Transitions and Head Tossing

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Transitions and Head Tossing

Welcome to your next issue of "Horse Class," your how-to source for equine tips, tricks and solid foundational training brought to you by horsemanship101.com and John Lyons Certified Trainer Keith Hosman. Note that articles (as credited) in certain premier issues were co-written by Josh Lyons (John's son) - and much credit is due to Josh's amazing insights.

Wouldn't it be cool if your horse would stop on a dime? (Or stop at all?) Wouldn't it be great if it were more willing and maneuverable? Does it throw its head up when you ask for more speed or drop its shoulder and blow into a lead...?

Let's fix all that (you can do this!) with the following easy articles:

• get great stops, smoother transitions & a calmer horse by teaching your horse the fundamentals of collection with the Three Step Stop exercise
• fix horses that root at or pull on the bit

Both step-by-step horse training articles are sampled below. To read each in its entirety, simply follow the links provided or visit Horsemanship101.com/Articles. (And remember, our earlier issues can be found twenty-four/seven at Horsemanship101.com/Articles.)

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Smooth Transitions

The exercise that follows, "Three Step Stop" will fix a whole host of common riding issues. It'll make your horse stop now as opposed to later; it'll make your horse more maneuverable and smoother through its transitions (from a slow jog to an extended trot, from a trot to a lope, for instance) and it goes a long way towards building better manners and picking up the correct lead.

Most importantly, it teaches your horse that when you ask for more speed and drop your legs against its sides, it's to put it's head down, "collect up" and move fluidly — not throw its head up in the air and drop a shoulder as it lurches forward.

You've seen this many times: The faster you go, the higher the head gets. You add speed and with speed comes emotion. This exercise teaches your horse a cue: When you bump with your legs, it should bring its head down. And, more than that, anytime you touch the reins, the horse should know to "get into frame," that is, to carry itself in a correct, collected position.

There are three parts to this exercise called "Flying Time," "Take Off" and "Landing." "Landing" is stopping the horse (from a walk), then bumping with your legs, asking the horse to soften (or relax) it's neck muscles and drop it's nose. You don't want to go forward, (or to move at all, for that matter) just for the horse to soften up and "give to the bit." A "Take Off" is when I've got the horse softened up or in the frame I want and I ask him to step forward. I ask him to move forward and into the bit. "Flying Time" is when the horse is actually giving and traveling at the same time.

keep reading "Three Step Stop Exercise"

My Horse Roots At The Bit

Ninety percent of the time "head tossing" and "rooting at the bit" is caused by the person riding the horse. If your horse "roots at the bit," that is, he drops his head and pulls or tugs the reins out of your hands, then he's learned that when he pulls you give. That is, he knows that when he yanks the bit, he'll get a release from bit pressure because your hands will move in kind. The head-tossing horse has learned the same thing....

keep reading "My Horse Roots At The Bit"

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Starting a 2 Y-O

My Downloadable Book "How to Start a Horse" leads you step-by-step!

Here's a sample
from Day Two:

"For your part, you'll begin to more fully understand the way the horse moves (or needs and wants to move) when you make a request. Throughout today's material you must very consciously watch your horse so that you begin recognizing patterns that you'll employ later when riding. Watch how he places his feet and how muscles move during a maneuver and especially before. Watch how he'll shift his weight prior to a particular movement. Watch to see how he's positioned when he does something for you easily versus how he stands before he does the same thing poorly. Try to figure out the sequence he'll naturally follow; try to spot how he must move shortly before a correct movement and figure out what it'll take for you to later "put him there before even making your request." Try to discover how too much pressure makes his work harder. Realize that when you take the rein, you're taking the hand of your dance partner and find a natural rhythm....

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