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 Expert
Posts: 1371
  
| I've started leaning on my young horse and not sure why? I'll do it from time to time but the last few runs on her I've leaned, especially on my 2nd barrel. It's been in a small indoor so not sure if that has anything to do with it but it is really irritating me because I know better!! Is there anything I can do ie; look at something to help me focus on sitting up? Thanks in advance, I'm ready to chop my head off!!!   |
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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
 
Location: Louisiana | Ill bump this up for you. I've noticed myself doing the same, also on the second barrel. I've never leaned in my life! I actually felt myself do it this weekend and the video showed it big time, it was bad. I do a lot of walking and trotting the barrels, or just around one barrel, and focus on keeping my shoulder up and back, and also putting weight in my outside stirrup. I don't know what it is about a run that makes me do it though... My horse doesn't drop his shoulder or anything, but I can't imagine that helps him any! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | I had to overcome this nasty habit on my roping horse when I was younger, and have seen several friends have to fix it on their barrel horses, I don't think there is an easy way. Like most bad habits, it's hard to break. You have to retrain muscle memory. Just being aware that you do it, and focusing on staying straight! |
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 I keep my butt inside
Posts: 3281
Location: Weatherford, Texas | Carry a friend on your back and tell them to at some random time lean. Then hit a slow jog (do this on SOFT ground). When they lean it will scare you and probably throw you both to the ground. It will show you basically what it is like for your horse when you lean. You will be sore from trying to save yourself and hitting the ground- but next time you lean you will think about it and sit up.
Another thing is put flour spots on the ground behind the barrel or look at the fence behind the barrel. One last thing- when you are running two handed when you want to drop to one to make the turn hold on and take one more full breath. Concentrating on the breath will hold you that step longer without you starting the turn. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 120
Location: MS | When I was a teenager (many years ago), I developed a bad habit of leaning because I had a horse who shouldered. When I bought another horse, my habit was magnified to the point of not being able to make a clean run. I am not a fan of Magic Seats (the Velcro seat I'm sure most everyone is familiar with) because I think people use them a lot of times just to keep a kid or someone who doesn't ride very well in the saddle (but that's a whole other topic), but I got one and rode in it at home when doing dry work and exercising my horse. When I would lean, it would cause me to lose my outside stirrup, and I became very aware of what my body position was. I'm not sure if this happens with other people when riding in a Magic Seat, but I re-trained myself not to lean and it was a great tool for me. It was not an overnight fix by any means, and it took a long time to unteach what I had been doing for several years, but I overcame my bad habit. I also became very focused on not looking at the barrel and looking at the ground at the point where I want my horse to start his turn. That also helped a lot. The small soccer cones are a good tool for that because they are small, light, and do not trip a horse up if they run over it. |
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Veteran
Posts: 160
| I had a friend apprentice Charmayne James for her senior project. Charmayne worked with my friend and her horses while she was apprenticing. My friend leaned so bad that she hadn't made a clean run on her horse in over a year. Charmayne told her to look past her horses outside ear through the whole turn and step hard in your outside stirrup (through the whole turn). She went from crashing all three barrels to making gorgeous runs.. I was amazed.
ETA: It wasn't an overnight fix, but it was really close.. Everything comes together when it finally clicks.
Edited by horseshorseshorses 2014-01-22 10:07 AM
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  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | If anyone has a sure fire way to stop this then please let me know. I don't lean to the side, I lean forward at the turns. I think in my pea brain I'm thinking it will help the jerk when they take off again but in reality its making me brace and make it worse. I'm going to a Connie Combs clinic in March and I'm telling her to yell at me as often as needed to sit up and back at my turns. Hopefully after 3 days of getting yelled at I'll quit that nasty habit. |
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 9:17 AM If anyone has a sure fire way to stop this then please let me know. I don't lean to the side, I lean forward at the turns. I think in my pea brain I'm thinking it will help the jerk when they take off again but in reality its making me brace and make it worse. I'm going to a Connie Combs clinic in March and I'm telling her to yell at me as often as needed to sit up and back at my turns. Hopefully after 3 days of getting yelled at I'll quit that nasty habit.
imo leaning forward is not bad............leaning to the side can throw your horse off balance..............
m |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| I took leaning with me when I stopped roadracing my motorcycle and went back to barrel racing. I can ride hanging off now, but it doesn't do much good when it takes a barrel down! LOL!
