Neck Reining??

Question

I took my horse to a fun show in June. He did well. I did direct rein. Because he simply doesnt know how to neck rein. We didnt place in pleasure and i think thats why. How can i train him to neck rein in a month? Before taking him to another show.

Also how can i make his trot easier to ride. Its easy if you post it but im not a english rider and i dont do english classes. I would but i do not have a hunt coat or breeches. How can i get him slower without pulling on his face. I have tried half halts but he ignores it and keep going. To even get him to stop i have to snap on his bit. He listens better when i ride him in a halter but i cant at shows.

THANKSS =]

Answer 1

Unless you really know what you are doing, I have found the easiest way is to put the horse in a bosal. That is a lot like riding them in a halter and it may help with the stopping issue.

Best of Luck!

Answer 2

Go to the tire store and they will give you used tires for free. Get about 12 and place them 2 in a row. Space the rows far enough apart for your horse to walk, trot and canter through them. Use your legs in sync with the reining. If your weaving towards the right lay the left rein on the neck - squeeze with left leg. If your weaving towards the left lay the right rein on the neck - squeeze with right leg. This obstacle is good for so many things (Backing, spinning, etc) and free! Until he gets the hang of it you will have to use both reins in sync with your legs. Once he understands the leg pressure drop your other hand from the reins. Remember, releasing pressure is the reward! As soon as he responds in the direction you intended him to go - stop squeezing the legs! That is how he will know what you are wanting.

Also, as far as stopping goes... Have you ever tried the one rein stop? You pull his head around one way a little to slow and all the way around to completely stop. If you get him used to this you will never have a problem stopping him again. A horse cannot go anywhere but in circles when you use this method. Therefore, it tires him out a lot quicker and he will stop next time you ask. You pull one rein and it pulls his head around to your foot and you hold it there (sometimes with both hands) until he stops circling. When he stops - release it. Keep doing it until you can pull one rein just a little and he stops. I also teach this to people who have a horse that is prone to bucking. It is physically impossible for a horse to buck you off - with his head flexed back to your foot. When you think a horse is going to buck - flex the neck! You should try a few minutes of flexing to both sides every time you get on your horse to loosen his neck muscles and then he won't be so stiff to fight. It will also help with your neck reining. Get your horse flexible before trying anything else. You will be surprised what a difference it makes. Good Luck!

Answer 3

For the neck reining I would put him into a bosal. You want one that fits snug & it is softer. If you can't find one like that, a side pull does good, also. A bosal is considered to be a true hackamore. The other type is more correctly called a mechanical hackamore. Useing a hackamore for training avoids mouth problems.It is a simple, beautiful way to introduce a horse to the concepts of yeilding to pressure & obedience. Though sometimes distorted by ignorance or time constraints, the same holds true today: hackamore horses have an advantage. It's hard to explain unless you've felt it, but the feel of a good hackamore horse is almost like having a carpenter's level on the middle of their nose. When their just right in the hackamore that horse has learned to carry himself in perfect balance. His body, his poll, his spine are all in line. So, when it comes time to bridle them, the good hackamore horse is already there- he knows how to carry himself without the crutch of the bridle. The mechanics of a snaffle & hackamore are quite different. With a sanffle, your direct pull goes to the horse's mouth & draws their head to their chest, with the horse breaking or yeilding more at the withers than the poll. Training only with a snaffle makes for a stiffer bridle horse than one with some quality hackamore experience, because the hackamore puts slight pressure on the horse's nose & chin & he learns to tip his nose in & break at the poll to decrease that pressure. A horse that olny breaks at the withers dumps more weight on his forehead, but with a soft poll, he'll balance more naturally, move better. The bosal is the classic hackamore-which I am talking about here. This is my opinon. But it will take longer than a month to train him.

