How Well Does Your Horse Stop???

[Countrymom]

So I have noticed a big problem with people getting the brakes on their horses. Helped a lady who has had her mare refuse to stop once she gets her up to a lope. When I rode the mare she generally brissled up and refused to stop without some convincing even at the walk. I see this more and more. Obviously we are missing something in training these days.

So, please tell me if it is just me, or is a general problem others see also? Rate your horse on stop being a 5 plant their butt in the dirt, and a 1 refusing to stop....

Our 3 year olds I would say are at a 3.5 to 4 and they don't have 6 months under their belts. Our older horses are definite 5 on the stop scale.

I also see a lot of horses that are allowed to "leak" out of the stop. Pet peeve of mine really.

Just curiousity to see if there are more out there, as I am seeing this issue nearly in every horse I have riden lately for someone.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I definitely see it as an issue as well. Its something I think a lot of people just forget about when they are working with their horses. So many are just concerned with movement and they forget that you can't have a horse move unless it stops!

Our ranch horse Stetson is definitely a five. You barely even have to touch the reins and sit back slightly and he's at a stop. He would actually do sliding stops if we had the right type of footing for it. When we first got him, I had to get used to how abruptly he stopped. Its not so surprising in the walk, but in the jog and lope, you could be thrown right over his neck if you are not ready for the stop when you ask! (I'm working up my balance again. There was a day that I could sit anything!...even though I've still fallen so many times!)

Sonny, our old trail horse is probably about a 3 or so. He's so lazy he'd rather be stopped than moving anyways. He's not quite as responsive with the reins as we never really worked with him much. He was already such a good trail horse when we got him that we didn't have a need to. He'll stop if you ask him to, but its not a "plant your feet in the dirt" sort of stop. Its more like "Ok, I'll stop, but I'm going to do it at my own pace and maybe I'll trip before I do it too". LOL, he's just old and very lazy and he's always been a bit clumsy with himself.

Sedona I'm working with now. I would say she is mostly a 2ish right now. I was having a difficult time getting her to stop with the reins. She would sort of stop and then walk forward a bit, as if no one ever taught her to just relax after the whoa. She knows whoa on the ground when I'm round penning, but hasn't yet gotten the hang of it when I'm in the saddle. I did realize that if you lift your feet away from her sides and forward, she stops. Since I've been doing that, she'll actually stop without using the reins. She still doesn't come to a very abrupt stop, but I think I can get there with repeated practice. I haven't really working on whoa from a trot yet, but that'll come. She's goes right into a walk from a trot when I ask though. For some reason she knows the word "walk". I'm also noticing that when I get her to stop and stand, she has to bump my foot with her nose. She doesn't bite me, but does this all the time. I'm not sure if its just a quirk she has, or she's trying to tell me something. The saddle I use fits her pretty well, so I don't think she's in pain or anything. Its just interesting that she does it only when I stop her.

But I'm right there with you about stopping! As the years have gone by, I've realized how important it really is. I hate seeing people in the arena shouting "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" as they are yanking on the reins and the horse just keeps on walking like it doesn't care what is going on. To me that screams lack of training and disrespect!

 

[Bronco Hollow]

Also from what I've seen, some of that also is the lack of knowledge on the riders part.


All our horses have big stop on them. Whoa is my favorite word.

 

[jettesunn05]

I trail ride and we dont always stay on the trail so it is very important that my horses stop exactly when I ask them and they do just that no matter what gait they are in. They back well also. It drives me crazy if I dont have brakes on a horse!!

 

[Countrymom]

Bronco I think you are right in some aspects, but once a horse knows whoa it should stop from the voice comand. I use stopping with reins as a last command actually. So by the time a newbie rider picks up the reins that horse should be saying "shoot I messed up and missed the signals for stop so I better stop before I get into trouble."

So here is my signals for stopping...
whoa
sit back and put feet forward
pick up the rein..

Now on the young ones I also immediately expect them to back up once they stop. Unlike others that want a horse to square up I want the horse to be ready on it's back end to go in any direction I want even if it is just to sit there. Of course once I relax and sit there they obviously will relax themselves.

I also move around a lot on any horse I am working with and make them understand that they should stand still until I ask them for forward motion. Not my wiggling or adjusting of anything should make them move until I ask.

My daughter has gone as far as teaching her shetlands to stand still if the rider falls off. I had not thought of that, but with shetlands and kids it is a possibility. (Personally won't catch me falling off a QH to teach them that.LOL) Of course the first time I saw her dropping off a pony I couldn't figure out what the heck she was doing because she is a way better rider than that. LOLOL

 

[laughingllama75]

I find the stop is the MOST IMPORTANT thing a horse know. I just sold my last big horse, but he was definatly a 5. I have 2 mini's, and they are a 5 also (ground and driving). My QH was ranch broke, his ground manners were impeccable. Someone really spent a lot of time with him, teaching him the ropes. I wish more people would, instead of just hopping on and saying "he's got 5 (or 20) rides on him, and he is great". Yeah, but what does he know?