My worst lean is also into the second barrel on a righty. When I run left the problem isn't there. I work on balance by sitting on my outside tush cheek and keeping my shoulders forward, parallel to the ground, and 'aiming' them where I want to go. I do this EVERY time I go through a pattern, walk, trot, lope, and try to do it at a run. I've improved a ton over the past 2-3 seasons, but I still drop that shoulder here and there with Zan. He lets me cheat without shouldering himself. Xena is like riding a glove and mirrors every movement a rider makes so I have to keep 'shoulders UP" formost in my mind when running her. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | CYA Ranch - 2014-01-22 10:17 AM If anyone has a sure fire way to stop this then please let me know. I don't lean to the side, I lean forward at the turns. I think in my pea brain I'm thinking it will help the jerk when they take off again but in reality its making me brace and make it worse. I'm going to a Connie Combs clinic in March and I'm telling her to yell at me as often as needed to sit up and back at my turns. Hopefully after 3 days of getting yelled at I'll quit that nasty habit.
The horse I'm running now is really good at training me to get too forward and move my hands towards his ears...then he can put his front end wherever he wants, which is BAD because he's lazy and has a tendency to drop. I have to go get tuned on regularly to stop it. I hadn't been tuned on since July until this week, and he fell with me before we got it together. It scared us both into getting our crap together in a hurry!
one of my favorite exercises for getting square and not too far to one side or the other, is to lope circles with your inside hand touching the horse's hip, using your outside on the reins. This effortlessly puts you in the correct position to help with muscle memory. You can turn a barrel that way too if you don't try to do it too fast. |
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More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | mruggles - 2014-01-22 11:18 AM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 9:17 AM If anyone has a sure fire way to stop this then please let me know. I don't lean to the side, I lean forward at the turns. I think in my pea brain I'm thinking it will help the jerk when they take off again but in reality its making me brace and make it worse. I'm going to a Connie Combs clinic in March and I'm telling her to yell at me as often as needed to sit up and back at my turns. Hopefully after 3 days of getting yelled at I'll quit that nasty habit. imo leaning forward is not bad............leaning to the side can throw your horse off balance..............
m
Your right and it is better than to the side but throwing my weight forward all the time, wouldn't it cause a horse to get sore in the front? I'm not a big person at all but that's my concern. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 928
Location: Northern CA | Not sure if it works running barrels, but when I work cattle down the fence and/or circle, I focus on sticking my inside shoulder up and looking down my nose. As one of my trainers says, "Look like a snob." It has helped me and my both horse a ton. |
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 Life Saver
Posts: 10477
Location: MT | Concentrate on sitting on your outside back jean pocket. It's nearly impossible to lean to the inside at the same time you have all your weight on your outside back jean pocket and outside leg in the turn.
Edited by ruggedchica 2014-01-22 12:55 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1371
| Thanks so much everyone for your tips! Going to ride today and will try some of them. :) Will let you all know how it goes. If my brain stayed focused during the run, it would help tons!! LOL!! |
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| Are you talking about leaning to the inside, to the outside, or forward? I know I have changed the way I ride based on how the horse ran. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 831
| I get in a bad habit of this when I ride young horses. I think it's more of me just getting lazy with my body with all the slow work. How I keep ME right is I focus on my body position everywhere!! Not just when I ride but when I turn my truck or turn around when I walk I always make a conscious effort to make me correct. And by doing it that way it makes it more of an instinct and a habit so that when I ride and run barrels it's just what I do rather than having to think about NOT leaning. Good luck!! |
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Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 10:54 AM mruggles - 2014-01-22 11:18 AM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 9:17 AM If anyone has a sure fire way to stop this then please let me know. I don't lean to the side, I lean forward at the turns. I think in my pea brain I'm thinking it will help the jerk when they take off again but in reality its making me brace and make it worse. I'm going to a Connie Combs clinic in March and I'm telling her to yell at me as often as needed to sit up and back at my turns. Hopefully after 3 days of getting yelled at I'll quit that nasty habit. imo leaning forward is not bad............leaning to the side can throw your horse off balance..............
