Ride Em’ Cowboy

Solo
Playing dress up as a early 2 y/o

I am not entirely sure how this began but I think the concept was seeded at some point around the time I bought Paloma as a 2.5 y/o and began the process of backing and really bloomed when I started backing Solo.

The western reining/pleasure influence in my riding and training has proven ultimately effective and tends to work more with the horse, allowing them to learn themselves and with confidence than with any other English lessons I have ever taken. Let’s label this ‘Weng-ssage’.

I have never actually taken a western type lesson or really learned any of this from an actual person, merely I have read many an article and watched many videos on Youtube explaining the concepts so I cannot say I have any formal training in this. Yet the concepts work faster and more effectively.

For instance, recently I have been fretting about flying changes.

This is an absolute must for a hunter and it has been a LONG time since I had to attempt to ingrain them in a horse. Pal just had them and so I never really gave them much thought.

Yet now, when thinking of how to introduce to Solo who is all over and in every direction got me stressing. He should start to learn now that he can comfortably and mostly in balance hold the canter and before he gets too used to swapping through simple changes.

I have never been a fan of simple changes but it is a necessary stepping stone I am afraid.

Anyhow, my attempts to get a change over poles, through a diagonal, on a figure eight etc have all been thwarted by Senior Wiggly Worm. Followed by full on mad swishy tail because you know….. ‘We are riding here! Lay off your squirming and clucking woman!’

Needless, to say I stressed more. What happens when I stress you ask? Oh, well I research the subject to death.

Then I found an article on COTH referencing this ‘cowboy method’. It is a method reiner’s put on their horses as soon as they can hold the canter with a rider comfortably.

The process began simply by teaching and really reinforcing the horse to yield the haunches when cued. Ie. Haunches in and out.

I had not planned on going down this road for a bit yet but I am game for new methods and heck, sooner or later I would be teaching them.

So Saturday, which is not a normal riding day for me, at 7PM, I decided to head to the barn and ride. I just couldn’t contain my enthusiasm for testing this out.

I began my ride, stretching deep and low, another western thing I have kept in the library. Asking for leg yields and baby side passes through this deep bend. This seems to ground Solo to some reason and he just settles better.

Then we started a few turn on the forehands, something he knows but instilling the idea, continued this idea of yielding the haunches through a walk and then trot, which actually had a great effect of straightening the leg yields I had put on the side burner, thinking it doesn’t need to be perfect yet just obedient.

I moved on later to a few yields in the canter before moving to simple changes but with only a step or so in between through a figure eight, thinking about yielding the haunches, (‘new’ inside leg back into guarding outside leg and half halts on outside rein), rather than establishing new bend.

We ended the day with quick and clean simple changes and really improved our canter transitions.

This morning we worked more on stretchy out and moving freely. Solo got dewormed Saturday and he never feels great for a few days after. Sensitive tummy and sporadic hindgut ulcers resulting…

After having a mini meltdown over the ‘black’ bucket…. Buckets should be pink or purple. That is it! Black!? Is Not normal! Overall explaining another reason he tanked as a stallion. We moved on to a couple w-t transitions through a figure eight, working the yield the haunches.

Solo kept asking for the canter, anticipating, I kept to trot for a bit before asking for the canter. Apparently, all our transitions Saturday have done wonders in achieving softness through the canter transition. Bonus!

I pressed my luck… held the canter in the figure 8 and asked for a bit more canter, pushed the haunches into my outside aids and asked for the new lead. Wa-Bam! Clean swap.  *heavens sing*

I then collapsed on Solo’s neck in a joyous fashion, collected myself and tried it again… just maybe?

Again, Bam! Swap.

Being so shocked I even had to look down and throw myself about in beginner fashion to double check.

Now, I am not expecting this to stick. It will take time to build strength, though now I know it is there and it works.

Overall, Solo’s changes are very different from Paloma’s. Paloma was very sweeping and carried a slight body twist. Solo feels… like a little leep in the air, ballet-esque. Clean and dressage like.

More and more I wonder how many more hunter days I have before becoming straight up dressage diva. *wonders*