Monday, November 23, 2009
BACKING and why it's important to the barrel/pole horse
BACKING UP
It's overlooked but such an important part of training the barrel horse and keeping the finished barrel horse supple in its mind and body!
Types of backing you should try: Ground, Straight, Retangles, Circles around a barrel nose out and nose in!
Backing offers: It builds hind end control, lightness, vertical flex and mind control.
Barrel racing is a high adrenal event for both the horse and rider, consisting of forward motion. To keep a horse's mind supple and non-resistant backing is a great exercise.
From the ground, it teaches manners, respect and also works to a lighter backup in the saddle. Use a halter, 20 foot lead rope and a lunge whip. Ask the horse as light as possible to back one step at a time with the wiggle of your lead rope, use a full sideways swing or wave lunge whip in front of them until they take a step, for every step back all pressure off. Some horses may require walking towards them and letting the whip hit their chest, but for one step stop all pressure, wait and repeat. Start small but build to a point where your feet never move and your horse will back off a light cue to the end of the 20 foot rope.
In the saddle, straight lines. Surprise, many horses can't back up straight. Make sure your horse is breaking in the face(meaning nose even with eyes from your hand/rein pressure) and body. This will not be an issue if you start with ONE step at a time and build to 9 steps, as you can use your reins and legs to move them around easier. Cues to use to start backing on a young horse in the beginning would be give and take from the reins for each step taken. Start asking for 2 steps build to 9 over a month. On an advanced horse that can back off give and take of hand, now use your hands as a solid wall, and your legs for impulsion. Your horse's shoulders should feel elevated in your hands, your body should be leaning back in your saddle and your hands should be a solid wall on the advanced horse and then use your legs, alternating or squeezing with a cluck or kiss should get your horse moving. As you take your legs off and reins down the horse should stop. If a horse is not broke to vertical flexion this backing exercise will teach them it as well. You do not release rein pressure until they break in the poll and feel slack in your reins. You will know not only teach your horse to use their hind end better, to round the top line but also get their face broke to your hands as well.
Once you master that, try backing in a circle with the use of a barrel for a focus point, using legs, mainly in the beginning to keep hip in and shoulder out. Leg by the back cinch controls hip, leg by the front cinch controls shoulder. The rib cage will begin to bend as you get more control of the shoulder and the hip. With the correct use of leg pressure put on and taken off at the right time, you can teach your horse to be easy to move around and supple. I begin with calve pressure, then heel, then a kick or spur roll. Once you can get control of the horse's body in a circle backing, now add face control nose out and nose in.
Backing is a very important part of getting solid basics on a horse. The horse that can ease into a stop.whoa and keep their hind end under them will making a better rating and turning barrel horse as they are collected and have their hind end up under them. Get control of the hind end and you will get better control of the horse every time. So often I get emails saying "WHAT BIT WILL FIX THIS PROBLEM", it's not in the BITS people, it's in the TRAINING, take the time to get them BROKE, solid basics will lead to better performance every time!
The horse that understands that pressure is applied until the correct answer is given and pressure is released will quickly learn to get the right answer. You can train your horse to work from ONE cue or several, you have your eyes, voice, body, leg and hands to communicate with your horse. The lighter you are the lighter they will become. Of course it doesn't start off light always, but that is the final goal!
Tina Spangler - TLC
www.tlcbarrelhorsetraining.com
