start by loping a circle at the end of the arena. When you are about 1/3 of the way down the length of the arena guide the horse across the center of the arena and continue around the circle. Once you reach the top of the arena turn and lope down the length of the arena to the other end. Do the same type of circle at the other end of the arena. Continue to do this until you fell your horse is guiding well. Click this link to watch the video https://youtu.be/lAEk8Yvjlkc

Lead change (Sebastian Petroll)

The lead change is a natural maneuver for a horse. When teaching a horse to change leads on command it takes some time to communicate what you want. After the horse understands what you are asking for, you can proceed to practicing the lead change. The goal is to be able to ask for the lead change at any place in the arena. The horse needs to view the lead change as an everyday normal thing. Don’t over think it if the horse does not change well just move forward and ask again. Once you get a good change, stop and give the horse a rest.

One way to practice lead changes is to do a serpentine pattern down the length of the arena. Starting at one end depart on the correct lead as you turn to cross the arena you will be on the counter canter as you go across the center. When you turn again you will be on the correct lead. Continue to do this all the way down the arena. Once the horse is moving well you can ask for the lead change as you come across the arena on a straight line. Be sure to continue on the straight line after the lead change. If the horse tries to drop into the circle continue around into the counter canter circle. If you allow the horse to drop in after the lead change eventually they will stop changing leads in the rear end. Click this link to watch the video https://youtu.be/2SBip6G3DYo

Turnaround (Melanie Petroll)

When working on the turnaround first ask for it by laying the outside rein on the horse’s neck open your inside leg. If the horse does not move off the rein, then follow up by bumping with your outside leg. Always keep your hand movements within an imaginary box in front of your saddle. If you pull your hand too far outside the box it will cause the horse to bend its neck to the outside. This makes it hard for the horse to cross over smoothly in the front. Some horses will try to slow down in the turnaround in anticipation of the whoa. If this happens, continue to turn and only stop when you feel the horse is moving well and not slowing down. When you are practicing turnarounds, you always want to count your circle. This will lessen the likelihood of miss counting in the show pen

If your horse is not moving well in the turnaround, then trot it in a small circle and collect it up under its self. Once you feel the horse is moving well, ask for the turnaround by stepping directly into the turn from the trot.  Continue to turnaround until the horse is moving freely and in a good cadence before you say whoa. If the horse does not want to stand still after you stop, ask them to turn again a few times and then stop them. This teaches the horse that rest happens when they stand still. Click this link to watch the video https://youtu.be/U2tajLH2ibc

Rundown and Stopping (Melanie Petroll)

To achieve a good stop, you must have a good rundown. When you are fencing or stopping you want to be sure that your shoulders are back behind your hips and you are looking up and out.  Your feet need to start pushing down into your stirrups just slightly before saying whoa. Doing this gets your body into the stopping position prior to asking for the stop.

Do not grip the horse with your legs during the rundown. This will prevent you from being in the correct stopping position and can shorten the horse’s stride. You want to feel like your legs are just lightly contacting the horse. You should have the sensation that the horse is moving out in front of you. If you feel like you are tightening up you can move your legs and body around during the rundown to remind yourself to remain relaxed. The rundown should be viewed like any other time you are loping around, the only difference is you are going to ask for a stop at the end.

The other drawback of always gripping with your legs is the horse will feel the release of pressure when you bump your legs to drive them forward. Instead of moving forward they will think the release mean stop. Gripping also prevents the horse’s ability to move freely. Click this link to watch the video https://youtu.be/dHTNSKX2MoM

Rollback (Melanie Petroll)

The rollback is a maneuver that requires the horse to reverse direction and lope off in a straight line back the way they came. To practice this, you want to stop, backup a step, look in the direction you want to go while drawing your hand back toward your hip. Open your outside leg and lay your inside leg on the horse to push them through to the new direction. This can be practiced at the walk, trot and lope. Click this link to watch the video https://horsetaillegacy.com/mnds

I had a great time learning from Melanie and Sebastian. Riding different horses is always a challenge for someone like me that really only gets to ride one horse on a regular basis. Whenever you get the change to ride a different horse take it. Being able to improve your skills as a rider only comes with time and experience. So, get out there and work with different trainers and horse, you will be glad you did.

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Future Reiner Ellie Petroll