Good topic, by the way!

 

[sterlng&sierra]

I'd say my horse is about a 4, depending on the day; sometimes he's a 5, but some days he just drifts off into lala land... Whenever my horse is having a difficult time stopping, I always ask myself 4 things:

1. Is my cue consistant to the one I usually use?
2. Am I bumping him or sending him mixed signals?
3. Is my body language correct for the change in gait (halt)?
4. Or, is he just being a hyperactive dork?

If the answer to questions 1-3 is 'No' then he doesn't have to stop. He has to work. Since he is an Arab, getting his legs tired won't work, but tiring out his brain will. Figure eights, changes of direction, leg yields, at the gait he refused to halt at until he is ready to halt. Soon, he figures out it's one heck of a lot easier to stop when he's asked to instead of ignoring the cue or plowing through it. Luckily, he's got a pretty good halt, and I've only had to work on him a few times.

My horse also braces when I pull on the reins too hard. I really like having the horse decide stopping is the best thing to do. I try using light cues, and if that doesn't work, I make the horse work and decide for itself that stopping is a lot easier than the alternative. The most important thing is to release the pressure when the horse gives for you, even if it's just a release of the bracing pressure you feel. You need to build up to a 5 stop, especially if the goal is a nice, soft horse.

 

[Countrymom]

Just got in another horse this week who was never taught to stop properly. He braces and pushing his nose out to try to get away and refused to break at the poll. When presented with hard reins he rears. I gave him to my daughter to work and stood by helping her so she could learn. Everytime he went up she spurred him forward. That stopped in 10 minutes of work. He decided he didn't want to lope another circle after rearing and getting spurred. LOL Then with the other 20 minutes he learned to flex side to side and break at the poll. He left in 30 minutes of work with his owner tucking his nose and keeping his mouth off the bit like a good boy. Once the horse found the answer and was give quick release he was happy to stop and stand quiet. It was a quick fix that needed more training, but they will be back. At least the horse had the answer and knew what was expected of him.

Also been helping my daughter obtain a stop on one of the 3 year olds. I have had her exercising him in very large circles in the pasture until his mind is ready to think of stopping. Then we work next to a fence. We do a smaller circle or two and then come face to face with the fence and ask for the stop. Then reverse the direction. The horse gets frustrated on one side as it is more difficult for him, but he is young and learning. I am beginning to see him reach his neck forward, break at the poll and tuck his rump as she sits hard and before she picks up the reins. It is a pretty sight. Many Many hours of this exercise and we are starting to see it out in the open whenever he is asked to stop. I will be putting a german martingale on him for refinement later. He is coming along nicely.

 

[Cara]

My pain-in-the-butt mare has a good stop 80% of the time. However, it's her new favourite bad habit. It seems that as soon as we fix one, she invents another. We go from a '4' stop to a '1' from one minute to the next.

Most of the time she will stop immediately on a voice command, and not take a single step. Lately though she has decided that she'd prefer to toss her head and keep moving, brace against the reins and pick up speed, and rear if the pressure on the reins increases.

I guess if it's not one thing it's another with this horse.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I've been fiddling around with the one rein stop lately and that's actually been working pretty well. Last time I rode, I started at just a walk and then flexed her head inwards when I wanted her to stop. She went in a circle a few times and eventually stopped. I immediately released when she stopped and let her stand. I did this on both sides and after just a few times she was just getting it. I'm very careful to just pull gently on the one rein without using leg pressure. I've been reading that once you get them to stop on either side, they should be extremely receptive to using both reins. So that is my ultimate goal. She stops, but its not a complete feet in the ground stop. I want her to stop when I ask!

Cara, I've been in the same position. I wish I had some good advice for you, but my dad was really the one who worked with our "problem horse" and got him where he is today. However, one thing we did notice was that feed plays a HUGE role in some horse's temperaments. What are you feeding her? For years we were giving our horses sweet feed, because that was just what everyone else was doing. After researching, we realized just how much sweet feed can affect some horse's attitudes. It turned our Stetson just plain nasty. After switching him off the sweet feed, he was no longer charging us, trying to bite or kick, and he just calmed down so much as a riding horse. It was amazing. Another thing that really helped was the round penning. I don't know if you do this with your horse, but its something that you can easily do by yourself with a dressage whip and some time.