HORSE TRAINING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Part 1

Dear Friend and Horseman,

In this issue, I'm going to share with you the answers to some of the training questions sent in by my subscribers and Inner Circle members.

Some of these questions were pretty darn good so I think you'll find the answers valuable.

As one of my subscribers, I want you to know that I welcome your emails letting me know the success you've had with my videos. I also welcome your training questions via email.

Please keep in mind though, I get a ton of emails. I'd love to personally reply to each and every one of them but there just is too many.

About all I can do is pick and choose the best ones and then give my answer in the newsletter.

The only exception, are the emails I get from my Inner Circle members. I always answer these.

 So, to give you a better chance of getting your email answered, I'm going to describe the kinds of emails I never answer.

If you have sent me a question and didn't receive an answer, the reason "why" just might be found below.

Now, before you send me an email calling me an insensitive jerk (actually, I can be a jerk sometimes but I'm never insensitive), let me say this: I know these folks mean no harm. They are just unaware.

Still, these types of emails drive me crazy.

The horse training questions I never answer and the reasons why

I delete the "totally unrealistic" questions. The ones that ask, "How do I train my un-broke 2 year old filly to be a champion reining horse?"

I mean, what can I say?

Do they actually want me to write an entire training manual and send it to them in the return email? I hit the delete button.

If you want a reply to your training question, you need to be more specific.

I'm happy to address your question but I don't have time to write a book on the topic.

I also delete the multi-page letters that read like somebody's life history.

These emails usually start out with a sentence like this… "I'm 46 and love horses. Let me tell you about myself so you know where I'm coming from.

I know they mean well but… they usually go on for daaaaaaaaays.

Here again, I just flat don't have the time.

If you hope to get a reply, your email needs to get to the point. Also, be truthful. Nothing bugs me more than reading a bunch of fabricated hooey.

The emails that I totally ignore are the ones where the sender doesn't even have the common courtesy to address me by my name.

They write, "hey, I'm having a problem with my horse, answer this question for me."

Talk about rude!

These people don't want me to know their name either.

They don't type it anywhere in the message at all. And usually, they have one of those free, alias, email addresses too. The ones from HotMail or Yahoo.

If you want me to take time out of my schedule to answer your training question, at least have the courtesy to address me by my name and tell me who you are too.

Also, one other thing. If you have typed something in the email's "subject line" that isn't related to horses, I'll probably miss it.

You need to put the word "horse" somewhere in the subject line to alert me that your email isn't spam.

Okay, okay, enough of my ranting. Let's get to the actual training questions.

Answers to good horse training questions

Hi Larry,

I purchased some of your videos a while back, I think I've got 3 of them….

They've helped a lot!

If I purchase another…what else do I need to become an "inner circle" member? (Sounds like something out of "Lord of the Rings"!)

I'm working on training my new mare. She frames nice on just a simple snaffle.. no gadgets.. but she's got one speed… she likes to lope really fast. Any suggestions on how to slow her down without hauling on her face? Any videos to suggest??

Thanks
Carolyn

My reply…

Hi Calolyn,

I have a horse in training right now that has the same problem as yours. He’ll frame-up nice and as long as you have his face, he’ll lope okay. As soon as you give him a loose rein, he wants to lope fast or flat out run. Here is what I usually do to correct this:

1. Rollback into the fence repeatedly (every 3 or 4 strides) until the horse WANTS to lope slow.

2. Lope circles without stopping until the horse WANTS to lope slow.

3. If the first two techniques fail, I'll try this: I put the horse in a lope and give him the slack. If he takes off, I'll pull him into the dirt and stop him abruptly. I stop him with strong pulls and releases. Then I pull him back a few steps and make him stand for a few seconds.

Take note. I do not jerk the horse into the ground. I use a smooth yet strong pull.

Next, I ask him to lope again and repeat the correction if he doesn't lope at a reasonable speed. I keep doing this as long as it takes to get a good response. On most horses, by the seventh or eighth repetition they are willing to lope fairly slow on a loose rein.

On the horse I’m now training, the first technique didn’t work but the second one did. However, I had to lope him (actually he was running) for almost 30 minutes before he started to slow down and lope slow.

And yes, I thought he was going to bow a tendon or have a heart attack but the running was his decision and it needed to be his decision to slow down too.

After three days of this, he is loping slow on a loose rein like a pleasure horse.

I do have a video that addresses this. It is Teach Your Horse to Stop Light and Collected volume 1.5.

Here is the link for the Inner Circle. And yes, it IS a CULT and I'm the leader of it!   =o)
www.horsetrainingvideos.com/innercircle.htm

Good luck with your horse on the loping thing.

Larry Trocha
Larry Trocha Training Stable
www.HorseTrainingVideos.com

Mr. Trocha,
I recently purchased a 2yo mare and I have her in training for 90 days (part-time cattle). If she has potential and I want to show her competitively, where do I go from here? Do I give her a break for the winter and start her off heavy in the spring? I don't have a lot of money to invest but I think she has real potential. Can you give me some guidance?  Thank you for any help you can provide.

