Training Tip: Horse Doesn’t Understand One Rein Stops

Question: I recently adopted a mustang and followed your colt starting videos to the T. It worked beautifully and I now have an extremely reliable 6-year-old mare I call Noya. The only problem I have is with the One Rein Stop. It seems she’s not getting it. When I sit deep in the saddle and after two seconds start a One Rein Stop, she turns and turns and then gives in and I release the rein. I have not been able to get rid of this turning, even though my legs are completely off her.

Answer: I would review the videos for Flexing at a Standstill and One Rein Stops in the Fundamentals Series. The Colt Starting is a great series, but it’s meant to be a supplemental resource to the Fundamentals. The Fundamentals has a lot more detailed information in it about the teaching stage and addressing rider and horse problems.

Before working on your horse, I’d double-check your cues and how you’re rewarding her. You may be doing everything perfectly, but it’s impossible for me to tell without watching you ride your horse. So take a few minutes to ensure that you’re doing everything correctly on your end.

To do a One Rein Stop, first cue the horse with your body language by sitting back deep in the saddle and taking your legs off. Then lift the middle of the reins up off the horse’s neck with one hand, slide your other hand down the rein, and pull it up to your hip. Glue your hand to your hip and hold the rein there until your horse stops moving her feet and softens her face. Make sure that the horse’s nose actually touches your boot, jeans, stirrup or fender before you release the rein. The instant the horse stops moving her feet and softens, immediately drop the rein out of your hand.

A mistake I see people make is releasing the rein when the horse’s nose touches their boot or stirrup, but the horse is still moving his feet. Remember, horses don’t learn from pressure, they learn from the release of pressure. So whatever the horse is doing when you release the pressure, that’s the behavior you’re rewarding.

If you’ve got a hotter-blooded horse that’s constantly thinking about moving forward, it will take doing nothing but One Rein Stops for a week before she gets the lesson. There are some horses that we’ve gotten in for training that we’ve literally spent two weeks doing nothing but One Rein Stops on them. It’s boring but it’s extremely important to have that foundation in place.

Let’s say you’re cueing your horse correctly, releasing the pressure and rewarding her at the right time and you can tell she understands what you’re asking her to do but she’s just playing around with you. In that case, cue her the same, as far as sit down in the saddle, count one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two and then pick up on one rein and pull it up to your hip. If she doesn’t immediately come to a stop, bump on the rein with driving pressure, pulling it up toward your bellybutton. Do it firmly enough to get her attention and make her feel uncomfortable.

As soon as she stands still and touches her nose to your boot, jeans, stirrup or fender, release the pressure. If you’re being effective, you’ll have to only make this correction once or twice. Do what you have to do to get the job done. Be as gentle as possible but as firm as necessary.

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