Photo by impulsephotographymb.com.

Barn name: Vino

Details: 2003 brown AQHA gelding by Certain Potential and out of Dotevita, by Zippo Jack Bar.

His people: Lee Reeve, Garden City, Kansas, owns Vino, and his daughter, Darcy, shows him. Karen Hornick, Jamestown, Ohio, trains Vino in Western pleasure, and Charlie Cole, Pilot Point, Texas, trains him in Western riding.

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.

REINING ESSENTIALS How to Excel In Western’s Hottest Sport By Sandy Collier, with Jennifer Forsberg Meyer Published by Trafalgar Square Books Available September 2008 Softcover; 240 pages $26.95 HorseBooksEtc.com

Knowing exactly how to do that, however, isn’t always obvious. In fact, I’ve spent the last 25 years figuring it all out. In particular, I’ve analyzed the basic philosophy of Tom and Bill Dorrance (making the right thing easy, the wrong thing difficult) to see how it applies to day-to-day training. In this adaptation from my new book, I’m going to share some key strategies with you. Whether you’re a rookie or well advanced in your horsemanship, these concepts will enable you to become a better rider--and wind up with a better broke horse.

So, without further delay, here are the rules of thumb for "riding smart" that I’ve accumulated over the years:

Maximize every moment
Whenever you’re with your horse, you’re either training or untraining him. If you’re picking out his feet and he’s leaning on you or dancing around, don’t let him get away with it--that’s setting an "I’m the boss" precedent in his mind.

Instead, take the time to set his priorities straight by insisting that he stand obediently when you need him to. If you’re riding him through a gate and he won’t move laterally off your leg, school him until he does. If you’re going down the trail on a pleasant morning and he’s pulling on the bit, don’t think, "Oh, it doesn’t matter now." It does. All these random moments add up to a lot of good training; don’t waste them.

Set him up to succeed
Your horse must understand and accept an idea before it can become his own, and only then can you train him how you want him to do what you’re asking. Another way to think of this is that you must show him until he understands and accepts a maneuver, and only then train him on it.

This means you must use your aids in a way that enables your horse to "find" what you want, rather than forcing him to do your bidding. Yes, hauling on the reins is one way to get a horse stopped. But how much better to lope him until he’s a bit tired, so that when you pick up your reins he wants to stop. Help him figure it out, and give him time to do so, then reward him when he does the right thing

Once he’s figured out the what, only then can you start teaching him the how. Using our stopping example, that would mean getting his hind end up under him as he stops, staying off the bit, and so on.

This is so important! Think back to your school years...did you learn more from the teacher who rushed you, then bullied and humiliated you for a wrong answer? Or from the teacher who set you up to find the right answer, then told you how clever you were when you got it? If you help your horse--instead of hammer on him--when he’s confused, he’ll start to think of you as a friend he can look to for guidance when the going gets rough.

Set your horse up to succeed by using your aids in a way that enables him to "find" what you want. Only when he understands a movement, such as bending, should you begin asking him to do it a specific way.

Photo by Caroline Fyffe

Be a contrarian
This goes along with training every moment. If your horse is wanting to do one thing, make him do the opposite. Is he leaning in one direction? Make him go the other way. Is he amped up and wanting to lope? Make him stand still for a moment. Does he want to stand? Make him lope. Is he eager to be at the front of the line? Put him n the back.

In other words, don’t let him train you. If he’s a spook, don’t forsake trail rides--go on lots of them and get him exposed to all those frightening things. Don’t make excuses for him.

By insisting he do what you want rather than what he wants, you’re continuously reinforcing that you are the boss, not he. Horses crave leadership, and if you don’t provide it, they will.

Rule out physical pain
You can’t train a horse that’s hurting, so whenever your horse is being stubbornly resistant, make sure it’s not because he’s in pain. Is he tossing his head? His teeth may need floating. Refusing to stop? His hocks may be sore. Resisting a turn? His suspensory ligaments (the structures supporting the back of the lower leg) may be sore. Always check with the appropriate expert--a veterinarian, chiropractor, or equine dentist--to rule out physical pain before pushing through in your training.

Train both sides
Whether you know it or not, you own two horses, a right horse and a left horse, and they both need to be trained. Never assume something you’ve taught your horse to do using one side of his body will translate to the other; it won’t. You must train both sides individually.

If he can shut a gate working off your left leg, also teach him to do it off your right. Each side will likely require slightly different approaches, because most horses are a little stiff (resistant to bending) to the left and hollow (bend excessively) to the right--a function of their natural asymmetry. Ultimately, you’ll spend about the same amount of time working your horse to each side, striving to make his stiff side more flexible, and his hollow side more evenly (and not overly) bent.

Be precise
A horse’s brain is like a computer, so the old “garbage in, garbage out” admonition applies. With a computer, if you enter a command that’s just one letter off, the computer won’t recognize and perform the command. Similarly, if you want optimal performance from your horse, you must ask for a movement exactly the same way each time.

