A Better Way to Ride

Almost everyday I see the term “Western Dressage” being used by top trainers in the world. Before ever starting the Doubletree facility in the early part of my training carrier it seemed to me that that old way of riding was a bit lacking. At the time most western riders including trainers were riding with their legs stuck out in the air and pulling the horse around by the nose.
I came across an old book written by some riding master I think in England and in the book I started to see how the dressage riders were communicating with their horses. I liked the idea of weight shifts and leg cues to direct the horse, but was still a little concerned with the bit contact that dressage riders used. I started experimenting with ideas and soon started building “The Program by Carl Wood” that I teach now to all my students. It involves body language that all horses understand, because it is a natural way for them to respond to the cues. Taking maneuvers like flying lead changes and roll backs and dividing them into simple exercises I have been able to teach this concept to horses and riders alike. The goal was to communicate to the horse as a partner in achieving complicated maneuvers rather than pulling him around with the reins. So the term Western Dressage meaning a lot of leg cues, weight shifts, and loose reins came into being. Good horseman continue to refine and discover new and better ways of communicating. Now that it is becoming more popular to communicate with your horse rather than dictate to him I believe there will be a lot of good horseman refining and building on the program bringing about whole new level of horsemanship.

Lesson 6b Wiggle Tail

Once you have two tracking down in 6a then try moving your horse’s rear to the right and then to the left in one flowing movement. Start out moving the horse’s hind end to the right by placing the left leg and hip on, taking the right leg off, and blocking with your right rein. When the horse moves its hind end over to the right let go with the blocking rein, shift your weight to the right (putting on your right leg and hip and taking off your left leg), pick up your left rein to block the shoulder and the horses rear will move over to the left. You should slide your hip over in the saddle and to do that push a little with the leg you take off the horse’s side. Now you are really moving the hip of the horse back and forth like a clock pendulum. Again lead changes will be easily accomplished when you master this exercise.

Lesson 6a. Two Tracking Down The Center.

Lesson 6a. Two tracking down the center of the arena. This is the two track you were doing in the figure 8 on the fence but without the fence. Walk in a straight line. Start bending and blocking the horse’s head to the left. At the same time start putting right leg pressure on. The horse will be moving his rear to catch up with his head. If you can go in a straight line yet have your horse’s rear steps make a different track than the front then you have accomplished the two track. Just as you did on the figure 8 above on the fence. You will need to move your hip to the right and take your left leg off completely in order to let the horse move freely to the left. This maneuver helps the horse’s coordination, picks the shoulders up, and disconnects the rear. Let him two track this way for several steps then center yourself and let him walk straight again. Then do the same thing again pushing him into the two track for a few steps then straight again all the way down the arena. At the end come back down the arena two tracking the other way off and on just as before. You should be going in a straight line with his shoulders so aim at something on the other end of the arena and try to get his shoulders to go straight there both two tracking and going straight. This movement will be necessary when asking for lead changes, to correct hind end movement in spins, canter departures and straight rundowns. Practice both directions! If you are still confused then think of the rear of the horse as an old clock pendulum moving from one side to the other with the shoulders of the horse as the pivot point.

Lesson 5 The Figure 8

Figure 8 on the fence teaches the side pass and two track. (Opposite side hand and opposite side leg) Many believe that side passing and two tracking are advanced maneuvers. I believe they are basic to every maneuver you will ever do and therefore need to be taught at the earliest stages. I developed the figure 8 because it is the simplest way to learn and teach the side pass and two track. It is the beginning of the canter departure, lead changes, rollbacks, and even spins. You must use all the things you have learned so far to make this work. Lots of outside leg pressure, inside leg off (inside is direction of travel), and picking up the shoulder.Start by walking to the fence at a 45 degree angle going to the left. Pick up the left rein to pick up and block the left shoulder. Take the left leg off. Keep the horses head straight or tipped slightly to the left. By using a little right rein when needed you can keep him from over bending to the left. Never let his head turn back from where you came or in this case to the right. (The fence will stop his forward motion), press with the right leg and drop your hip to the right to get the horse to momentarily two track. Once you feel his hip start around relax and let him walk on down the fence a few steps and then do a small circle to the left (inside the arena away from the fence) now coming to the fence at a 45 degree angle going to the right. Pick up the right rein to pick up and block the right shoulder. Take off the right leg. Keep the horses head straight or slightly to the right by using a little left rein when needed. Put on the left leg and drop your left hip to do a two track. Once you feel his hip start around relax and let him walk on a few steps. Do a small circle to the right and come back to the fence going to the left. That brings you back to the beginning so continue for several more figure 8’s. When using the blocking rein you will be able to control the shoulders. By placing the blocking rein against the horses neck (not across it) you can stop the shoulders if you want or just slow them down so the rear end can start around. Then you can take the rein away from the neck and allow the shoulders to move on down the fence. You will find that constant adjusting is necessary to keep a smooth two track working. As your horse progresses you can extend the number of steps in the two track. As he progresses in time (maybe weeks) you will come straighter and straighter into the fence. Eventually you will be able to approach the fence head on and then get the side pass. As you progress you will want to move the front and rear at the same time. Beginning horses will usually move the front then the back and then the front again and so on. That is ok as long as you keep trying to get them both working together. As the side pass improves, use less angle when coming to the fence. As in the turns and spins do not drop your shoulder but keep your blocking hand slightly above your other hand. Finally stand at the fence and side pass left, stop, then right, stop, and go back and forth several times. Eventually move out into in the center of the arena and side pass out there. Don’t rush this, each day get a little more and in a week you will have a complete side pass. By now you have noticed that in order to keep the front end and back end two tracking or side passing you have to change your blocking hand position and pressure to keep everything flowing. Horses head should be in the direction of travel not away from it.

