Re: RC: control @ride start

[Linda Cowles <lindac@gilroy.com>]

I guess I need to come clean...

Momma244@aol.com wrote:
> 
> reading the NATRC thread on starting a ride with an out of control horse. I
> see it on most rides.  It has happened to me more times than I want to
> remember. 

The only thing that's ever worked for me is simulating that race start
beforehand with friends, and circling the horse whenever it goes faster
than I want... I call it letting the horse control the speed while I
control the direction. When the speed goes above what I want, I change
the direction.

There was a series of posts on this a few months back, labeled "race
brain training" and "circling", and it's a natural horsemanship
technique to get the horse to be responsible for maintaining the speed
you set. If you read through those posts then re-read this, it will make
much more sense. I can try and dig up my old posts if you can't find
them. Wendy's posts on circling were excellent.

It's all dependent on riding VERY consistently and not allowing any
transgressions. I found out at last weeks SASO ride just how important
that consistency is.

I'm pretty proud of how well trained Gavilan is. He's 7 years old and
very fit, with 10 AERC and NATRC rides under his belt in the past 11
months since we started competing. I'm always saying how hot he is, but
because anyone - even beginners, can ride him the the simple rope halter
I race him in, I get these dubious looks that say "sure... you don't
know hot..."
 
Well, for the three weeks before the Grant Ranch SASO, I didn't ride him
at all. My cousin and a friend rode him a few times, and although they
are good riders, they ride differently from me. They tend to have slight
contact on the rein, when I generally ride on a slack rein. Even under
speed, I have almost no rein on this horse, and more often than not, the
rein is very loose, and I control him with moving my hand on the rein or
with my seat.

So when I rode him last weekend, he saw one of his running buddies up
ahead and ran right through my aids - ran away with me! It wasn't bad -
maybe thirty feet - but he bolted out of control! The rest of the ride
into lunch was a pain in the ass - he was jigging, trying to bolt... not
horrible compared to how bad it can get, but VERY horrible for him. This
is the horse that, sullen or happy, always went along with the game.

Finally, 3 miles from lunch I swore bitterly that I was going to put a
damned bit in his mouth... and a tiny voice said quietly "and what about
the martingale? Gonna get one of those too?"

I finally got my head together and realized that if I lost this war, it
would only go down hill... so I stopped fighting and started circling...
took my own advice. I bet I circled every 3 feet for over a mile of that
distance! Every time he'd start to think about a jig or trot, I'd do a
nice easy NH circle. I don't wait for the offense, I see the ear twitch
and feel the collection and swing him into a circle before he even gets
to do the dirty deed. What a pain in the ass!!! It took me an extra 20
minutes to do those 3 miles, even though he got the idea on the last
mile and I managed to trot much of it on a loose rein.

After lunch? He was awesome. I rode on a loose rein the whole time, and
he didn't react at all when riders passed at a trot or a canter, except
to shift that ear back to see where my head was at... 

When I told friends he ran away with me and misbehaved, they all
exclaimed "Gavilan??!!!" Yep. Gabby the Great was a very bad boy!

Doing it this way is frustrating initially, and sometimes you feel like
it'll never end. Some horses give in early, and some fight for an hour,
but if you relax and focus on that circle and not on the jerk wearing
the saddle, they eventually get the point.

It's great training, but it's frustrating, and I don't blame people for
not doing it. It's definitely worth it, because I hate riding the horse
that I rode for the first 20 miles of that ride, and loved getting back
the relaxed and easy one I rode the last 25 miles... I have to be so
consciences, and now wonder about having others ride him unless they are
willing to ride him exactly like I do. It's worth it, but it is a
hassle.

My next ride is Castle Rock 50. In a little rope halter riding a horse
that better be relaxed and responsive!

  Linda Cowles                       
  Lion Oaks Ranch                     
  Gilroy CA 95020



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