Stopping trouble

[The_Lazy_'E']

My mare is really bad at stopping with light rein pressure, i have been working on this for awhile but i just can't seem to get her to stop without using alot of pressure on the bit and saying whoa a couple times, i would love for her to stop when i sit deep down in the saddle and use hardly any rein pressure, does anyone have any tips or exersices to help me to train her to stop lighter

Thanks

[barnmom]

how is she to lunge, we taught, ok my daughter taught gracie verbal commands and as soon as she sits deep and says whoa she stops, but it was on the lunge line first...that's probably one of her proudest accomplishments

jmo but that's where i would start, and good luck, i'm no expert but that has worked for us

[The_Lazy_'E']

yeah thats a problem too is she won't listen on the lunge line either it takes a couple times of saying whoa and somtimes stepping forward to stop her movement, i'm sure it all stems back to respect but i'm not sure how to fix it

[Range]

I'm one that will have them work more when they're lunging and won't whoa. If they don't on the first request, then they work one more circle. If they won't again, two more laps. So on and so forth until they stop when I say whoa!

Under saddle, work on one rein stops.

[The_Lazy_'E']

Thanks range i'll have to try that next time i lunge her!

So i have heard of one rein stops, but what exactly are they? and how do you do them?

[ricoman]

The 1 rein stop is a request for the horse to bend his head and neck around towards your knee. You would start by asking him from the ground, pick up your rein about 24" from the bit and slowly bring your hand up towards his withers. The object is to not crank the nose to his shoulder, but to allow the horse to release the pressure himself. So, lay your hand on his withers and wait for him to give in to the pressure, then release the rein. You will go around in circles, just stay with him and don't remove your hand from his withers and try not to shorten the rein either. Do this on both sides and soon he'll bring his head around with very little pressure, then mount and so the same thing. The KEY here is to TOTALLY let the other rein go slack and not let go of the bending rein until the horse is standing quietly. Once mounted and asking for the 1 rein stop be aware that you should not put any leg pressure on his sides, making him think he needs to move. Clear as mud right!?

[GoldHorse]

I have an amazingly hard mare to stop. A gentle curb bit and a tight chain chinstrap fixed her right up. I used it for about a month, she stops fantastic now with only a snaffle. Used to have to tug and tug with a big fat "WOAH", and still she would take SEVERAL steps before she halted. Anyways, thats a quick fix, don't know if it will work for your horse.

Another way is simply to establish "woah" on the ground really well.. Every time you stop while leading him, tell him to woah.

And ANOTHER way (My old trainer did this) is to ride them right up to the fence. Tell him woah before you hit the fence. He wont have much choice, but to stop, or he will bump his nose. Eventually, he will get the idea..

I've used all three of these for different horses. All horses are different and need different training techniques. If every horse was the same, our horses would come with a manual.

[dcandace]

"WHOA" is one of the first things I teach my horses.
The way I do it is using a snaffle bit in a round pen start at the walk. Ask your horse to move forward, when ready to stop, sit deep, feet forward (even dramatically at first so that the horse notices) pull back and say whoa (loud and clear) continue with pressure until horse stops and then continue to ask her to take several steps backward. When she steps back, release the reins and reward with lots of praise and pats. Now i don't mean to yank and scream at her, just a constant pull where she gets the idea of what you want.

Do this over and over until she starts to stop and anticipate your asking her to back. Soon she should be doing and almost sliding stop. Eventually you can take the backing part out and just ask her to stop.

Once you have the "whoa" down at the walk, continue with stopping at backing at the trot. She should catch on rather quickly at this point.

[The_Lazy_'E']

Thanks ricoman, i actually already had been working on bending [before i stopped riding because of baby, that never came] so it should be easy to help her remember that, so when i want to stop i just say whoa and then pull the one rein until she stops right?

Haha goldhorse my trainer told me to run her into a wall to stop to, i guess trainers think alike , i did put her in a curb once [for a show] and she did have a better stop but she didn't steer to well [i need to work on neck reining] i try to say whoa everytime i ask her to stop on the ground, in the saddle, all the time, i actually have "lead" her around the arena with no halter or anything and she stopped nicely [from a walk] without any pressure from me, so i know she can do it when she wants to but she doesn't always want to

Thanks dcandance, i'll deffinately have to try that, i can't trot yet [because of baby again] so we have to work back up to that, so in the mean time i can perfect stopping from the walk.

[GoldHorse]

Id get him good with neck reining and then put him on the curb with a tight strap. Just don't worry about his stopping until you have him neck reining well. Work on things one at a time. Once all is done, you will be reining and stopping like a pro. Also - BEWARE. Lots of 'trainers' suggest a HARSH high-port bit to get a good stop. Not nessecary. Plus, chin straps are a heck of a lot cheaper! I used to ride my mare with a loose strap and a curb bit. Jeez. When I tightened it up alot, she was perfection. She is getting older now, so we ride in a comfy, light, synthetic saddle with an ugly - but MOST COMFORTABLE pad, and of course, her favorite snaffle bit. Stops like she was an old reining horse.

