Rollback Maneuver on a Reining Horse
This blog presents exercises used by professional reining horse trainers to teach and perfect the rollback maneuver. As with every aspect of reining the rollback is a finesse maneuver. I feel it tests the communication the rider has with the horse. The horse is running to a sliding stop which really gets the adrenaline pumping and then the horse has to come back to the rider and rollback precisely and quietly lope off in the opposite direction.
The National Reining Horse Association definition of the rollback. “Rollbacks are the 180-degree reversal of forward motion completed by running to a stop, rolling (turning) the shoulders back to the opposite direction over the hocks and departing in a lope, as one continuous motion. The NRHA Handbook states no hesitation; however, a slight pause to regain footing or balance should not be deemed hesitation. The horse should not step ahead or backup prior to rolling back.”
Ashley Villmow
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.
Bobby Avila
Rollback
When a horse rolls back you want their inside leg to reach forward when they lope off. Moving your inside leg forward to creates more forward motion allows the horse to extend their stride. The extend stride creates a better lead departure out of the rollback. The object of the rollback is for the horse to turn inside out and lope off in the opposite direction. You must move your hands so they are creating the alley way toward the direction you want to go. For the rollback that alley way is back over the horse’s hip to complete the rollback.
When Bobby is teaching a horse to rollback he lopes it across the narrow part of the pen stops and turns and lopes off over and over until the horse understands what is expected of him when he stops. This condition the horse to think stop and turn. Bobby than makes the horse stop stay square and back up and turn and lope off. At the end of the practice session he will stop and stand and then walk off. By doing this final step the rollback is taken out of the stop and communicates to the horse that they are only to turn when you ask.
Brandy and Terri Murphy
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t7gyBAG448
Dallas Cunningham
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S9mm9M7lKw
Jay Dee Anderson
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. https://youtu.be/CpgzCaQLp2o
Mack Weaver
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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm2Ayg34OOo
Mike Davis
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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6rqRQn1G5Q
Nathan Kent
Rollback
To do a roll back 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 rollback on their hocks. To do that you need to be soft with your hands during the rollback 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 rollback in order to depart fast after the rollback.
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 rollback. By working the flag, you are able to sharpen the stop, the rollback, 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 rollback in the process.
Patti Cusker
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.
Sean Johnson
Rollback Exercise
I like to call this exercise the mental gymnastics exercise. This exercise is designed to help load the outside hock in preparation for the rollback and lead departure in the opposite direction. To do this exercise for the left rollback, start backing in a circle to the right. Pick up your left hand and keep right hand slightly lower. The hand position is the same as when asking for the rollback. Your left leg should be on the cinch and your right leg is behind. As you are backing up look slightly over to the left. Once the horse starts to soften in the backing up, start to lower your hand and keep backing up. Then ask for the rollback by bringing your hand to your left shoulder and turning your head and shoulders in the direction you want to lope off. To do a right rollback reverse the backup direction and the hand and leg position. The way I think of the leg position is to place them where they would be if I was doing a simple rollback but adding in backing circle as a windup before the release. These videos will demonstrate how to do the exercise. https://youtu.be/fDDcU5aC6Xk https://youtu.be/nxqXJcQKkXU
A few other thoughts about the rollback.
In practice it is good to ask for the lope off a step or two past your line. This helps teach your horse not to anticipate loping off down the line since they are not conditioned to only rolling back to a set spot every time.
Think of the rollback as a quick movement, that needs the rider to move slowly to achieve a smooth maneuver.
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