Hours Yours And Mine

Photo by impulsephotographymb.com.

Barn name: Blondie.

Details: 2006 AQHA mare by The Radical Hour and out of One Pretty Blaze, by Blazing Hot.

Owned by: Kaleena Weakly, Shelbyville, Illinois.

Trained by: Jason and Jessica Gilliam, Greensburg, Indiana.

The sliding stop is a hallmark of the reining horse. A well-developed stop is also important if you compete in horsemanship and equitation classes. If you’re fortunate enough to have a horse with a good stop, riding that stop correctly is essential not only to scoring well, but also to maintaining your horse’s good form and willingness over time.

I’m going to coach you on the correct way to ride the four key parts of the stop: the approach, the cue, the actual stop, and the follow-through.

Breaking It Down
First, I’ll define each of these four parts in detail. Then I’ll tell you how to ride them with the photos that follow.

The approach. This is the gallop up to the place where you give the cue for the stop. Without a correct approach, your horse won’t be balanced, which means he won’t stop with power and relaxation.

The cue. This is the precise point at which you ask your horse for the stop—using a combination of hand, body, and voice—and your horse begins to respond.

The stop. This is the moment when most classic stop photos are taken. Your horse is in the process of rounding his back and engaging his hindquarters into the ground. Ideally, his front end stays loose throughout the stop so he can remain fluid with his front legs. All this enables the classic deep-in-the- ground stop where the front legs “walk.”

The follow-through. This is everything that follows until the stop is complete. As in golf, the follow-through is as important as everything that comes before. It’s also a place where many amateurs come to grief. I’ve seen many good-stopping horses become bad stoppers because of their riders’ poor follow-through.

Now let’s look at two different stop sequences. The first shows correct rider form and a smooth-stopping horse; the second shows rider errors and the resulting poor form of the horse.

Ride the stop like this…
1. Approach: My mare is straight, relaxed, and running freely forward, pushing with her hindquarters. I’m sitting deep in the saddle. My arms are straightened at the elbows to push my hands forward and give my mare plenty of rein while allowing me to sit back and drive with my seat and body. My legs, in concert with my hands, keep my mare straight.

2. Cue: I’m saying “whoa” and pushing my seat down; this drops my heels and allows my lower legs to swing forward and slightly away from my horse’s sides. I’m also taking a light feel of her mouth with the reins, keeping my hands even. All this encourages my mare to round her back, engage her hind legs under her, and stay soft in the bridle.

3. Stop: My mare responds beautifully, with a well-rounded topline and hocks deep in the ground. She’s staying fluid in the front end—note her “walking” left front leg. My legs remain away from her sides, and my hands stay soft and supportive.

4a. Follow-Through A: My body position hasn’t changed, and my hands remain soft and even, giving my mare a loose rein. As a result, she stays round, relaxed, and walking forward as she completes her stop.

4b. Follow-Through B: On a loose rein and still soft and round, my mare is beginning to stand up after a complete stop. My body and hands remain basically the same; from here, I could roll back, back up, or simply let my mare stand. We’re both ready for anything.

…Not Like This…
1. Approach: It’s hard to see, but I’m not pushing with my seat, which causes my mare to run with less collection, her hocks trailing out behind her. I’m basically just sitting there, rather than supporting and encouraging my horse.

2. Cue: My left hand is up and out of position. This causes my mare to begin to brace against the reins. I’ve thrown my body back, which causes her to become rigid in her body, rather than relaxing and rounding.

3. Stop: I’m pulling my mare to a stop, rather than allowing her to stop. She’s stiff in her body, her back is hollow, her front end is tight (no “walking”), her head is high, and her mouth is open. My hands are rigid, and my body is stiff overall.

4a. Follow-Through A: My hands are still pulling even as my upper body has begun to come forward and my legs are beginning to swing back. In the extreme of this “tipping” error, the rider can inadvertently spur the horse out of the stop, a serious fault that can quickly ruin a good stopper. Here, my mare continues to be stiff, hollow, and head-high.

