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Horse and Rider December 2004: Breathe to Slow part III

In Lesson 1 (October), you used lope circles to teach your horse to "listen" and stay between the reins. Last month, you used the "whoa-back" to teach him to soften to rein contact, round through his back, and engage his hindquarters. With this, the final installment of your "tuned-in" series, you'll teach your horse to slow at the lope in response to your breathing.

You'll begin this lesson by allowing your horse to move as fast as he wants on a large circle at the lope. In fact, You'll urge him on and keep him going a bit farther and faster that he wants to. Then, you'll stop urging him on, take a deep breath, and sit deep in the saddle, letting his own desire to sloe down link to your subtle cues. With the repetition over time, your horse will learn to "listen" for these curs, making it almost seem as if he's reading your mind--a wonderful advantage in the show pen.

This approach--arranging it so your cues are linked to something you horse wants to do anyway--is based on Tom Dorrance/Ray Hunt philosophy of "making the right thing easy." I'm a firm believer in this philosophy, so I strive always to structure my training so my horse thinks what I'm asking of him is his idea. It's an extremely effective method, and you can do it, too.

1. After warming up your horse, ask him for a lope on a large circle and let him set his own pace. Left to his own devices, he may well run strung out as my horse is here, with his weight on his forehand and pushing on the bit. when this happens...

2....push him on into an even fast lope, or controlled gallop. I'm on a straightaway here; on a circle, apply just enough pressure to your inside rein to keep you horse's nose tipped slightly to the inside. (Keeping you horse on a circle--with his nose tipped to the inside--lets him know this is work and not a stampede.) Note how my upper body is inclined forward just slightly, to encourage my horse on. Ride briskly until your horse begins to tier, then keep him going a bit longer. The length of time needed will depend on his fitness level and temperament. Obviously, a well-conditioned, hot horse will take longer to tire than an out-of-shape, lazy individual. Use common sense, but try not to move on to Step 3 until you're really having to drive him to keep the same forward momentum going.

3. When you get to that "please-let's-stop" point, take a deep breath, then audibly exhale so your horse can hear you. (Hum as you exhale, if you like.) This long, heartfelt exhalation will cause your body to relax, soften, and melt down into the saddle. Your upper body should be as mine is here--leaning neither forward nor backward. The breathing really is the key, because if you do it properly--deeply and slowly--it almost automatically put you in the correct position, with no bracing in tenseness in your body.

4. And my horse responds! As he takes me up on the "suggestion" to slow down, I take an elastic contact on the reins as I drive softly with my seat and legs to "package" my horse like an accordion, steadying and balancing him. After your horse begins responding like this on a circle, you can continue the exercise on a straight line, with a turn at each end. In other words, lope him down a straight line, give your breath-to-slow cues, and when he responds by coming back to your and collecting, lope a half-circle and line out the opposite way, urging him on, then breathing -to-slow, and continuing in this manner.

5. Here's the end result. In response to my breathing and sitting deeply, my horse comes back to me with no rein pressure at all. I don't have to keep nagging him with the reins, and he feels as if he's making the choice himself--because I've made what I want him do do desirable.

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