Horse Training Tips – How To Stop A Horse
How Do You “REALLY” Stop A Horse?
Do you know the answer to this question?
Do you stop a horse by the bit?
The answer, my friend, is no.
You see, I get a lot of questions asking how to stop a horse that just keeps going and going and going…Sorta like the Eveready Horse.
One rider said, “It didn’t matter how hard I pulled on the reins, he just kept going.”
“Makes sense”, I wrote back.
You see, a horse stops because he was trained to do it. It’s the training that stops him…not the bit.
The bit is merely a signaling device.
To get a runaway horse to stop you can employ the One-Rein Stop like Paul Esh taught in his video.
One Rein Stop by Paul Esh
One reason it works so well is because a horse can’t push against the bit when his head is pulled to the side.
But, as Sam Burrell says…only use the One-Rein Stop when necessary.
Sam Burrell
He’s right.
You teach your horse some “not-so-good” habits if you overuse the One-Rein Stop. One habit is he’ll start to move his hip out because pulling his head to one side causes the opposite sided hip to move out.
So the trick is to train the horse to stop.
A good technique is to use a fence.
Start in the walk.
Always, always, always teach something first from the walk.
Anyway, walk up to the fence and before you get to it, adjust your body in the stop position.
That is where you relax, take a breath, feet a little forward, and draw your belly button back to your spine.
You see, the horse can feel that. It’s a Pre-Signal to what you’re going to want.
A pre-signal is always a good thing to do for the horse. It tells him something’s comin’.
Okay. You gave him the presignal and now you say “Whoa”.
Whoa is the signal.
You may have to give a “post” signal too.It’s also known as the enforcer.
And that is a slight bump on the reins.
Think of it this way.
You’re in your car moving just fine.
Then you see the light turn yellow.
That’s your precursor that something’s about to happen. And you already know what that something is.
Likewise, the horse gets his yellow light from how you adjust your laundry while in the saddle.
Your red light from the traffic light is akin to the horse hearing you say “Whoa”.
That means stop, grow roots, don’t keep moving. Stop NOW.
So why use the fence to teach your horse to stop?
Because it’s in his way. It’s an aid to help him to learn not go forward anymore. After all, there’s a fence in his way.
As you practice this, don’t go to the fence at 90 degrees each time. Go at more of an angle, say, 45 degrees.
Remember to switch sides on the horse to practice this. Always work from both sides when teaching a horse something – it’s another key training point.
One more thing – and I’ve said it again and again.
Don’t make your horse stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop, and stop and stop…..
He’ll get tired of it REAL fast.
See…I’ll bet you even got tired of reading it.
[ It reminds me of my young kids when they used to ask why? why? why? why? why? ]
Just do a couple stops on both sides then let him go wherever.
You can make a horse mad real quick by overdoing it. And when he gets mad, he’s not too hip on being cooperative.
So when you get a few successes, let him be a horse for a while and don’t ask him to do anything else.
Ok? There ya go. Stay safe out there…
Charlie
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You can read more about the One Rein Stop by Paul Esh by clicking HERE.