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Gabriel… riding in rollkur is the quickest way to rip a horse’s loin and make them lame in the stifle and hocks. Creates slack in the nuchal ligament and atrophy within the trapezius which = nerve damage is present . Clients then come asking wondering why these horses they bought down the line from “professionals” are so broken anatomically - permanently lame- and costs excessive amounts of upkeep for regular joint injections etc when it’s actually ligament issues and ignorance within training regimes and methods that are not sound scientifically. Horses get “harder” in the bit when riding them in compromised positions which create abnormal tensions they’re trying to release. ✌🏼 - love your PhD Ethologist (animal behavior scientist) MSc Equine Science BSc Naturopathic Animal Science
I applied your common sense approach to every single thing I've done with my youngster and things couldn't have gone better from day dot for the last four years. Thank you ❤
I truly hate this look, I am hoping it is going out of fashion....you are overflexing this horse...it is not fun, comfortable, nor natural for them. These reining horses are atheltic enough to change leads etc. with out being in this low behind the vertical frame. Willingly guided is what is called for. Whereever the confirmation of the horse allows for the neck to be so be it. but this behind the vertical in a real tight frame is not what a reining horse should look like, imo, and many observers agree. Casey Deary at the top of the sport does not have this look, and he sure is successful enough...this video was 3 years aga. Brian Bell won the futurity last year, and that mare did not have her head stuck in the ground, she carried it where her confirmation allowed. Appreciate the time it took to put this video together etc. and don't mean disrespect, I just don't like or agree with this style. Horses should not be slaves or robots, they should be happy, willing partners.
I know this video is very old, but I’m just finding it. I will admit, I used to feel very similar to a lot of these commentators about the spurs. However, in my lesson program, I had the opportunity to use a couple of horses that were started with these foundations and shown in reining and working cowhorse disciplines. What I’ve learned since then, is that once the horse is this soft, they don’t go about their daily work like this, but riding them is super easy, they are so handy with their feet and highly athletic with lateral movements, flying lead changes, rollbacks and stopping. I can have 7-10 year olds riding more advanced maneuvers correctly, and the horse stays soft and safe. Since I’ve made this discovery, I have been somewhat putting this type of training on my own horses, and I am getting better results. I can see in this video how people would think this rider is over using his spurs, but if one really pays attention, you can see is is lightly bumping, not poking and prodding. And if the foot is in the proper position, the first thing touching the horse is the calf, not the spur. The idea is, that if the horse responds well with the calf, the spur isn’t even used. This technique even results in a very responsive, yet non reactive horse. The other benefits to these exercises, is that the quality of gait gets softer and smoother. The horse uses more of his hindquarters than forequarters, so he has less stress in the front end, and potentially extending the horses useable life since the horse already carries so much weight on the forehand when not taught how to transfer some of that weight back to the haunches. The biggest thing I try to be mindful of is going slow enough that I don’t cause the horse to brace when I ask the horse to soften at the poll, because I don’t want the hyoid apparatus to be damaged. I know a lot of professional reining trainers can get quick results by implementing steps that cause the horse to almost sink back from the riders hands, but I personally prefer to take it slower and keep my horse a little more in contact. I know this makes for slower end results and probably a horse that will not be as good at doing certain maneuvers as quickly. But for the time being, with what I do with my horses, I’m happy with that. Hope this helps some understand from a personal path perspective.
I wasn't convinced at first, but watching how I blasted all over the "place" in less than a month was shocking, I used what I talked about the other day, and although it actually took about 5 weeks for my volume to double, I just go'ogled Jan Venstaker's Shooting Ropes and her reaction has been priceless!
Eugenio judged our show Pacific Coast Reining Spectacular (PCRS) in 2017 in Australia and I won my first Buckle under his judging a 71.5 🎉 Lovely memories ❤
Agree...there is no genuine reason for this 'look'...these horses are athletic enough to change leads without being in this unnatural frame. There is no horse alive that runs at top speeds in the pasture with their head vertical or behind the vertical. I am hopeful this fad is going out of style, Casey Deary, for instance doesn't do it, so I am hoping it changes overall.
You can have all the lessons in the world about what you want in the conformation of the perfect horse, problem is if you find the perfect racehorse, you can't afford it cos that's what everyone else is looking for too, the thing is you have to look for what your budget will allow, there are some faults you can't live with and some you can, some faults you can live with providing they don't have other faults that accentuate the first problem, the first thing the horse must have is the engine(Body geometry, the right angles, balance etc) I look for horses with good body conformation(engine) and hope they have leg conformation that isn't perfect (maybe slightly off set knees, long pasterns etc)so it will bring it back into my price range, then you just have to manage the problem, don't push too hard too early but if you buy a horses with great legs but a small engine, no amount of management will make it run fast
THIS is the explanation I was looking for!!! Thank you for not only explaining when you train this in, but how you do it AND what it should feel like for the rider. My question now is, how do you teach an already broke horse this? My western pleasure boy constantly drops his shoulder and lets his back legs escape from behind him. I correct him all the time, and he goes back to dropping after I reward. He can't seem to keep collected!
