Working on the stop

A couple of tips about riding and stopping your horse at the lope. Be sure your hands are in time with your horse's head as it travels up and down. As the horse's head and ears go up and down, so should your hand and seat. Reason being, if the rider is out of time with the horse's head movement they will bump against the horse's face sending signals of stopping or slowing to the horse. Many rounds of that and your hand cue will mean nothing to the horse.

This is also where your speed control comes into play. Hand and seat forward, more speed. Hand and seat back, less speed. Keep an active leg and a supporting leg at the lope also. If my horse is in the left lead my right leg will be active bumping in time with the horse's stride. My left leg will be supporting, helping guide the leading shoulder.

Stopping your horse at a lope can be very rewarding if you fix it up for the horse so they can learn to stop. It can be a nightmare if you force it. Also consider the ground. Please don't try a 15-foot sliding stop in hard ground. About three times of that and you will have no stop. Professional reiners spend very much time and effort just in preparation of their dirt.

Being in time with the horse's feet will take you the most time and effort in teaching a nice stop. For a quick look at the three beat lope, the off rear foot strikes the ground first. Next the leading rear foot and its front foot diagonal are on the ground together as the horse balances its stride. Next the rear end and front diagonal start traveling up and the leading front foot is last on the ground. Last the horse's leading front leg will lift up off the ground and gather with the other feet. In this last portion of the stride, all four legs will be off the ground. When all four feet are off the ground at a lope or gallop, that piece of the stride is called suspension. The stride starts over as the trailing rear leg travels down for the first step in count. For a more detailed look at the footfall, see diagram.

To teach a nice stop, just as the horse's head begins its downward motion, I want to ask the trailing rear leg to come up and stop by the leading rear leg while the horse is in suspension. I start my cues for the stop as the horse's head begins traveling down to place me in time with suspension. The human reactions are slower than the horse's movement. Cues need to be smooth, so you must start your cues ahead of the horse's movement in order to be in time and to prevent any quick and hard jerking motion.

What has worked for me is to first let your horse think about stopping before you ask them to stop. Let them be a little tired and want to stop before even thinking about asking them to stop. This would be my thought pattern for the stop at the lope or gallop in the left lead. 1. I'm in time with my horse's head as it starts down. All my horse's legs are about to be off the ground. 2. As the horse's head starts down, I say whoa. 3. I take the life out of body and set down (don't rear back.) 4. I take my right rein connecting it to the trailing rear leg, in this case the right, and make a pull back to the right side of my belly. My left hand supports asking the horse to stay tucked at the poll. 5. I put slack back into the reins as the slide ends. See picture.

The biggest tip I could give you is that after Newt has stopped, we will visit for a while. This lets Newt know it was a good thing to stop. Take a break, or read a little text while your letting the horse rest and get its wind back. This will keep your patience in check and truly let the horse rest.

I've enjoyed doing this article. I truly hope it has you thinking. Please remember. "Only one bit works on all horses. A bit of knowledge" until I see you again. I will be looking for more.

God Bless, Pat Hooks

Pat Hooks is a day working cowboy from Texhoma, Okla. Hooks has taught clinics at national horse expo's and private ranches since 1989, and writes how-to articles for various national magazines, websites and is a published author. For more information on his books, DVD's, and clinics please go to www.hookshorseranch.com or call 580-423-7482.

12/17/07
All Editions\0-

Date: 12/14/07