Yielding the Rib and More on Fear 

How'd it go with that horse?

Stephen Queen so true all horses stumble

Lol! I knew a young man who thought he had to reprimand a horse that stumbled. I recall asking him if when he stubbed his toe and tripped, did he do it on purpose? (As if a horse would do this on purpose!) My point is if you want a calm horse ride calmly even when your mount is not calm. I think we have all seen this done by others, perhaps even done so in our early experience. I knew "trainers" who practiced and taught many of these same things, Pat has mentioned.

Remember there is a time for riding on a loose rein and a time for gathering your horse up into collection.

Again, great video!!! Love ur detailed explanations. May sound simple but sooo important. Even for experienced riders

Pat has a video called Halters and Spurs and Saddles that a speaks to your question.

The inside leg hangs straight down from the hip. If the horse begins to fall in, that leg bumps. The outside leg is for impulsion and it is further back. If the horse is going at the rate I want, that leg is not active. If the horse begins to slow down and I didn’t ask for it, that leg bumps. My legs are never just pressing. I don’t keep bumping if my horse is doing what I want. My rein and my body position from my eyes on down dictate the direction. On a bridle horse, there is no cheating the reins. The horse is picked up in collection and then listens to the rider’s body. I only cheat the reins to help an older horse to understand to listen to my body. Hope this helps.

He didn't say the English single rein are too short, he said the single roper rein, patterned after the English rein is too short... I've got both and my roper rein has got to be 12 to 18" shorter than my english rein, so I can train my green horses with the english rein with lots of it sitting behind my hand whereas the roper rein is all used up just getting back toward the horn... not long enough for training

I think there was another person with a similar question. The tip is that you have to do your homework at the slower gaits in collection (and ultimately self carriage). When your horse understands how to yield his forehand and hindquarters separately, the canter departures and lead changes come naturally. In our style of riding, that involves teaching your horse to respond to your body. The only purpose of the reins is to pick the horse up into collection. Then you school him to move away from pressure - the pressure of your seat and legs and the pressure of your weight. For example, when asking him to yield his forehand, you must displace your weight slightly to the hindquarters to free up the forehand. When asking him to yield his hindquarters, you must displace your weight slightly to the forehand. Always offer your horse the opportunity to respond to your seatbones first, then your upper calf, then your heel and spur. One more tip, don’t look down at your horse’s head. Look where you are going. The reason is your horse can literally feel where you are looking and can become attuned to follow your gaze. If you sit up straight on a hard chair, turn your head to the left and right and feel how that affects your seatbones and subtle shifting of your weight. Your horse can feel that. So if you never look where you’re going and are always hunched over looking at your horse’s head, you’re taking away those signals that your horse relies on for direction. That’s all I can think of. Thank you for the good questions...

@@PatnDebPuckett Thanks al lot for your answer and god bless you. Best wishes from Germany, Kassel. Mike

@@PatnDebPuckett Deb, that was an excellent, complete lesson - in just a couple of paragraphs. Thank you both so much !

Multiple bumps.

Since you’re being polite, I’m going to respond to your comment. First, riding bitless with “light leg pressure” has zero possibility of collection and self carriage which allows the horse to lift his back, carry a rider efficiently, and do the kind of work that we need him to do. I’m sure it works fine if you’re riding for pleasure in the woods...that is until something happens and you need to stop a frightened horse. Second, and perhaps more important to a discussion on this subject, is your assumption that a bit causes pain. When used correctly with a correct foundation, it does not cause pain. How many people do you know who wear dentures? A bridge? That’s how accustomed and comfortable a horse is with a bit in his mouth. The bit should hang effortlessly in the his mouth. When the rider needs to do some little job like stop, turn, back up, chase a cow, the rider picks up on the reins which have a certain weight to them so the horse feels the lift...it’s called a pre-signal. The next thing the horse feels is the curb strap putting pressure on the back of his jaw...mind you I said curb “strap” not curb “chain”. So again, no pain. Now stay with me. Keep an open mind just like you asked of me. The rider lifts the reins. The horse shifts his weight to the hindquarters, lifts his back up to meet the rider’s seatbones, extends his neck up and out, and tucks his nose in...basically he’s saying “What do you need?” To which the rider answers, WITH HIS EYES, SEAT, AND LEGS, “I need you to go this way” or “I need you to stop” (Not by pulling back but by sitting down and exhaling) or “I need you to back up”, “sidepass”, “chase this cow”...whatever the job at hand is. Once that job is done, the rider exhales, lets the energy out of his body, and releases the reins. The horse exhales, rolls the cricket, and is just fine. I know this from experience. I have an old bridle horse that seeks out the bit when I bridle her. Knowing her as I do, I don’t believe she would seek out something that causes her any discomfort much less pain. Once when Pat was doing a demonstration and was showing some students her bit, she walked forward and put her mouth on the bit without being asked. Now, can people do harm and cause pain to horses with a bit? Absolutely. But instead of throwing out the bit, we choose to teach people how to use them correctly. That is all I have to say on this subject. Thank you for being respectful.

@@PatnDebPuckett Thank you. Politely I must disagree for even if a few horses don't feel pain, unfortunately most humans cause pain with a bit. FTR I have not ridden nor even been around a horse in over 3 decades and I too was taught to ride with a bit, I understand weight, pressure, release and the "feel" between rider and horse (it's like riding a bike and gaining that balance that can never be broken). I barrel raced, captured wild horses with the Cowboys (not much help being a 10 year old) and yes I wear partials and the *@&#^ HURT despite the "prefect" fit. I sense a respect for the horses in the videos which is why I was polite; I know you all must know appearing my senior/s, there are too many nasty people in this world that abuse animals, don't respect nor understand how they are hurting animals due to misinformation, old information etc?

@@jeliarra I would defer to Pat on the bit thing; I'm just jumping in because you said you were a barrel racer. We all have our sensitivities and biases. I find barrel racing painful to watch, because of how hard the horses get yanked on, and how hard it appears to be on their legs (muscles, tendons, etc). Yes I know, barrel racers all say their horses love it, but I highly doubt that. So I think barrel racing is an abomination and you think bits are. But neither of us really knows what the horse thinks.

@@epona9166 If you know I, 40+ years ago barrel raced with my horse, you'd know I weighed about 60 lbs, raced my horse on my own two feet and was never in any rodeo. When on his back barrel racing I rode majority of the time bareback. Ol' Pokie indeed enjoyed knocking over those barrels, it was my job to keep them standing. There was no pulling on his face because one hand had to have the horn to stay on his back, the other hand and leg was keeping the barrels standing. That's barrel racing WITH ones horse. The "barrel racing" today is cruel. FTR: hundreds of horses were on / off that ranch, none of the other horses had any interest in playing barrels and we didn't make them.

@@PatnDebPuckett Beautifully said, Deb. Thanks.