Training Tip: Horse Isn’t Stopping Anymore

Question: My team roping horse is not respecting the bit and I’m having trouble stopping her. Actually, she’s not even stopping all that well when I’m just riding her. She wasn’t like this before. All of a sudden it just started happening. She turns well, flexes well, sidepasses and all. It’s just a stopping issue that started not too long ago. Any suggestions?

Answer: When a problem like this comes up, it’s a big red flag that there are holes in your foundation. More than likely, although it seems like out of nowhere she’s no longer listening to your cues to stop, this is a problem that’s been building up for some time. Horses rarely wake up one morning and stop listening, but, if left uncorrected, they will cut corners a little every day until something that is barely noticeable turns into a big issue.

It’s impossible to say without watching you work your horse, but I’d wager that she’s not flexing all that well or performing the other maneuvers really well either. Or, let’s just say, she’s not doing them according to my definition of well. To me, when a horse is flexing well, you should barely have to touch the reins to get them to flex their head and neck.

The solution is to take your mare through the Fundamentals and be thorough with each exercise. Going through the groundwork and riding exercises will get her tuned in to you, give you control of her feet and get her soft and supple.

The One Rein Stop exercise will be especially beneficial. The most common complaints I hear people make about their horses are, “My horse won’t stop,” and “My horse won’t go.” This exercise will fix both of those problems by establishing a good gas pedal and a good brake. It will teach your horse to go the speed you want off just light leg pressure and it will teach her to rate your seat and stop as soon as you drop your weight down deep in the saddle.

Once your horse is good at doing One Rein Stops, practice the Fundamentals exercise Draw to a Stop at the walk, trot and lope and eventually the gallop. That’ll get her responding to your cues even more.

When a horse rates your seat, it means you don’t need to pull on the reins to stop him; he slows down or stops just off of your body language in the saddle. By the time you’ve worked your mare through the series, as soon as you drop your weight in the saddle to ask her to stop, she’ll melt right back to you and stay soft in your hands.

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