Sincerely,
Jodee

My reply…

Hi Jodee,

If your funds are pretty limited, cutting horse competition may not be for you. Cattle costs make the training and entry fees for that event more expensive.
Reining or team penning might be more in line with your budget.

It takes a minimum of 18 months of training before most horses are solid enough to be shown in “any” high performance event. I wish I had some creative advice for you but your only option is to leave her in training. There is no substitute for time under saddle. I see no benefit to laying her off.

Since limited money is a factor, you'd better make sure she is good enough to justify spending the money on. Ask the trainer if she has the attributes to be a “winner” or is she just an "average" horse.

Few trainers will flat out tell you the plain and simple truth (they don't want to hurt your feelings or they need the training money) so be prepared to read between the lines when he gives you his answer.

Also, since you are interested in competition, make sure you are using a “professional” trainer who has had some success in the show arena. A part-time or back-yard trainer usually won’t have the experience to make a realistic evaluation.

Good luck,

Larry Trocha
Larry Trocha Training Stable
www.HorseTrainingVideos.com

Hi Larry,

I have your tapes and appreciate your efforts in trying to convey the appropriate actions for training a good reining horse.

I bought a 2 yo and got him lined out pretty nice with the exception of the slide stop. He will whoa, drop his head and stop, but he does not like to get his hind feet up under him.

I tried backing him and then asking him to back a little faster and he just doesn't have the hustle in him to scramble backwards, in turn, he isn't learning to get his feet up under him for the stop.

He will stop RIGHT NOW when I settle myself in the seat and just say whoa on a loose rein. Picking up the reins and giving the tap, tap, tap doesn't seem to improve his desire to stop harder or faster. Any ideas?

Gerry

My reply…

Hi Gerry,
Without seeing the horse, it's hard to make an accurate diagnosis but here are a few ideas that should help.

The most common reason for a horse not using his hindquarters when stopping, is the rider asking for the stop at the wrong part of the horse's stride.

You've got to say WHOA when the horse's hind feet are in the air. Asking for the stop when the hind feet are in the air is what allows the horse to shoot his hindquarters way up under himself.

If you aren't timing the horse's stride properly, a front end stop is inevitable. And every time you stop him on his front end you are creating that habit in the horse. For consistent hindquarter stops, you absolutely MUST use the right timing.

I show an example of this in one of my newsletters. Check it out here: www.horsetrainingvideo.com/stride.htm

I also show a good "slow motion" example of it in the "Teach Your Horse to Stop Light and Collected volume 1.5" video. If you have this tape I suggest you watch it again and pay particular attention to the timing that's demonstrated.

If you are sure you are doing your part right, I'd go to a different training technique. Try using the "Easy Stop" head-gear I demonstrate in the video. Almost ALL horses respond well to that piece of equipment.

Using an Easy Stop encourages a horse to stop instantly and really hard. Of course, if you're not timing the horse's stride right, you'll still get stops on the horse's front end.

Some horses will respond well to a "spur" stop. I demonstrate it in the stopping video. Use your hands to set the bit so the horse can't go forward and ask for the back-up with your legs.

Once the horse understands this, ask for the back-up while the horse is still going forward. From the walk, say whoa and without hesitation, immediately ask for the back-up with your spurs. This will really get the horse stopping and shooting its hind legs under its body.

Once you have this mastered at the walk, do it from the trot and then at the lope. Don't rush it though, it'll probably take a month.

You also want to make sure your horse's hock joints or stifles aren’t inflamed. Many horses nowadays are plagued by this. Most cutting and reining prospects will need an anti-inflamatory treatment sometime during the training process.

Also, check for sore suspensory ligaments (high and low) in the hind legs. He won't stop if they are hurting him.

I hope this helped.

Larry Trocha
Larry Trocha Training Stable
www.HorseTrainingVideos.com

Larry,

I have watched your tapes for a couple years and was also in your Inner Circle. It was very helpful and you did a great job on the tapes. I have learned a lot from you. I spend a lot of time in the saddle and have taught many things to several people, but I am still learning myself. I really appreciate what you do.

There is one thing that I am learning and that is, that collection and suppleness is probably the most important thing there is. I am not in your inner circle any more, but I still think you are the best teacher I have had. I play with the reining on young horses a lot. I feel like you should really stress to your inner circle members about collection and softness.

Your Avid Student,

David

My reply…

Hi David,

Good to hear from you again.

I want to thank you for the feedback about collection and suppleness. And yes, you are absolutely right about how important they are to a horse's training.

What most riders don't realize is that if you get the horse light and supple and then get him collected, you have 75% of the horse's training covered. The rest of the training will just about fall into place automatically.

The one thing I would like to really stress is a term I call "self collection". Self collection happens when a horse comes to understand that he always has to have his hindquarters under him to perform well.

Once a horse gets this, you can do all kinds of stops, turns, circles and just about anything else and the horse will automatically have his butt way up under himself. It makes a horse's movements well balanced and very catty.

Take care,

Larry Trocha
Larry Trocha Training Stable
www.HorseTrainingVideos.com

Well, this wraps it up for this newsletter. I hope you liked it.

Until next time, have fun training your horse.

Larry Trocha
www.HorseTrainingVideos.com

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