Slow down, to get faster
by Larry Bourke

Often times, when working on certain maneuvers with my horses I find that I get in a rush to try and get speed involved. I find that instead of my horse getting "faster" at the maneuver, he instead starts to get "heavy" in my hands. When this happens, it’s a huge signal from my horse telling me to slow down. Sometimes you have to go back to step one, and rebuild the very foundation of the maneuver to help your horse to understand.

One example of this is the backup. I have noticed young horses, in particular, that in the beginning put a lot of effort into their backup. Later as you try to speed them up a bit, they become heavy, until it almost seems you have to pull them backwards. At this point, the best thing is to go back to step one. Put just a few ounces of "signal" on the bit, shift your weight back in the saddle, and wait. Reward them for even a shift of their own weight in the right direction. Set this up and each time, just wait on them to do it, asking only for slight improvement. You might feel as though you're back at day one with them, but the steps will fall back in place rather quickly for the horse. Soon, he will be putting the effort back into the maneuver, and doing it without being troubled.

It is easy to get caught up in the maneuver, and forget to think about what the horse needs from you in return. The horse's needs are quite basic; they want security, relief, and comfort. Sometimes we focus on our needs, the speed of the maneuver, and forget about the other half of the equation.

Rather than asking the horse to become as "fast" as we'd like, we should instead request that he put in the effort to become the best that he can be at the maneuver. This may be as "fast" as we hoped for, or not, that depends on every individual horse. Just like not every human can be a professional athlete, not every horse will be a performance horse, but they can all become as good as they can be, if we help them and not try to force them.

Regards,

Larry Bourke
Circle B Ranch
www.thecircleb.com