Answer 4

when you circle him use the direct rein and the neck rein. So if you are going left, use your left rein and your right rein at the same time. As you keep going with this, you by each time he does a good job, take a little less pressure off the direct rien. I taught this to a green broke Tennessee Walker in less than 5 days

Answer 5

For the neck reining try using a direct rein while using an indirect (neck reining) at the same time, most horses naturally respond to neck reining however if you use it higher up on the neck closer to the pole it makes it more noticable to them and harder to ignore and not understand what you are telling them. for sitting his trot sit more on your seatbones, the more you lean forward the more the horse will post you out of the saddle. for getting him to stop use all your other aids, even your voice and seat then gently squeeze the reins, not pulling back but just asking him gently to listen to what your telling him with your other aids instead of using the reins to tell him to stop. at home do this until he finally stops then reward him by releasing and telling him hes a good boy. riding without reins is very helpful to get him and you both used to using the other aids. my instructor just took away my reins one lesson and that really made me use my other aids, after going around at a fast canter about 10 times I finally figured it out and when i did my horse stopped dead. its really helpful to do that to yourself. Best of luck!

Answer 6

chop up reins are mandatory to plow reining, and that they are many times utilized in exhibiting. they don't look to be in any respect mandatory to neck reining. Neck reining is done by utilising conserving the reins in one hand, so chop up reins require that the reins are fed for the time of the arms as a fashion to maintain the flexibility to regulate them. There are diverse ideas, yet all place one rein between the thumb or index finger or one finger, and the different between 2 different arms. there is typically one finger between the two reins. For something yet exhibiting or training applications, closed loop reins are greater straightforward to handle and wonderful for neck reining. For exhibiting, you sometimes carry the reins on your left hand.

Answer 7

Neck rein: since he knows direct rein, slightly direct rein, follow at the same time with the other rein laying it against his neck. He will most likely be confused but keep practicing until you can neck rein him entirely with both reins. Follow this up also with your own body...if you are turning him to the right, give him right leg at the same time turn your spine to right, make him wrap around your right leg giving support and also encouraging him to turn in that direction.

Slowing him down. Check alternate reins. Voice commands also help if he knows them.

Answer 8

With one of my horses he was real rusty on neck reining but he had known how at a certain point. What I did to get him back into it was, putting my reins up high on his neck more then halfway and neck reining that way. It makes it so your turning his head basically and he finds that with rein pressure on that side of his neck is the direction he needed to be heading. With the sitting trot its just practice sit deep and dont tense up that will make you bounce higher :0) To get him to slow always associate words with your reins pull back lightly and say whoa a deep whoa. Then eventually he will just listen to what you say and no what you want. Nearly all my horses do verbal commands. One of them practically runs backwards when I say BACK BACK BACK BACK BACK!

Really cool but good luck!

Answer 9

To neck rein, how I teach youngsters is I trot them around the ring, and periodically and both left and right, I ask them to turn 90 degrees using my outside rein on their neck and use the inside rein only to keep the nose pointed in the direction you want them to go. Neck reining takes longer than a month to get down, but I find this to be very helpful and I find this easier for them to grasp. You ask them to turn and you make them turn and then you leave them alone. You are making the right thing easy (by leaving them alone when they turn correctly) and making the wrong thing difficult (by keeping pressure on them till they turn).

Unfortunately you are going to have to pull on your horses face but like above, make the right thing easy, and the wrong thing difficult. When trotting slow him down till he's going the speed you want, and then release. When he speeds back up, IMMEDIATELY pull him back to the slow trot, and eventually he will start to slow down. This is not a quick fix either, it will take time, and it will work.

Answer 10

first big question, are you showing him in the gaming classes also. if so stop, until you get the western pleasure look your are trying for. remember some horses despite what you may be told will NEVER do western pleasure.
second question, do you have a trainer. if not your job is going to be ten times harder. it would be like cutting your own hair without a mirror, can it be done yes. how long it takes you to get it right is another thing. best advise i can give is get a trainer, if you can't have someone video tape your shows and PRACTICE sessions. watch the tape and make little changes not big ones