Sometimes we get frustrated with a horse that’s not responding correctly. We think, “You dummy--you did it fine yesterday.” But our horse is thinking, “Yes, but you cued it differently today, so now I’m confused.” A fully trained horse is often able to fill in for a miscue, but while he’s still learning, the more precise and correct you can be, the faster and more reliably he’ll learn. Good stuff in, good stuff out.

Develop great timing
Horses learn from the release of pressure, not the application of it. And when you release, your horse will associate that reward with whatever he was doing immediately before the release. So if you’re even a split second late releasing, you’re confusing your horse and slowing his learning, or even inadvertently “rewarding” something else entirely.

If you’re asking for a step backward, for example, the instant he even begins to think “back,” lighten the reins for an instant as a reward, then resume asking.

If you miss that moment, and instead lighten as he’s raising his head or opening his mouth, you’re rewarding him for what you don’t want. Timing is everything.

Be consistent and fair
A cue can’t mean one thing half the time, and something different the other half--because you don’t enforce it. For example, "whoa” should mean stop--not slow down.

If you’re inconsistent in your follow through, you oblige your horse to choose whether you really mean it each time you ask. That gives him only a 50/50 chance of doing the right thing. Inevitably, he’ll choose the easier, and in most cases, wrong thing and get himself in trouble. This inconsistency on your partis like lying to your horse, and you must be honest to gain his trust.

Similarly, you must never lose your temper. When you do need to make a correction, it must always fit the crime. Never suspect that your horse is trying to be bad on purpose--he isn’t. You probably confused him, so take that into consideration in your response.

A scared and intimidated horse isn’t going to try for you. But if he understands that you’ll always be fair with him, he’ll get confident enough to give his all. That said, don’t hesitate to “raise your voice” if that’s what’s needed.

Dressage incorporates a lot of bending and lateral work to supple and relax the horse, plus develop his responsiveness. And let's face it: Regardless of the breed we're riding or the gear we're using, a supple, relaxed, responsive horse is what we're all after.

You may be surprised to learn that the classical dressage seat, or position on a horse, is almost identical to the traditional Western seat. But don't confuse dressage with the hunt seat position, where stirrups are shorter and the rider is inclined forward--to put him or her in position, ultimately, for jumping.

In dressage, the rider maintains a longer stirrup and a more upright position that's essentially the same as how we Western folk ride. And as for cueing, a horse is always a horse, as the saying goes. So the ways of influencing him are the same in both dressage and Western riding.

Note the similarities here--my traditional Western seat and my colleague Lynn Palm

Ease and harmony describe our horses: They

In the photos above, you can see how similar the two forms of riding are. Facing me is my friend, colleague, and fellow Team Horse & Rider member Lynn Palm, who competes in dressage plus uses its principles to train her Western horses. Lynn and I collaborated on a training DVD that illustrates the similarities of dressage and Western riding. In it, Lynn and I ride a series of dressage-based exercises designed to give you a better-broke horse.

The exercise I'll demonstrate in this article, leg-yield to lope depart, is drawn from that DVD. Leg-yielding is moving your horse laterally--forward and sideways at the same time. You'll leg-yield at a trot for several strides, then change your position just slightly to ask for a lope. The leg-yield puts your horse in the perfect position to pick up a soft, collected lope on the correct lead.

Before You Begin.
.know that your horse must have some basics already in place to perform this exercise. He must be obedient to your go, whoa, and turn cues; move off your leg laterally; and know how to collect a little--that is, respond to your driving legs and steadying hand by softening to the bit, rounding his topline, and bringing his hind legs farther up underneath himself as he moves.

Work in a safe arena with good footing. You can perform this exercise riding one-handed in a shank bit as I am here, or two-handed in a snaffle bit.

> View the Western Dressage: Leg Yield to Lope Depart Slideshow

Teaching your horse self-carriage isn't always easy, but it's an imperative skill for Western pleasure competition. Often horses learn to rely on their riders to "hold them together," and therefore haven't learned to work off their hindquarters while keeping their shoulders lifted to maintain carriage on their own.

Without self-carriage, a horse's cadence is naturally going to suffer, as he'll typically drop his head well below the vertical. This will cause his shoulders to also drop, pulling much of his weight onto his front end.

To teach your horse how to achieve and maintain self-carriage, you need to make the "right" think comfortable for him and the "wrong" thing uncomfortable. After awhile, he'll choose the right way on his own.

(Note: At this level in your horse's training, I suggest you use a mild curb bit with medium shanks. He'll likely respect this bit more than he would a snaffle.)