m
i really dont think so...if your avatar pic is any indications i wouldn't be concerned
m
p.s.im a forward rider as well ;) |
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More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | mruggles - 2014-01-22 1:45 PM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 10:54 AM mruggles - 2014-01-22 11:18 AM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 9:17 AM If anyone has a sure fire way to stop this then please let me know. I don't lean to the side, I lean forward at the turns. I think in my pea brain I'm thinking it will help the jerk when they take off again but in reality its making me brace and make it worse. I'm going to a Connie Combs clinic in March and I'm telling her to yell at me as often as needed to sit up and back at my turns. Hopefully after 3 days of getting yelled at I'll quit that nasty habit. imo leaning forward is not bad............leaning to the side can throw your horse off balance..............
m
m
p.s.im a forward rider as well ;)
Oh duh I forgot about my avatar picture. I sometimes lean down a little more than that. You don't think that's going to hurt anything? I just remember Molly Powell saying sit back like your riding a cutting horse. I watch my buddy Rockinas stay so centered and balanced in her turns and helps drive her horses. That's what I want  |
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Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 2:48 PM mruggles - 2014-01-22 1:45 PM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 10:54 AM mruggles - 2014-01-22 11:18 AM CYA Ranch - 2014-01-23 9:17 AM If anyone has a sure fire way to stop this then please let me know. I don't lean to the side, I lean forward at the turns. I think in my pea brain I'm thinking it will help the jerk when they take off again but in reality its making me brace and make it worse. I'm going to a Connie Combs clinic in March and I'm telling her to yell at me as often as needed to sit up and back at my turns. Hopefully after 3 days of getting yelled at I'll quit that nasty habit. imo leaning forward is not bad............leaning to the side can throw your horse off balance..............
m
m
p.s.im a forward rider as well ;)
no i dont........but again thats just my opinion........everybody has their own style and what works...do what is comfortable for you and your horse..........;)
m |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 989
| I used to sit deep and back as well.. then I started riding him more like a street bike in the turns. I can shift my weight back to ride from the hind end, but I find I move with him better and he turns WAY better with me a bit more forward. He doesnt drop onto his front at all.
To keep from leaning in.. I focus on riding square and to the fence until my horse turns out from under me, then I am forced to drop to one hand at that point and take the turn. |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | I found for me and my gymnasts that reminding yourself what TO DO works better than reminding yourself what NOT to do. Usually the directions are shorter and clearer in your head. I find the same thing works for me when I ride. Instead of "dont' lean, dont' lean" if I tell myself "sit up" it tends to stick with me better and becomes a positive rather than a negative in your mind. |
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 Member
Posts: 49
| I have a bad leaning habit too! It's one that started because I didn't trust my horse not to drop and turn, but in reality I would lean out and she would drop in. I caused the darn problem. But don't we always?? LOL and about leaning forward, IMO there is a difference between leaning forward and riding forward. Riding forward is ideal, pushing yourself and your energy forward, while being out of horses way. Leaning forward, more like falling forward- at least the ones that I see- especially in a turn, can cause your horse to work less off back end. I mean I'm sure it works for someone, but IMO, being balanced is more ideal than leaning any direction in a turn.
However, I do it too, so not judging AT ALL. I need to figure out how to fix it though...:( |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
Location: Mountains of VA | Yes, thinking about what to do instead of what not to do...........sit up, hold shoulder back, sit deep, etc. Also, visualize............think of an imaginary rope running from your horses shoulder to your shoulder. Your shoulder is holding up his shoulder. You drop your shoulder, then your horse will drop his shoulder. Very few horses can keep off their front end if the rider's weight is falling on the front end too.
Next best way.........ride some horses that are heavy on the front end, lazy and will stumple if you do not collect them and make them use their hindquarters and get their weight off the front end. OR have a few of the above type horses stumple, go down and roll over on you. That will sure nuff keep you from leaning on the front end. Scarstic comment, not wishing that on any rider. |
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Leaning - How to NOT do that