Good luck! And remember - always end training sessions with something your horse already knows and does well, with lots of praise and kisses!

[GoldHorse]

oops, I said him.. First it was her, but then I was thinking "Wait.. Was it a gelding?" so I changed it. Haha

[JoAnne]

As far as I know, the one rein stops is used for emergency stopping, not for everyday stopping. Two different things...you got some good advice here, I'd work on getting a nice sqaure halt at the walk while leading her first. It sounds like it not so much of a stopping problem as the mare is not completly trained , make sure you are sitting quiet with quiet hands when you are not giving an aid...if you could get an instructor in to work with you two, even a couple of times, could help a lot, and great books are out there too.

[gbarmranch]

Originally Posted by JoAnne

As far as I know, the one rein stops is used for emergency stopping, not for everyday stopping. Two different things...you got some good advice here, I'd work on getting a nice sqaure halt at the walk while leading her first. It sounds like it not so much of a stopping problem as the mare is not completly trained , make sure you are sitting quiet with quiet hands when you are not giving an aid...if you could get an instructor in to work with you two, even a couple of times, could help a lot, and great books are out there too.

It also works very well at teaching them to understand whoa..

[Quarters N Paints]

Whoa is the most important for a young/green horse to learn and is MUST be taught and fully understood from the ground before you can move to them understanding and responding from the saddle.

GROUND WORK till WHOA is SOLID, then work on whoa from the saddle with seat pressure and picking up the reins with light pressure and verbal whoa at a walk till solid at it and so on.

Just my opinion and what I believe when working with our youngsters/older problem horses, has worked for us for years and is a easy thing to teach with time and patience. BUT is not a quick bandaid fix for your problem of whoa.
Personally I don't believe in band aid fixes. They usaully come around to bite you at sometime

[gbarmranch]

I totally agree with you - and our horses are never backed until they walk, trot, whoa, flex, and back totally on the ground - all with voice and body commands... Riding then becomes so much easier...

[paintsrme]

Get the stop before you get the go! Would you drive a car that ran good but had no brakes?

I think your title "stopping trouble" is a great assessment here. Not stopping is not respecting and being balky. I have seen this happen to too many people/horses.

I always get the whoa down good just like Range said, ok dont want to stop then go some more, pretty soon they figure out it is much easier to do what I ask.

Not trying to scare you but I had an experience where the mare was doing like yours but it was just a sign of things to come, she became very balky and would explode if I pushed her. Got dumped off worse than I have ever been in my life, lucky I did not break my neck.

[JoAnne]

I think there's two ways to teach the stop...the slow patient way, starting with groundwork and progressing in saddle, or the sudden rude way, running them into the fence , using harsh bits and the like. What goes around comes around, the second way, harsh methods forcing the horse to stop thru physical force, results in a horse who stops out of fear, fear of the fence or the bit hitting thier mouth etc. they are a time bomb waiting to explode. Ultimatley their bad associations with stopping and lack of trust in the rider can lead to rearing, bolting, or as above poster experienced, a horse that "explodes" out of nowhere". A horse "exploding" and balking etc does not come out of nowhere, it comes out of shortcut training where the horse does not respect the rider, it fears the rider, it does not understand the aids etc.

Horses that don't stop correctly typically also don't steer correctly ( you already mentioned that re neck reining) usually don't move off the leg when asked, in other words, they are not really on the aids ( To be fair, it is not the horse's fault, often the rider doesn't understand giving aids, releasing the aids as a reward etc). Tons of great books out there, amazon has used ones, best of luck, take the advice of the established trainers on board, Gbmranch,, Quarters N' Paints, and don't go for the quick fix.

[ricoman]

That's right, slowly shorten one rein and bring it to your thigh, not too short, not too long, and wait. She'll circle alot at first so just be patient and try not to throw up!!!! Also, make sure your other rein is completely loose and do not pull that one to help stop her. Be persistant and keep all movements slow and deliberate.

I've also ridden my horse into a fence to stop. I had too, he decide not to listen to me while taking a lesson from a high ranking dressage instructor. Talk about embarrassing, my gelding walked right thru the bridle and didn't stop. YIKES I just kept say to myself, "I am a professional. I am a professional"!!! With a horse that just knocked me down several notches!! Everyone laughed and admitted horse's do have a way of humbling us!!!

[GoldHorse]

As I said, the method IS A QUICK FIX. It worked for my horse, but again, as I have already said, every horse is different, and needs different methods. If your horse is still young - DO get "woah" established on the ground, before you even think of getting on their back. Sounds like you have already been doing this, though.

Some horses are just plain hard to halt, even after lots of ground work. When you are on their back- they think of 'woah' very differently. I also never said she should yank until her horse's chin bleeds. Using the curb bit with the chin strap should be used gently, and only for as many days as it takes to get a good stop. I think it is a good way to get a good stop - with very little pressure.

[The_Lazy_'E']

Thanks for all your help guys wow so many responses

I am really excited to get out there and start working on some stuff now, i have to wait for this rain to stop now i think next chance i get we might try a little lunge and work on stops