So you call yourself a horse trainer?

Something I love about where we live is that there is a big influence of farming and ranching. I think this really contributes to the love of all things equine in this area, one of the only drawbacks I have come across is that I find a lot of people calling themselves “trainers” Every time I pass a bulletin board in the feed store, or read the local farm classifieds there are a half dozen ads for people who want to train your horse. I have no problem with other trainers; I support anyone who I feel is a positive influence on the horse business. I also feel that people throw around the word trainer with little significance to what it really means. One problem with making a living as a trainer is that so many people want to work with horses that they will do it for almost free. I see ads that charge so little for training that it barely covers the cost of hay and I am forced to assume in that scenario you are getting what you pay for. I know that for a lot of these people being a trainer is a dream, but they still have to work full time jobs to pay their bills while they follow that dream. Unfortunately a person cannot work another job and then find the time to invest in a horse that is required, training isn’t something you can accomplish evenings and weekends. The performance potential of your horse cannot exceed the talent and ability of the trainer.
I have never been great about promoting myself I have always felt a pride in the quality of my horses and for me that is enough, but I find all of the so called trainers a little alarming. I think that there are a lot of them that could call them selves colt starters, they can get a horse under saddle, I also think if they work, study and compete for another ten years or so they could qualify as trainers but at this point they are not beyond the basics. There is over thirty years of breeding and standing world class stallions, showing and competing at a national level, building a full service equine facility, and training horses for every discipline that goes into me calling my self a trainer. I believe these other people have their heart in the right place but people who are really capable of getting your horse to a finished level are few and far between. I don’t want this to be perceived as an attempt to tell everyone to bring me their horse; in fact if you want me to recommend another trainer I will gladly do it I have the privilege of working and showing against some people that I feel are a real credit to our industry. I just want you as owners to really consider who you are trusting your horse with, I know when people shop for day care and preschool, they don’t look for the lowest price they look for the place they think their child will benefit the most from, they ask questions, and they check out qualifications, you owe at least that to your horses.
When we have a beautiful young horse that is just getting started that initial foundation that is laid is the most important time in that horses life. Every horse is unique and only through years of experience and continuing education can a person be ready to tackle whatever challenges that a horse may face. There are lots of people that offer the service of taking your horse from being unbroken to being under saddle, it is the next steps that are hard to handle, can they teach your horse to do a sliding stop, and do they know how to train a horse to do a flying lead change, how about rollbacks and spins? To they have the riding and training ability to not only do those things but help you to do them as well? I feel like I have earned the title of horse trainer, I can train your horse to do all of these things plus a lot more, and thanks to my background in education I can also help you accomplish these things as well. When you put your horse in training and you are hoping for a horse that you can compete on in working cow horse, reining, a horse your child will be safe and successful on or simply a trail horse that is second to none then I recommend you find yourself a real horse trainer. If your goal is simply to swing yourself into the saddle and not get bucked off, well then I have some ads for you to read in the paper.

WHOA!!!!

We all seem to be after that long sliding stop. Number one you can’t get over a couple of feet if your horse is barefoot or has regular shoes on the back. To get those long slides we have to put sliders on our horse. But we are getting the sliders ahead of the horse in this case. Stops need some fundamental work before anything like shoes can help you. First you have to ride that means that you can’t sit there like a sack of potatoes but move with your horse. We ride with good posture our spine is erect, legs hugging the horse, driving with our seat, then to stop legs off, slouched spine, no pressure forward. This makes a clear difference for the horse. As riders we can’t slowly dribble to a stop we need black/white, on /off, go / stop. You have to be pro-active in your riding. In other words you need to ask your horse to move forward with every step. To achieve that go back to the very first lessons and put both legs on your horse and squeeze to make him go forward. Don’t squeeze with your knees or upper thighs but only with your lower calf. It is like hugging your horse with your legs rather than pushing into its sides. Don’t stand in your stirrups. Move your hips forward to encourage the horse to move forward as you go. You know the drill! If you don’t go back and read from the beginning of this blog. Now let’s try some stops. With your legs on and you pushing the horse forward with your hips there needs to be an increase in his impulsion. To get that you need to speed him up a little just before the stop. You can’t let him slow or just go the same speed before the stop but instead he must be speeding up just a little. At the same time you have to let your shoulders move back just slightly back of vertical and drive harder with your hips and legs. When it comes time for the stop you pull back slightly on the rein, take both legs off the horse by straightening them forward (not out to the side). They should act as a brace but not push you out of the saddle. Your shoulders should slump down towards your saddle horn as your hand comes back and you should set very deep in the saddle. Make sure you do not elongate your stomach as you would if you drove your shoulders back further, but instead drop them and let your stomach collapse like you just got hit in the stomach and lost all your air. In fact it helps many riders to take a big deep breath on the rundown and let it out all at once when the stop is called for. If you are thrown forward then you brought your shoulders forward rather than down and you probably pushed too hard with your legs thus making your whole body rigid. What is called for here is a definite change form going forward with lots of pressure on your horse to no pressure and a resistance in your body and hands to forward motion. You will try to be flexible in your whole body. If you get rigid then you will be unable to do much more than bounce. Rather than trying to do all this at a lope you should first do it at a walk and then a trot. Lots of trotting stops will really help when you try to do them from a lope. There is a rhythm in your horses lope and you must ask at the right time in that rhythm in order to get him to stop well. You need to ask for the stop as your horses hips come forward just before they land. You will be pushing the horse forward with your hips as his front legs go forward and as soon as they land the horses back legs will leave the ground. That is when you stop riding and ask for the stop at stated above. Remember to go back to the trot is your timing is off or if you get thrown forward of the saddle. Relax!