4b. Follow-Through B: Note how tense, stiff, and braced my mare is here compared to the ideal image, above. Her neck is up and her front end is hollow. I still haven’t put any slack in the reins (bad hands always make a bad stop). It would be hard to have my mare back up or roll back from this tense, rigid position.

From West to East
Recently relocated to Princeton, Kentucky, Mike Boyle is now the head trainer at Darling 888 Ranch, overseeing all the horses in training for the ranch and for outside customers. Darling 888 specializes in National Reining Horse Association open and non-pro futurity and derby horses.

Mike grew up competing in stock horse events in California’s San Joaquin Valley. After graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with a degree in animal science, he attended the University of California, Davis, where he managed the Western riding program and coached UCD’s equestrian team.

With wife Barbi, he began training for the public in 1984. After excelling in many disciplines, he began specializing in reining in the late ’90s. Since then he’s coached many non-pros from rookie status to major-event wins.

In 2009, Mike won over $88,000 on the Quarter Horse gelding Hick A Shine (including a finals berth in the NRHA Futurity), and was on NRHA’s Top Twenty Open Riders list. Mike served on the NRHA board of directors for eight years and was the 2007 president.

The Boyles’ daughter Brooke, 17, won the 2011 Youth Non-Pro Derby in Oklahoma City. Son Brandon, a 21-year-old now attending school at UC, Santa Barbara, has shown successfully all his life and is a former NRHA youth president.

Editor's Note: Thanks to Kim and Pat Yancey of Ione, California, for the use of Starbright Tag for this article. Pat made the finals of the non-pro division of the 2010 National Reining Horse Association Futurity with this nice mare.

Check out Charlie's winning run aboard VS Code Red at the 2011 All American Quarter Horse Congress to see what truly spectacular lead changes look like in action. Notice the horse's position, timing, and pace come together to present a spectacular run.

For Charlie’s lead-change refinement tips, pick up a copy of the June 2012 issue of Horse&Rider.

Can your horse roll back on the fence? You may think of rollbacks as part of a reining pattern or something a cow horse does. But in fact there are many practical reasons why you might want your horse to perform a rollback—even if you never set foot in a reining or cow horse pen.

In this month’s arena exercise, I’ll show you how to teach your horse to roll back along the fence. You’ll ride a circle near the fence, then approach the fence at a 45-degree angle. You’ll let the fence stop your horse, then use your leg and rein to ask him to collect himself on his hindquarters, execute a 180-degree rollback, and continue in the opposite direction.

Why You Need This
Rollbacks are the easiest way to start teaching your horse to move his front end, work off his hindquarters, and collect himself. They’re especially beneficial for horses that want to run around on their front end and resist carrying more of their weight on their hindquarters.

This exercise is also great for horses with “sticky feet” because it gives them a reason to get up and go somewhere.

Another advantage of rollbacks is that you can start teaching them even with a colt that’s had only five to 10 rides, because you’re not forcing him into anything—you’re just using the fence to redirect his energy.

Bottom line: Mastering the rollback will improve your horse’s steering, collection, and overall attitude. Plus it will set you up for next month’s arena exercise, stopping on whoa.

For Best Results…
• Practice this exercise next to a sturdy fence that’s ideally at least 5 feet high. Avoid fences that are too short, made of flimsy or barbed wire, or potentially dangerous in any way, as these could cause injury to you or your horse.
• Outfit your horse in a snaffle bit; you’ll be riding with two hands for clearest communication.
• Do groundwork first to get your horse relaxed and using the thinking side of his brain.
• Learn this exercise at a brisk trot. I prefer to ride a rollback at a lope, and the photos show me at that gait, but I recommend you start at a trot so you can understand the steps before

going faster.
• Allow at least three or four sessions of working on this exercise, ideally on consecutive days, to give your horse enough time to “get it.”

