Practice Makes Perfect Horses
As you practice, you'll find that you need less and less pressure. When your horse responds well to moving his hips over, don't release the pressure until he gives with his jaw, as well as moving his hips over. This helps keep him light and responsive.
Watch your horse's hip closely. It'll move before his legs do. As soon as you see his hip move, give your release. His legs will still step over and you will have lightened your horse's response to the cue.
All horses are stronger and more flexible on one side than they are on the other. Work on the "weak" side more often and be patient as those muscles learn to stretch and get stronger.
When your horse is solid on both sides with you on the ground, mount into the saddle and begin from the basics again, reinforcing that the signal means the same thing when you're on his back.
Start building your stop at the walk, then work on the jog. You can move up to the extended trot as your horse understands what you're asking him to do. This will give you control in most circumstances.
"Hips over" (or the "one-rein stop") is a good exercise, but you have to know its limitations, and you and your horse have to practice it before there is any possibility of the horse running away with you.
Another Way of Looking at Things
Let's say you're having trouble getting your horse to stop. You're not dying or in imminent danger of dying, you're just having problems getting him to stop and stand still. It's not an emergency, just an annoyance.
You can get any horse to stop by having him continually look at a particular object. For example, if your horse's head is at 12 o'clock-straight forward-and the object is at 8 o'clock, you can use your "hips over" cue to turn him around to 8 o'clock. Or, better yet, keep his tail pointed away from 8 o'clock and he will stop. The important thing is to have him move his whole body, not just bend his head and neck.
Practice having him look at a specific object: a tree, a rock, a piece of paper on the ground. He'll eventually stop. He might step over that piece of paper, but when that paper is behind you, just bring him around and take him back to look at that piece of paper or that rock on the ground. Keep your horse's nose pointed directly ahead no matter where he goes. He'll stop. It's actually kind of fun to practice this. Enjoy the opportunity!
Summary
Keep in mind these key points as you begin to work one-rein stops with your horse:
• Don't bend your horse's head around to the side and stand still.
• Don't bend your horse's head around to the side and keep moving in the same direction.
• If you pick up on the rein, every single time move the hip a little or a lot to the side.
• Start at a walk. Build your stop at the walk. Then build it at the trot and the extended trot so the horse understands what you are asking him to do.
