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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 509
| Would anyone who puts a good handle on there horses want to share what they do, bits they use, I love riding young horses and I am always trying to advance in my horsemanship. |
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
   
Location: Where I am happiest | A smooth mouth ring snaffle, split reins, and a good reined cowhorse trainer to take lessons from will catapult your box of tools to the super soft, body control that makes super stars. |
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Veteran
Posts: 268
| Take horsemanship clinics or even working cow horse clinics....you would be surprised what you would learn that carries to barrel racing. I also ride my young ones out in the field and love it when we have round bales out there. Lope around them...trot...body position...so much you can do without being in an arena. I also love riding in our cattle herd. Let's me check the cattle and young horses are always engaged and never bored. You can trail a cow or calf and work on lateral movements. Young ones are rode in a ring snaffle. There is SO much you can do to get them broke without them getting sour.... I ride more outside the arena than in. I also long trot and lope for a couple miles before going to the arena if it is an arena day...gets them in focus better. Good luck! |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | The two best tests for clearly revealing what your horsemanship & weaknesses are is a pattern & loping circles in a wide open field. So, I try to do those two things a lot. I judge open shows and I see it all the time. You'll see a horse that looks fantastic on the rail and can lope a big circle pretty nice, but you get them on a smaller, closer pattern and they fall all to pieces.
You might look at an actual simple horsemanship pattern and think "That's easy, we can do that." But then when you go and actually do it, you'll have a hard time stopping or doing a lead change at a cone, or staying in the perimeters of the circle. Same thing for trail patterns. Doing a 360 pivot in a box looks easy but when you actually go to execute it, it's hard.
Loping circles in an open field does 2 things. Sometimes you get a different horse when you ride out in the open -- so it lets you address that. Plus, I've found that a lot of horses don't lope a circle as well if they don't have that arena rail, even way out. For some reason it seems to get them a frame of reference & you have to help them more when they don't have that.
Another thing I do a lot of is lateral work on the ground. Side passes, half passes, shoulder & hip pivots. I work on being able to move them over by just touching, but also by just positioning my body & creating pressure without actually touching them. It not only gets your horses lighter for under saddle, but it also makes you more aware of what it takes to get them to do those things.
Another great little exercise as far as handle is to set up 6 cones and walk/trot/canter around each cone & make your circles bigger and smaller --- with only 1 rein (split reins). You start out with inside rein and get proficient at that, then you do it with just the outside rein. It's the hardest exercise in the world to do!
Read or watch as much as you can on dressage & then go out and work on it if you can't take lessons or attend a clinic. There's so much that applies to every single discipline.
As far as bits, etc I break all of mine in a simple rope halter & I'll ride them in them periodically the rest of their life. It helps free them up, keep them soft. I'll also ride in a bosal. When it comes to bits, daily work is usually done in just a simple western dee ring snaffle. I still show ranch/trail/horsemanship in addition to barrels & senior horses have to ride one handed in a shank so they all ride first in a bit with a jointed mouthpiece and a short shank and then gradually move up to a longer shank, and then a true solid curb. I'll start riding two handed, then ride with the reins over one another like you do with a snaffle but one handed. Then I'll switch to true neck rein position. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 509
| Thanks for all the responses, I do ride a lot with friends who ride cowhorses, I work a flag sometimes and live cattle on occasio |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| An awesome reference is a very old school Western Horseman book by Al Dunning. Get it, read it, learn it, practice it.
An awesome assortment of bits to start young ones is:
O ring smooth snaffle
O ring twisted snaffle
CJ Chappy bit
Lynn McKenzie Simplicity (My favorite is the chain mouth)
SC Tender Touch
Those are my go to, and I've already had all those bits on my young horse since the first week of December. I never let him get dull in a bit. The second I feel like he's getting dead to a bit, I take him to a lighter bit. Sounds crazy, but if he's lugging, I think it's because he's starting to react to it negatively and protecting himself and needs less bit. Then I start back low and slow, and when I am needing to teach different mechanics, I get him into a bit that will help me be clear. If you can help them do it right the first few times, you avoid picking at them and frustrating them and yourself.
For example: He was doing fine in a twisted snaffle, but I was ready for him to start learning neck reining basics and introducing curb pressure. I put him into the CJ Chappy. He was doing great, but started to stiffen up in his face just a tiny bit. I put him over into a Simplicity, and have him softened back up and he's feeling nice in pivots and neck reining through circles. He feels like he might be getting a bit bendy for my taste, so I set up my Tender Touch yesterday to use on him tomorrow. It's got some curb action and straight shanks to help him keep moving that shoulder instead of being a gummy worm.
Bits are all subjective, and the worse thing you can do to a youngster is over bit him. That's when you get them pulling on you and giving you that 'dead feel'. Watch a ton of bitting videos on youtube, Lynn McKenzie has one that's so useful. Learn everything you can about bits and what they're for, and what they do.
Get somebody that knows how to teach a cowhorse how to spin, teach you. It's all about forward motion. If you can teach a horse how to spin, then going around a barrel isn't much different. It's all about working off the back end using the hip, and keeping that rib cage and shoulder flexible and moving forward. I feel like a cowhorse spin feels the exact same as a hard turn around a barrel, whether a walk, trot, etc. It should feel light, smooth, like you're on a track. It's the sort of thing that once you've felt it, you're going to dream about it and always strive to duplicate it.
Colts are all about give and take. I just always go backwards to go forwards. I feel this gives me a more solid, willing, and knowledgeable partner in the long run. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 509
| I have been working on turn a rounds moving the hips and shoulders and watching my cowhorse friends , it's helped my colt alot |
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 Expert
Posts: 1526
Location: Texas | Smooth o ring
Twisted o ring
Square D ring
Jr cowhorse
Backwards sliding gag
Danyelle Campbell
A lifter twisted
Pedska for a really heavy one
Draw reins
Weighted Split reins
I go as far as I have to and back off as I get them light.
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Expert
Posts: 1526
Location: Texas | I get control of shoulders first, then hips |
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 Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | mollibtexan - 2016-01-24 11:35 PM Smooth o ring Twisted o ring Square D ring Jr cowhorse Backwards sliding gag Danyelle Campbell A lifter twisted Pedska for a really heavy one Draw reins Weighted Split reins I go as far as I have to and back off as I get them light.
Agreed 100%. |
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Regular
Posts: 55
| Trust!!!! That is what I think is important in getting a young horse to advance. He needs to know that regardless of the situation he can trust you are not asking to put them in a bad spot. Know what you are asking them to do and be confident. Put them in a lot of scenarios in and out of the arenas and be calm and confident. |
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