Square shoulders

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Square shoulders Moderators: luluwhit, gotothewhip, cindyt, crossspur, ForumAdmin Jump to page :	Last activity 2016-11-03 2:53 PM 5 replies, 1886 views View previous thread :: View next thread
General Discussion -> Barrel Talk


KMP Reg. May 2014	Posted 2016-11-03 9:16 AM Subject: Square shoulders
Regular Posts: 62	I am having a problem with keeping my fillies inside shoulder square when loping circles. I have tried everything I know and need some other opinions! What drills/techniques do you use to keep those shoulders square? She is still young and I know it is part of being a colt, just looking for things to add into our routine. I know it will not change over night and she will need some time. Any insight is much appreciated.
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Three 4 Luck Reg. Sep 2003	Posted 2016-11-03 9:31 AM Subject: RE: Square shoulders
Accident Prone Posts: 22277 Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR	You need better hip control, and teach her to move off the outside rein. If she were mine, I'd be shoving her ass up into the bridle, but not everyone rides that way.
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streakysox Reg. Jul 2008	Posted 2016-11-03 10:02 AM Subject: RE: Square shoulders
Take a Picture Posts: 12838	good shoulder and hip control are essential before starting to lope circles but you might try looking where you want the horse to go. Ends up with perfect circles and an easy fix
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Tundra Reg. Aug 2016	Posted 2016-11-03 11:12 AM Subject: RE: Square shoulders
Member Posts: 47	streakysox - 2016-11-03 10:02 AM good shoulder and hip control are essential before starting to lope circles but you might try looking where you want the horse to go. Ends up with perfect circles and an easy fix This!! Probably the best thing I've learned from a clinic I went to with a CCA racer. She emphasized perfect circles always, and accomplished this by having us look through their ears to the next quarter of the circle. Many people have a tendency to sight straight across to your next half, but riding half to half leaves a lot of room for error. If you focus on riding each quarter perfectly, chances are your circle turns out perfect. Just this simple technique of "looking where you want the horse to go" (I know we've all heard it before) has improved my circles like nothing else
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tnmagnolia Reg. Dec 2008	Posted 2016-11-03 11:15 AM Subject: RE: Square shoulders
Expert Posts: 1509 Location: TN	Some catty horses that want to get down in turns tend to lean a bit on circles. A remedy that a reining guy taught me was that every time they drop or start to lean rollback and go the otehr way, keeping that hip working and engaged each time NOT a full stop. When you do this they quickly learn it is much easy to stand up straight than drop that shoulder. I believe their is a good video on training barrel horses.com with one of those colt starters in it that shows this.
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KMP Reg. May 2014	Posted 2016-11-03 2:53 PM Subject: RE: Square shoulders
Regular Posts: 62	She is more on the catty side and will stay square until I make a smaller circle. She is still young and I would consider her still green, no doubt. I have not tried rolling back and changing directions, I will give that a try. We are constantly working on hip and shoulder control, she does great until we get into the smaller circles. She seems to naturally want to get down and low. Thank you for the replies and things to consider!
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