DaArrow - 2015-01-27 4:57 PM Personally.....I don't agree with this at all. I've ridden and worked extensively with cutting trainers most of my life and there should never be any reason to disengage a horses hip, especially in a barrel horse, I've been running and training barrel horses longer than cutting and I found that my skills became extensively better when I applied the same training methods from cutting horses to barrel horses. They know how to use their body better, stay more correct, and drive from the hip. This is where the power comes from people, a barrel horse who engages and works from the hip is way quicker and more powerful in a turn, as opposed to a horse that is hollowing their back and not driving through a turn, they take more steps around a barrel. And a horse who has the hip engage and is driving from the back end has the power leaving the turn therefore not having to regain any speed in between the barrels, because they never lost momentum with any extra steps. The barrel horses that I currently train, ride, run, futurity, all work with this method, a dear friend of mine rode reined cow horses and cutting horses for most of her life until she could afford to begin her own breeding and training program. The only reason she let's me work with her and ride the horses she produces and sells is because I know the methodology and can apply the same riding style as her. When you teach a horse to stop, you are not simply pulling on their face and asking them to stop, as a rider you should be sitting in your seat, and collecting the nose at the same time. Most cutting/ reined cow horses know that when their rider sits, without any rein movement this means to stop. Same concept with a barrel horse, you sit for your turn, your horse should gather under themselves and keep gathered in a turn, therefore the hip engaged, and therefore power. Pulling on one rein, taking the horses nose, does not teach them to handle their body correctly, it flings their hip out and away from the body, disengaging it, therefore loosing power. I know everyone has their own methodology, and I try not to speak badly of anyone's opinions, as I've found there are no right and wrongs in this sport! But just my opinion and how I do things!

DaArrow - 2015-01-27 4:57 PM Personally.....I don't agree with this at all. I've ridden and worked extensively with cutting trainers most of my life and there should never be any reason to disengage a horses hip, especially in a barrel horse, I've been running and training barrel horses longer than cutting and I found that my skills became extensively better when I applied the same training methods from cutting horses to barrel horses. They know how to use their body better, stay more correct, and drive from the hip. This is where the power comes from people, a barrel horse who engages and works from the hip is way quicker and more powerful in a turn, as opposed to a horse that is hollowing their back and not driving through a turn, they take more steps around a barrel. And a horse who has the hip engage and is driving from the back end has the power leaving the turn therefore not having to regain any speed in between the barrels, because they never lost momentum with any extra steps. The barrel horses that I currently train, ride, run, futurity, all work with this method, a dear friend of mine rode reined cow horses and cutting horses for most of her life until she could afford to begin her own breeding and training program. The only reason she let's me work with her and ride the horses she produces and sells is because I know the methodology and can apply the same riding style as her. When you teach a horse to stop, you are not simply pulling on their face and asking them to stop, as a rider you should be sitting in your seat, and collecting the nose at the same time. Most cutting/ reined cow horses know that when their rider sits, without any rein movement this means to stop. Same concept with a barrel horse, you sit for your turn, your horse should gather under themselves and keep gathered in a turn, therefore the hip engaged, and therefore power. Pulling on one rein, taking the horses nose, does not teach them to handle their body correctly, it flings their hip out and away from the body, disengaging it, therefore loosing power. I know everyone has their own methodology, and I try not to speak badly of anyone's opinions, as I've found there are no right and wrongs in this sport! But just my opinion and how I do things!

classicpotatochip - 2015-01-27 8:44 PM I don't like one rein stop. I'm not going to use it on my colts. I never, ever, ever, want them to associate giving to pressure as a punishment or being put in a bind where forward motion stops. I don't get on my colts until they have a really good handle on the ground, and understand basic reining (turn, stop, turn) from the ground with driving reins. They understand pressure on their sides as a signal to move their shoulders and straighten or bend their rib cage from on the ground. I feel like if I don't have my colts broke enough that in an emergency I can't stop them without them tucking at the poll and giving me a good whoah, I've failed and shouldn't be on them. -Case in point- Went to ride at a friends tonight, she has some new horses that were blowing past the arena and playing in the pasture. They ran past my 4 year old, who was pretty prancy and full of himself. He lunged forward, then lunged sideways, forgetting I was there completely and wanting to go play. I held him easily with the bit, and he tucked his nose and came back to me. No bruising, no scary one rein stop. I don't know if anyone has been on a runaway horse. Go ahead and take that suckers head and put it on your knee. They keep running for a while-sideways, groping out with those front feet. If they stumble, they're going down, because their balance is gone. On a complete runaway without the room to let them run it out, sometimes this is your only option. I've only ever used it to think about God and pray. A spooking horse that is truly spooking and terrified needs to be allowed to get away for a distance. Its just not safe to grab his face and throw him off balance, because he could really hurt you in his terror and inherent need to get away. The one rein stop is truly just a way to take a horse's feet away from him. I personally like him to have his feet, so he doesn't fall off of them because of something I've done. I like my neck unbroken. I like a really nice, broke face and an understanding of how the ribcage and shoulder work. If I can move his ribs and shoulders, I can handle anything he's got. Edited for a their/they're/there situation. :)

willrodeo4food - 2015-01-27 9:46 PM

So I guess you guys have explained why I'm not a fan.  I'm old, my background in riding has not taught me a good reason as to why I would want to disengage the hip and loose control of my horses feet & last but not least the only colt starting guru whose practices I have ever really used is Ray Hunt (and I know I missed a boatload of the stuff that man tried to teach).

For those of you that are fans, glad it works for you but none of you have convinced me as to what's so great about it.  I do understand the need to use it on occassion but don't believe it's the best way to teach either a stop or lateral flexion.  Thank you all for taking the time to try to explain your take on the manuever.
 

winwillows - 2015-01-28 11:30 AM As a person who has started a lot of colts with Ray, (some of the ones that I rode were his), I can tell you that one of the first things we did, once we got them moving out, was be sure that they could be stopped by disengaging the drive. This in no way took the front end away. If fact, it shifted all power to the front, and redirected the energy into an area where it can be more safely controlled. Done properly, I have never seen a horse even come close to falling over doing this. Once again, this is a specific practice to avoid a potentially dangerous situation for both the horse and the rider when a very green horse does not yet understand a more advanced rein. I do not use this once I have moved the horse on, but this is a safety release valve that every green rider and kid should know when things go south.