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 Expert
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Location: Somewhere around here | How do you get your horse from breezing the pattern to flat out running it? My horse does amazing breezing the pattern but once I start pushing him to run in between and to the first barrel he goes a few strides past them.
Edited by cecollins0811 2013-12-29 8:34 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | bump? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 713
Location: PA | He probably isnt getting enough rate for the speed he is going. |
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 Veteran
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Location: Idaho | I am by means no trainer but I've had to learn to make my own horses and have been fortunate to ride with a few knowledgable people who taught me a couple things that have really helped me. So here is my take, for what it is worth...
The first horse I "made" did kind of what your horse is doing now. At slower speeds he'd turn his first barrel and with speed a couple strides past. I finally sat down and really thought about it and went back to what I'd learned from someone more skilled than me. :) I realized that this horse could not Lengthen and shorten his stride. Oh he could lengthen but is was the shortening he couldn't do. So at slower speeds he could make the turns on that length of stride but with speed making turns all strung out was impossible. It was at this point I starting doing this exercise that has helped me and my horses so much its literally all I teach them to do. And the 4 horses that I made after that first horse I screwed up, have all been able to turn and all handled the increase in speed with no problem.
All I do, is lope a big circle, making sure their head is slightly in, shoulders are up, ribs are up, hip is under. Then I bring them into a barrel sized turn. The key part is they have to keep their shape all the way around the turn and they can't crossfire. Then I take themback out to the big circle and so on. I usually speed up my big circle and try to make them small circle slower. This sounds really easy but its actually pretty challenging for them because it takes a lot of strength and muscle control. I love it because it teaches them most things they need to know to run the pattern. It can take a a while for them to perfect it but when they get it I can be loping a big circle, think about going smaller and with very little cue, my horse will go small. Its a very good exercise for you and your horse to feel your turns together. So both you and your horse know how much pressure its going to take make the turn.
So...that is my unprofessional opinion :) |
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Cold hands and Warm Heart
 
Location: oklahoma | How long has he been breezing the pattern? Maybe he's not ready to go faster? Is he clocking by going a stride past? When you check him, does he rate down to turn? ( I'm no pro, just some questions I had :) |
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Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | TS - I've been doing something like that just as a warm up buy I haven't really been paying too much attention to the speed we should be going. Just at a slow yo medium speed but I'll definitely try working on that this week!
He's been on the pattern for about a year now, loping since last spring. I've been taking is slow with him so we are doing it correctly and we have been breezing him since late summer. |
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 How freakish is that?
Posts: 3927
Location: Oregon | are you helping him or just expecting him to slow down on his own? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 972
Location: Texas! | crapshooter - 2013-12-29 6:06 PM are you helping him or just expecting him to slow down on his own?
This was my thought as well. Sometimes though they just need to learn how to handle themselves at the increased speed and it isn't perfect for awhile. The drill mentioned above is a good one, work on speed transitions in your flat work and really get him rating off your seat so when your making a run it just comes natural for him to rate when you sit deep. |
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Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | Well I'm asking him to slow down with my body, putting more weight in my stirrups, sitting deep, and then I tug on the reins a little while saying whoa two times. I drop down the opposite rein when we are about a stride from the barrel, same as I would be doing if I was breezing him.
Do I just need to ask him to start slowing down sooner? |
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Expert
Posts: 1543
Location: MI | You may need to rate sooner, I would think. The other thing I wonder is how you are cueing him to turn with your legs. If you give him more leg to cue to turn after you drop your rein, will that cue him to turn sooner? I know for my mare this is a biggie, and I forget it a lot. |
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Expert
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Location: Somewhere around here | Ridenrun4745 - 2013-12-30 9:51 AM
You may need to rate sooner, I would think. The other thing I wonder is how you are cueing him to turn with your legs. If you give him more leg to cue to turn after you drop your rein, will that cue him to turn sooner? I know for my mare this is a biggie, and I forget it a lot.
Well he's a little sensitive with his sides so I don't need to keep my leg on him a lot, if I do he will usually take the barrel too wide. I try ushering him to the barrel about halfway but then I stop so I'm not pushing him too much into it. |
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