As your horse rocks back and turns into the pocket you've just created, look back over your inside shoulder to put your body in the same position as your horse's body, making it easier for him to balance and come through the turn.

Here's How
Warm your horse up by walking, trotting, and loping around your arena’s perimeter. When you’re ready to begin, hold the reins in both hands, with your hands comfortably out in front of you. (For this exercise, your hands should never come back past the saddle horn. If they do, your reins are too long and you won’t be able to be effective with your cues and timing.) Ride your horse at a brisk trot, posting (rising slightly out of the saddle every other step) if need be.

Now, begin making a 50-foot circle right next to one of the long sides of your fence. Every time you come around to the fence, you should be near enough that you could reach out and touch it with your hand.

Complete at least two circles, or as many as needed to get your horse to relax. When he does, as you come around to the fence, approach it at a 45-degree angle (see diagram). This will create a “pocket” for your horse to roll back into. (If you were to draw up to the fence so that your horse’s body was parallel to it, he wouldn’t be able to get his front end around without bumping into the fence. He’d have to kick his hindquarters out before bringing his front end through—the opposite of what you want. The goal is for him to stick his hindquarters in the ground and roll over his hocks.)

Watch Clinton perform a rollback on the fence at the video below.

Barn name:

Particulars: 1989 dark bay Quarter Horse gelding sired by Money I Hope out of Princess Rancher by King Rancher.

Owned and trained by: Carl Ford of Chillicothe, Ohio.

Shown by: Siblings Jessie and Marc Ford of Chillicothe, Ohio, and Bryan Ford of Sallisaw, Oklahoma.

Claim to fame: Teddy holds 10 titles from the All American Quarter Horse Congress, plus two reserve world titles. He’s in the National Pole Bending Hall of Fame, and has taken all three Ford children to at least one Congress title in pole bending or barrel racing. At 21, he runs consistent sub-20-second pole times.

Slow start: Carl traded a trailer full of scrap metal for a 2-year-old Teddy, and started him as a snaffle-bit prospect. “He did everything right, he just did everything slow,” Carl remembers, laughing. Young Teddy was up for sale a few times, but nobody wanted him.

Wake-up call: Carl moved the lazy 2-year-old over to pole work to try to wake him up a bit, and the rest is history.

Tip of a hat: After Teddy claimed his 10th All American Quarter Horse Congress title last October, this time in senior pole bending, the announcer told the crowd about the 20-year-old gelding’s Congress legacy. Bryan took off his cowboy hat in the middle of the awards ceremony and tipped it to the horse. “I didn’t even have to think about it. Tipping my hat to Teddy was the right thing to do,” Bryan says.

Retirement?: What retirement? “As long as Teddy is happy and 100-percent sound, he’ll keep running,” Jessie says with a smile. “If he’s not being used one way or another, he doesn’t feel like he has a job, and he suffers mentally.” In July, Teddy stayed home while the Fords took younger horses to a local show, and when the family came home a few hours later, he was covered in hives. “He saw that trailer leave and immediately felt the anxiety of being left at home,” Jessie recalls.

A circle loses shape. A lead is blown. A flying change gets halfway done—or not at all. The common culprit in all these scenarios? Lack of body control, in particular the inability of the rider to control the horse’s shoulders. They’re a key trouble spot, especially for amateur riders. Left unsupervised, the inside shoulder drops on turns and circles, causing leaning, bulging, and a host of other ills.

If you can control your horse’s shoulders independent of the rest of his body, you can keep them from wreaking havoc with all your maneuvers. Add hip control, and you’ve got the foundation for beautiful circles, lope departs, lead changes, and more.

These skills are so important, in fact, that whenever a new rider joins my barn, I ask to see him or her isolate and move a horse’s shoulder, then isolate and move the hip. If the student can do this, we move on to other things.