In the following photo sequence, I'll demonstrate several techniques to encourage your horse to achieve self-carriage. First, you'll notice my horse is standing still with her head dropped down below the vertical. I'll give her a bump by pulling one rein straight up, with my hand extended out in front of me. You'll see after a few repetitions, how she responds to my cueing by lifting her head and rounding her back.

Then I'll show you what I call the "rattling" technique, in which I draw both reins up so my mare feels them on her neck. The rattling of the bit back and forth in her mouth will eventually teach her to lift and come back to me merely by the draw of the reins. Thus, the actual cue is the draw of the reins, and the reinforcement is the rattle or "bite" of the bit if she doesn't respond to what I'm asking of her. If she reacts correctly from the rein draw, then there's no need for me to rattle the bit. If she doesn't, I'll rattle until she makes the correction.

Press the button on the top to play the sequence automatically all the way through at the speed of your choosing, or use the individual buttons on the right to proceed one image at a time.

-- Photos by Roger Gollehon

To read more about developing self-carriage in your horse, see Team Horse & Rider Problem Solvers, "Head Too Low At Lope," in our February 2010 issue, or read Team H&R's Private Lesson with Robin Gollehon, "Keep Those Shoulders Up: Mastering Self-Carriage." To order back issues of Horse & Rider, call 877-717-8928.

Our Student
Sharon Sweet of Columbus, Ind., currently shows her 7-year-old Quarter Horse gelding Modern Affair ("Sweetie") in Western pleasure. As she improves her skills, Sharon is making the jump from the open show circuit to AQHA shows where she'll compete in novice amateur and amateur select Western pleasure. Sharon wants to improve her horse's consistency while maintaining the authentic rhythm of her horse's gaits.

Lesson Plan
Lesson's objective: To gain a greater understanding of what self-carriage looks and feels like, and how to obtain and maintain it--thus improving your skills in Western pleasure and other performance events.

Self-carriage defined: A horse's ability to properly carry himself, similar to good posture in people. He's responsible for his own carriage and doesn't rely on his rider to hold him in the proper position. He should be holding his shoulders up while keeping his back round, and he's maintaining collection.

Why you need this: While Western pleasure is often considered an easy class to participate in, it's one of the hardest to win. Almost any rider can learn to walk, jog and lope, but doing it at the level of skill necessary to win is no easy feat. Western pleasure is difficult not only because it must be done on a very loose rein, but it's also performed at an extremely slow speed. To be successful in pleasure, it's imperative that your horse can hold himself in a balanced frame while performing at the walk, jog and lope. This lesson will emphasize how every detail in your riding and your horse's execution of the three gaits must be perfected and fine-tuned to produce a winning performance.

How you'll achieve this: This lesson is divided into two steps. The first is to achieve collection by holding your horse's face and applying pressure with your legs, which will encourage him to lift in front, round his back and drive from his hindquarters. The second step is to create enough "stay" so he can perform on a loose rein.

Why this works: Your horse is an athlete. If you teach him to position his body to work at his optimum level, you'll bring out his best performance.

What you'll need for this lesson:

• A fenced arena with soft, level footing is best, but if that's not an option, you can work in an open area as long as your horse is broke and quiet.
• Your schooling tack (including the appropriate bit for your horse's level of training).
• Spurs with rowels determined by your horse's sensitivity.

Skills your horse must have: Although this lesson is for more advanced horses, it's important to set self-carriage goals for your horse at the beginning and throughout his training. But before working on self-carriage, he needs to willingly respond to your legs and give in his face.

Caveat: If you don't feel confident in your horse's (or your) capabilities, seek the help of a qualified professional. Keep in mind that this is a medium to advanced lesson, so if your horse doesn't adequately respond to your basic cues, you're not ready to work on self-carriage and collection.

Before You Begin
In order to progress as a rider, you must develop "feel" in your hands, legs and seat, and you need to grasp the basic causes and effects of your cues. When learning a new skill many novice riders assume the horse is always right and they are wrong, and without knowing how to correct the problem, these riders do nothing. However, not acting is as detrimental as doing the wrong thing. While it's important to reward your horse for doing the right thing, it's just as important to correct him when he's wrong. The more consistent you are with your cues and corrections, the quicker your horse will catch on, and that's when it's useful to have a professional help you understand that "feel."

Keep in mind, when you're attempting to correct one thing in your horse, you may have to begin with another. For example, if your horse carries his neck up it may be because his back is too low, and you'll need to ask him to lift his belly to bring his neck down. If he carries his shoulders too low, you'll correct him by first asking him to lift his neck--then you can ask him to put his neck back down after he's fixed his shoulders.

Here, an amateur competitor who rides with Karen demonstrates the exercise in a frame-by-frame photo sequence. She jogs a straight line, stops and backs her horse with his poll up, pivots on the hindquarters, then immediately resumes the jog on her rebalanced horse.

Press the button on the left to play the sequence automatically all the way through at the speed of your choosing, or use the individual buttons on the right to proceed one image at a time.

