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Question:
I have a question about the one-rein stop. Is
it necessary to disengage the hindquarters? If my horse stops and
softens without disengaging, is this wrong? Should I keep my leg on
the horse until he disengages and then release after his face
softens? There has been quite a discussion online about whether or
not the hindquarters should disengage.
Answer:
This is a very good question and I’m glad you
brought it up. We spend a lot of time teaching our horses the
one-rein stop. I used to teach my horse that when I picked up on
the inside rein, he moved his hind quarters over. I made sure he
disengaged and was giving to the bit and that he was stepping over
with his left hind in front of his right hind until it was very
smooth and then I would wait for the hind quarters to stop. A few
years ago, I changed my approach. I’m always trying to train my
horse for the future, in other words, I train to something that I am
going to need later on as the horse progresses in his training.
Now, I do not wait for the hindquarters to stop, I keep moving the
hindquarters until he is soft and giving. The reason for this is
that I don’t want to shut down the forward movement because when I
later want to teach my horse to do a traditional turn on the
forehand, I’ll have to work against the fact that I already told him
to stop and now I’m going to tell him to go.
The other thing that I have done is to put my
leg on first and that becomes a pre-cue. In other words, I put my
leg on the number three spot. There are three spots on the side of
a horse. The first spot is the cinch for moving the shoulders. The
second spot is an inch or two back and is for the shoulders and the
hindquarters for leg yielding and side passing. The third spot is
an inch or two further back still and it is for controlling the
hindquarters. When I put my leg on the third spot that tells the
horse I want him to move his hindquarters, then I pick up on the
rein and ask the horse to move the hindquarters with that aid and
also wait until he gets to the bit. That way, if I stay consistent,
pretty soon when I put my leg on the horse in the number three spot
he will move his hips over without me making contact with the rein.
The goal is to eventually not have to make contact on the rein.
When you pick up the rein, the horse will move the hips over as the
horse responds to your leg pre-cue. The horse learns what is next
and responds accordingly to avoid the pressure. This works well
when I want to teach my horse to pick up the correct lead, make lead
changes, and it is also necessary for side passing.
There is another answer to your question. If
your horse has connected the dots and has figured out that what you
want is for him to stop, what you could do is soften for just a
moment, in other words, put your aids in neutral for a moment, which
will actually tell the horse “good job” and then continue on and
move the hips. If I put a leg on a horse, I want that horse to
continue moving until I tell him to stop. But, we can also tell the
horse, in a short message, a very short pause, “good job” but I also
need you to continue to move the hips over. I think that answers
both of your questions. That way you follow through and your horse
moves his hips over so later on you can use that same cue by adding
the outside rein and do a very traditional turn on the forehand.
The act of moving the hips over for a one-rein
emergency halt is the single greatest technique you can employ to
stop a horse who is bolting or bucking. It can and has saved many
riders from terrible accidents. Picking up on two reins when a
horse is out of control, does not help— this only captures the
horse’s energy and actually fuels the horse’s desire to flee. By
picking up on one rein to have the horse move the hips over, you
actually deplete the energy and give it some place to go. It
becomes a constructive exercise. I recommend practicing this at a
walk and trot, in preparation for one day when it could help you
stay safe.
-Charles Wilhelm
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