But if not, learning how becomes our very first few lessons. That’s because body control is so fundamental to everything else. And when I’m starting a young horse, this work comes early on in his curriculum, as it sets the stage for everything to follow.

I’m going to share one of my favorite basic exercises to develop shoulder and hip control, broken down into its component parts. First you’ll practice moving your horse’s shoulder. Then you’ll practice moving his hip. Then you’ll combine these skills to hold your horse’s shoulder in place (no dropping or bulging) as you walk a circle, keeping his nose tipped to the outside and his hip moving to the outside.

I always teach it first at a walk, to allow riders and horses both to figure it out and develop muscle memory. Once you master it at a walk, you can ride it at a trot, as well.

It’s a bit tricky, even at the walk. It will challenge you, but if you’re patient and put in the time needed to master it, you’ll save yourself a lot more time later on—fixing things that didn’t need to go wrong.

I’ll show you how to ride the exercise in a circle to your right; simply reverse all cues to circle to your left.

Shoulders: One

First, Move The Shoulders
1. Warm your horse up, then ride him forward at a walk on a straight line, with an equal, soft feel on both reins. As you hold his mouth softly, bump or squeeze equally with both your legs to ask him to soften at the poll, as my horse is doing here.

Shoulders: Two

2. To begin the circle to your right, lift your left hand slightly to tip your horse’s head slightly to the left, bringing that same rein against his neck to ask his shoulders to move to the right, into the circle. At the same time, apply your left leg at or almost in front of the cinch; this also says “move your shoulders over.” If need be, use your right leg behind the cinch to keep your horse’s hind end from coming into the circle, as well. Your horse will be counter-bent on the circle.

Shoulders: Three

3. My gelding is responding by crossing his outside front leg over his other front leg—this is what you want.

Shoulders: Four

4. And here’s the result—note how my gelding’s shoulder is “up” and straight (no bulging or leaning) after taking that lateral step. Meanwhile, his hind legs are tracking relatively forward (not laterally) on the circle to the right.

To Get The Most Out of This Exercise
Your horse must already know how to move off your leg laterally and soften to bit pressure by flexing at the poll.

Do groundwork beforehand to get your horse loosened up, calmed down if need be, and tuned in to you.

For clearest communication, ride two- handed in a snaffle bit.

Work with a trainer if possible; it’ll speed your mastery. If you don’t have access to a trainer, ask a knowledgeable friend to be your eyes on the ground to help you recognize when you’re getting it right. Once you and your horse start to get it, it’ll become much easier.

Be patient. Invest time over multiple training sessions, always giving your horse a chance to figure out what you’re asking of him. Settle for one or two steps at first, then rest/praise; add steps gradually. Master each part of the exercise before moving on to the next.

Practice all parts of the exercise in both directions, giving extra attention to the more difficult direction (there will be one!).

Intersperse plenty of straight-line walking in between practice on this exercise so your horse doesn’t forget how to move forward balanced between your legs and reins. (Too much bending without the same amount of straight forward can cause your horse to become wet-noodle-ish.)

Hips: One

Next, Move the Hip
1. Again, start by riding your horse straight forward, bumping with both legs and holding gently with both reins to ask him to flex at the poll. here, my legs are also getting ready to apply cues to move my gelding’s hip to the outside of my to-the-right circle.

Hips: Two

2. Lift your left hand slightly to tip your horse’s head to the outside, while applying your right leg well behind the cinch to ask him to move his hind end to his left— just outside the circle.

Hips: Three

3. My gelding responds by crossing his inside hind leg over in front of his other hind leg. Use your left rein and left leg at the cinch as need be to keep the shoulders from coming over, as well (you’re refining your shoulder control!).

Via my student Alexie Estrada, I’m going to show you the subtleties of proper form in the circling part of the horsemanship pattern, and give examples of the most common faults riders make while riding those circles. I’ll also explain how to present yourself with pizazz in the transition to the extended lope.

