Training Tip: When to Add Speed to a Reining Horse

Question: How do you decide when it’s OK to add speed to a horse’s training? I’m training a reining horse and have what I think is a good foundation on him. I know in order to be competitive that I need to speed him up, but I’m not sure when I should do that. – benjean

Clinton’s Answer: To me, knowing when to add speed to a horse’s training is a mental game. If you start galloping a horse too quickly in his training, it’ll make him unravel and lose his mind. When you get a horse moving fast, his adrenaline spikes, and if he’s not mentally prepared to handle it, it’ll make him nervous and even frighten him. It’ll get his motor running too much. This is especially true with hot-blooded horses, such as some bloodlines of Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, Arabians, etc.

I generally start working on speed control with my 2-year-olds eight months into their training. I practice speeding them up and slowing them down on a big circle. Every month, I just ask them to go up a notch. By the middle of a horse’s 3-year-old year, he is moving at a pretty good clip. He’s not going as fast as he can run, but he’s easing into it.

What you don’t want to do is go from 10 miles an hour to 35 miles an hour in one training session. Let the horse tell you when he’s ready to go faster. How do you know when he’s ready? He’s listening to you and he’s relaxed.

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