-- Photos by Cappy Jackson

In the August '09 issue of Horse & Rider, clinician Karen Scholl helps women understand their horse-related fears. Here, we tell you how to up your confidence at the lope--the gait that typically prompts the most fear--from an article first published in our August '06 issue.

It's a surprisingly common fear point. If you have it, loping makes you nervous. It doesn't matter that you ride completely at ease at a walk, jog, and even an extended trot. When it comes time to lope, your heart speeds up, your mouth dries out, your breathing gets shallow--if you're breathing at all.

It's a vicious circle. Tension makes you stiff, which causes you to tip and bounce, which unbalances and speeds up your horse, which unsettles you even more. After a few nerve-rattling strides, you come back to a walk or jog, and you're done with loping for the day.

And, even when you persist and lope for longer periods, you wish the gait could become second nature to you. You'd love to be able to move your horse into a smooth, controlled canter whenever you like, minus the high anxiety.

We're going to help you learn to do exactly that. Our experts will give you a dozen strategies that will set you up for success and build your confidence at the lope. With time and practice, you'll overcome your apprehension and learn to enjoy the bounding, rolling nature of your horse's premier gait.

For these tips to work...
...your horse must be safe and able to carry you at the lope. If the source of your fearfulness is your horse's past attempts to buck you off or run away with you, you need professional training, not tips. Similarly, if your horse is green, training will help him learn to stay balanced under your weight at the lope (no mean feat), which in turn will enable you to feel safer and more secure.

You yourself must know how to sit a lope, even if tension keeps you from doing it well. If you don't understand the basics of riding at this gait, you need lessons to establish a solid foundation. If, however, what's holding you back is a niggling, essentially unfounded fear, here are some strategies to boost your confidence. (And to learn more about where your fear may be coming from, see "Why Are We Fearful?," at the end of this article.) Ready? Then let's get started.

Confidence at the lope is all about position. In this photo, the rider is sitting upright, with her seat bones deep in the saddle and her shoulders back.

1. Re-Label Your Fear
Think of it as excitement, instead. Start by stretching your mental envelope. "Visualize yourself galloping all out, pushing the limits of what you'd ever consider in real life," suggests Peggy Martin, a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in helping riders overcome fear and anxiety. "This will make actual loping seem calm by comparison, and expand your comfort zone a bit. As you visualize galloping, note how the physical sensations of fear--butterflies in the stomach, quickened breathing, pounding heart--are similar to those of excitement. Over time, begin processing your feelings about the lope in a different way. Instead of saying to yourself, 'I'm afraid to lope,' say, 'I'm excited to lope.'"

She admits that attitudes don't change overnight. "But," she adds, especially if you also try some of the other suggestions given here, "eventually you'll reroute the pathways in your brain, so that
you come to view loping with more excitement than fear.

In this photo, she's demonstrating the classic mistake--leaning forward and slipping her leg back.

2. Check Your Position
Try as you might, if you're afraid of loping, you're likely to find yourself in some version of the dreaded "fetal crouch" when you do lope--hunched forward, head down, shoulders rounded, knees creeping up. It can happen to the best of riders when fear takes over. The worst thing about this position is that it can cause you to hang on the reins and clamp with your heels--a sure prescription to rattle your horse, which only adds to your nervousness.

The best antidote, says Cathy Hanson, a Quarter Horse trainer who works with amateurs, is work on the longe line.

Photo by Cappy Jackson

How to achieve that? A favorite technique of mine is lateral work, which increases a horse's suppleness, encourages him to lift his back, and helps develop the core muscles he needs to maintain collection. Lateral work is like calisthenics for your horse. It helps you get his belly and hind end as supple as his face. In other words, just as he's soft and responsive though his head and neck when you pick up the reins, he becomes soft and responsive--lifting his back and/or moving his hind end--when you put your leg on him.

With a pivot on the forehand, you can teach your horse the beginnings of collection working from a standstill, where it's easier for him to "get it." That's why I start this type of work with my colts after just 30 rides. My goal on a young horse is to get one good, collected step from the hind end the first time I ask. Then I start over, and try to get two lateral steps. Then three. I do these "calisthenics" for 10 to 15 minutes at the beginning of each ride, depending on how far along the horse is with them.

One caveat: There's been a controversy about pleasure horse "loping sideways" in order to stay slow and exaggerate the forward step of the inside hind leg. This is not our purpose here in moving the hind end laterally. This work is the equivalent of what a ballet dancer does before performing--bending and stretching more than will be required, to increase suppleness and, over time, to build strength.

In the photo gallery that follows, first my assistant Brock Reinesbach shows you how to initiate a forehand pivot from the ground. In the photos that follow, I show you how to achieve it when mounted (your horse should wear a snaffle bit for the mounted work.

> CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHOTO GALLERY