In the slow jog, extended jog, and slow lope, your position will be essentially the same—-upright and balanced. (There’s more to it than that, of course; we’ll get to the details in a moment.) At the transition to the slightly faster lope and throughout that circle, you’ll assume a slightly more forward position. That, and a rein hand moved up your horse’s neck, telegraph to the judge that you clearly understand the “increased forward movement” goal of the extended lope.

Altogether, your attention to these and other details will help you stand out in this highly competitive class and better your horsemanship training techniques.

1A Like this

At the Jog
1A. Here’s close to an ideal rider position at the jog, on a small circle. My student’s body is in vertical alignment; you can draw a straight line from her ear through her shoulder and hip, down to her heel. Her chin is up, and she’s looking in the direction she’s going. Her rein hand is grasping the reins near the horn, and her elbow is hanging naturally near her side. Her other hand is positioned near her rein hand. Her weight is in her heel, and her foot is properly positioned, with the toe facing forward at a natural angle. Alexie could be sitting just a tad more upright (she’s a skosh behind the vertical); other than that, she’s in award-winning form.

1B NOT Like This...

1B. Here my student’s upper body is definitely too far back from the vertical. This has pushed her feet slightly too far forward, where they’re not in ideal position to cue her horse. Her rein hand is both too far forward and too high; her other hand is lagging behind, where it looks “aimless.”

1C ...Or This

1C. Here she’s brought her upper body too far forward and rounded her shoulders. The impression is one of “doing something” with the horse, as compared to the feeling of natural unity projected by photo 1A. In this tipped-forward position, the rider looks tentative and unsure of herself. Her rein hand has drifted too far forward, and her other hand is hanging back-—both common errors.

2A Like This

At the Extended Jog
2A. Here my student has closed her leg slightly to ask her gelding to extend his stride slightly, and he has. Her position otherwise has remained the same as it was at the slow jog, only better, as she’s more upright. The message to the judge is “smooth and effortless.”

2B NOT Like This

2B. When riders ask for an extension of gait, they’re often tempted to lean forward to urge the horse on. Don’t do it! Not only does it push your hands out of proper position, it also ruins the image of confident, polished horsemanship you’re trying to project.

Ward aboard the hot-tempered Fillinic, whose wins at premier stock-horse events of the '60s included the Salinas Rodeo and the Grand National Horse Show at the Cow Palace.

The June 2011 issue of Horse&Rider featured a touching, poignant tribute to “The Master”, reined cow horse trainer Greg Ward. Here’s his dossier to further demonstrate just how much of a successful trainer he was and what an important role he played in the development of the reined cow horse industry.

Born: October 8, 1935; Bakersfield, California.

Died: December 6, 1998; Visalia, California.

Lifelong Occupation: Professional horseman, breeder.

Major Accomplishments:

• Four NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity wins: Sugarnic, 1972; Sugar Remedy, 1981; Smokinic, 1986; Reminics Pep, 1998. Four futurity reserve championships: Sugar Fred, 1975; Nic A Chex, 1986; Peppy Remedy, 1988; Plain Sugar Remedy, 1992.
• Other NRCHA championships: Snaffle Bit Maturity, Roanie Blue Pony, 1985; Snaffle Bit Stakes, Sister Train, 1991, and Just Sugar Remedy, 1993; All-Around Stock Horse Contest (herd work, steer stopping, reined work, and cow work), 1974, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’90, ’92.
• National Cutting Horse Association Futurity finalist seven times; semi-finalist 12 times; NCHA earnings over $800,000. 1981 NCHA Futurity champion stallion honors and third-place finish with Reminic.
• 1975 Pacific Coast Cutting Futurity Champion on Sugar Fred (not affiliated with the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association and predating the PCCHA Futurity).
• 1973 Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association Maturity reserve champion on Sugarnic. 1981 PCCHA Futurity co-reserve champion on Sugar Remedy. 1993 PCCHA Cutting Stakes champion on Just Mister Dual.
• Raised and trained numerous well-known stallions, including Boomernic, 1992 NRHA Futurity champion; Dual Pep, winner of over $300,000 in NCHA purses; and leading cow-horse sires Master Remedy and Reminic. Owned and/or stood at stud stallions Docs Remedy, Just Plain Colonel, and Sugar Vandy.
• The Ward Ranch has produced 143 NRCHA Futurity finalists from 197 through 2010, including nine open champions, six open reserve champions, five non-pro champions, and six non-pro reserve champions.
• Ward Ranch mares, most related to the dynasty-founding mare Fillinic, have produced offspring earning well over $1.5 million in NCHA events alone.
• Received the PCCHA Dave McGregor Achievement Award for sportsmanship, 1995. Inducted into the NRCHA Hall of Fame, 1996. Inducted into Kern County (California) Hall of Fame, February 1999.

