Riding horses is a huge part of my life.  They really are incredible animals that amaze me with what we are able to get them to do for us.  They are big enough and strong enough that if they did not want us to ride them and mold them, we couldn’t.  Yet for thousands of years humans have used horses to go somewhere, pull something, carry something, chase something and various other activities we have needed them to do.  While today their work use is less than it used to be, there uses have also developed into many other recreational competitions and needs.  We train them and compete to see who’s horse can look the best and do the best.  While for some competitions you can win a ribbon, for others millions of dollars a year are up for grabs.

This has also changed the shape of the way we train horses.  A lot of training historically was to teach the horse to do the job intended.  There was a purpose or job involved and the horse could see the reason as to what was going on.  Our recreational training involves getting the horse to do it just because we want them to.  The money you could win drives people to push harder to get the results they desire.  The level of modern competitions has really raised the bar as to the performance of our horses.

For me training horses is not about making a horse do what I want.  It is about getting a horse to want to do what I want.  It is more than a physical thing, but psychological.  It involves an understanding of how horses think and why they do what they do.  I give them options and make the outcome I want the most comfortable for the horse.  It involves giving back and encouraging a positive outcome.  We have to remember we really cannot make or force them do anything.  When the chips are down and we are out in that arena making that big run, the pressure is on,  the horse that wants to be there will come through for you more than the one that was forced.

Among all this we have to remember the old saying “horses for courses”.  Just like people,  horses are all different with differing personalities and physical characteristics and talents.  This may make them more suited to one job rather than another.  So, throughout all our training we have to keep in mind the suitability of our horse to do the job intended and keep our expectations in relative perspective.

I mostly work with reining horses, from two year olds to finished show horses.  Reining is a very challenging event with maneuvers carried out at various speeds while being judged based on  the NRHA rulebook.  The rulebook  explains  reining as;

“To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement.  The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely.  Any movement on his own must be considered a lack of control...”

This involves stopping, turning and circling at high speed, all without the horse adding anything in on their own.  While the goal is to get points for maneuvers from the judges, it is equally if not more  important not to lose penalty points.  These are also outlined in the rulebook.  As a reining trainer we need to have complete control to be competitive.  It is clear we will be penalized for lack of control. In addition any expression from the horse showing lack of willingness will also be penalized.  So getting our horses to want to do what we want is very important.

As part of the training process we need to communicate to our horses what we want.  We also need to remember communication is a two way street and to listen to our horses.  It is from this we know what we need to communicate back.  This is where it also gets a little trickier.  Reading your horse is not just seeing what he is physically doing but figuring out why he is doing it. This is very important in deciding what to do next.  Two different horses could be doing the same physical things but for different reasons, therefore require different responses from us.  In addition what your horse needs you to do today may be very different tomorrow and you may need to try different exercises to get the result you want.  There is no cookie cutter system of doing the same thing on every horse every day.  For me, I try to create a receptive mindset with my horse and see what natural talent flows.

In this monthly column we are going to discuss training and showing tips for your reining horse.  But since much of the training for the reining horse involves just getting a horse well broke and accepting direction from the rider it may also be pertinent to many different disciplines and people.  I hope you enjoy it and is of some help or interest to you.  If you have any topics you would like to see covered or questions you would like answered in the column please write in and I will work towards meeting your needs.  Let’s Ride, Slide and have fun!