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
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.
- The run down
- The stop
- The release – is after the stop and you allow the horse to stand up briefly and you release their face.
- 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!