Mentors: His horses. (Developed his own methods by reading and watching others train and compete.)

Protégés: Son John Ward, the 1994 and 2008 NRCHA Futurity winner; Jon Roeser, 1990 NRCHA Futurity winner and three-time reserve champion. Also Bobby Cotta, Richard Fierreo, Crawford Hall, Gordon Hayes, Wayne Hinder, and Will Landers.

Winning non-pros: Billy Burton, Jimmy Dassel, Billy Freeman, Sheila Head, Jerry Westphal.

Surviving family: Wife, Laura “Shorty” Ward; son, John Ward, who’s carrying on his father’s legacy; two daughters, Wende Ward Lourenco and Amy Aguiar; multiple grandchildren; a brother, Kirk Ward.

The 11-year-old girl and her mother climb out of their car at the Arizona Horse Lover’s Club in Phoenix, not knowing what to expect. On the basis of a magazine article, the mother has taken her daughter to trainer John Hoyt for help with lead changes, driving from their Colorado home during a spring vacation. They know the trainer is good, but they’ve also heard he’s “scary”—whatever that means. And now he’s eyeing them intently.

“Are those new spurs?” he asks, referring to the clip-ons  the girl is wearing on her black, high-top boots. “Why, yes, Mr. Hoyt, they are,” says the girl, pleased that he’s noticed. Clip-ons are all the rage in 1969, and hers are a recent Christmas gift. “Lemme see ‘em,” he says. Off they come with a “ping” and the girl hands them to the trainer. He holds them in both hands, as if they were wishbones, and with on quick, sure motion, snaps them in two.

“Now, go get yourself some spurs,” he says, watching silently as they slip back into their car, stunned, and drive away.

Holly Hover’s introduction to the trainer is a typical “John Hoyt story.” It describes a man who’s unapologetically honest and blunt to the point of rudeness. Still, Hover went on to develop a long-term association with the horseman, and is now a Quarter Horse trainer herself. Today, she speaks with great fondness of “that bad-boy John Hoyt.” Like all who know him well, she realizes that his crusty surface hides a soft core. The growling grizzly, it seems, has the heart of a teddy bear.

“I’ve been called everything from a cupcake to a demon,” acknowledges the 68-year-old horseman, who now resides in Lone Oak, Texas. “ ‘Bout anything you write would be the truth.”

Well, not exactly. Still, his is a long and colorful past, one that’s shaped his character and forged the larger-than-life persona that all but obscures the real person.

We’re going to take you behind the stories to find the real John Hoyt—the lifelong horseman, legendary competitor, and ongoing inspiration to countless others. We’ll give you a close look at the trainer who’s qualified for more than 20 American Quarter Horse Association World Shows in a row, produced scores of world and all-around champions, and consistently gotten more out of ordinary horses than many could get out of superstars.

We’ll also examine the inner resources that make him the kind of legend that can ride right out of the history books and beat you, even today.

Along the way, of course, we’ll share a few more tales, because you can’t tell the story of John Hoyt without telling a few John Hoyt stories.