TRAIN A REINER
Todd and Taumi Martin
Copyright©2009
Lesson 7
Rollbacks and
Rundowns
The
Rollback
The rollback for a reining horse is
different than the rollback for a cutting horse.
A rollback for the reiner has forward motion. Just as a reiner’s spin is forward motion,
so is the rollback.
The rollback for a cutter has very little
forward motion, since on a cutter if you have forward motion the horse tends to
lose position on the cow. You don’t want
a cutter to move forward and get closer to the cow…getting too close reduces
the angles and is a great way to lose the cow; so, no forward motion.
Reiners on the other hand, perform the rollback much like a
working cow horse. The working cow horse
pushes the cow down a fence line, and then rolls back over his hock with
forward motion, turning the cow. In the
same instant that the cow turns back and begins forward motion in a different
direction, the working cow horse is also beginning forward motion in a
different direction.
We want a reiner to have free, fluid movement with the front
feet.
We want the reiner to be able to get on his hocks and rollback,
and we want him to come out of the rollback with lots of drive forward and on
the correct lead.
We’ll begin teaching the rollback when
the horse is proficient at his spins.
When teaching the spin we have worked hard at maintaining forward
motion, and that forward motion is what we need in the rollback.
To begin teaching the rollback, we
must first know where the hind feet are and when the right hind foot is
planted.
If you ask your horse to back, you
should be able to feel which hind foot is moving and when it is planted. You
might have to look for awhile until you get the feel of it.
Let’s look at this from the
perspective of teaching the horse the rollback to the right. When we complete the rollback to the right
and start in the opposite direction we want the horse to strike off on the
right lead.
When the horse plants his right hind
foot, tip his nose just as you did to begin the spin. I want the horse to begin the rollback just
as he begins a spin; as the horse tips his nose to the right we push him to the
right.
Don’t add leg pressure or encourage
the horse to rollback until he has begun to lead with his nose.
As the horse comes around over his
right hip, and is about midway through the turn or at 90 degrees, that is when
you want to add left leg and drive him out on the right lead.
Don’t add left leg as if you are going
to kick him around; add the leg pressure just as you would ask for a right lead
departure. If you ask for the turn and
drive off as if you were asking for a lead departure, you are going to keep the
forward motion in the rollback.
Work on the fundamentals. You want the horse to follow his nose. You want to be able to tip the horse’s nose
to the right and have his shoulders wrap around and follow his nose.
When you start the rollback, be sure
you are not blocking the horse’s movement by allowing your inside leg to get in
the way.
Even though you want forward motion in
the rollback, you are going to start the rollback lessons by backing the horse;
you want to be perfect in feeling and establishing the planted right hind foot.
Make sure as you are backing the horse
that you are asking with a rhythm and you have established a cadence. When you
feel that right hind foot start to take a step back ward and plant, you want to
take your right leg completely off and tip the horse’s nose into the direction
of the rollback. When you are about 90 degrees through the rollback you are
going to add left leg pressure and ask for a lead departure.
Click here to
watch video – rollback to the right.
Click here to
watch a video of a horse doing a rollback to the left.
Before asking the horse to work the
rollback with speed, you want to be sure the horse is responding perfectly to
the cues, following his nose and driving forward.
To get the horse to do the rollback
with speed, you don’t ask for more speed during the beginning or middle of the
rollback—you ask for speed only after the horse has completed the rollback.
If you start asking for speed before
the horse actually has mastered the rollback, the horse will start to get
nervous about performing the maneuver.
Allow the horse to perform the rollback, and then ask for speed; he’ll
soon add speed to the entire maneuver because he knows that the request for
speed is coming.
The Rundown
The rundown to the stop is critical to
getting a great stop.
The rundown is the approach to the
stop…if the approach is not straight and perfect, then the stop can’t be
straight and perfect.
Before you begin teaching the rundown,
you should have your horse stopping with great form—hindquarters tucked well
underneath himself and yet very soft on the forehand. (This usually takes me seven or eight months
to attain, and that is riding a minimum of four times a week.)
When you start teaching the rundown,
you are teaching the rundown, not the stop.
You are working on the approach to the stop, not the stop. If the approach is crooked or the horse loses
balance and form, then the stop is going to be crooked or out of balance.
When we first teach them to rundown,
the primary objective is to get them to run with their bodies straight. The
easiest way to do this is to remove all other thoughts.
To help get your horse straight, use a
hand on each rein and keep the horse in the middle.
Don’t worry about the lead
departure. If the horse trots a few
steps into the lope, it is not a big deal. What we are concerned about is
getting the horse to point his nose in the direction of travel.
Before the horse knows where he is
going, you have to look where you are going.
Look down the arena! If you are looking
at the horse’s ears or paying attention to the horse’s head in your departure,
then it will take you half the rundown to get the horse’s body straight because
your body is not straight.
When you begin your rundown, find a
point of reference, or pick a point; it might be a pole on the other side of
the arena. Keep your eyes on the highest
point of the pole. Looking at the
highest point forces you to raise your chin up which helps keep your body
position back.
Now that you are looking at point at
the end of the arena, you want to point your horse’s nose at the same spot.
Don't concentrate so much on trying to adjust the horse’s body; if his nose is
going straight, then his body will follow.
In the beginning your hands will be a
little bit wider apart because you want to be able to make little adjustments
to keep the horse’s nose pointed at the right stop. Keep your attention on going straight. The
straighter the horse’s body, the easier it is to get the horse’s shoulders
elevated and his hind end riding up underneath him.
Once you have the horse looking
straight and can lope him down the arena in a straight line, it is likely your
horse will begin to build more speed than either of you are ready to
handle. You do not want him to start
racing down the show pen. (Horses start
increasing speed on their own because they know that when they get to the end
of the arena they usually get to rest.
We want the horse to want to reach the end of the arena,
we just don’t want him to “rush” the rundown.
We only want the horse to add speed when we ask for speed.)
If you feel your horse is getting
strong in his face or starting to rush when you lope off, the last thing you
want to do is jerk him into the ground or punish his mouth. What you do, is
draw your hands in, to make sure he stays soft in the face. If he doesn’t
soften, then cease forward motion. Bring the horse back to you and make him
relax. You might not even have to break him down to a complete stop, you might be able to do it by breaking him down to a
trot.
Once he breaks down and relaxes, go
right back into the lope.
Speed only comes when correctness is
first.
Speed adds to the level of difficulty,
but if you increase speed and lose correctness you have not increased the level
of difficulty; all you’ve done is make the maneuver fast and ugly. Do not add speed till you have the correctness
of a straight body.
When you first start teaching the
rundown, the horse might jump from side to side. This doesn’t happen so much at the start of
the rundown as it does when you near the end of the arena. If your reacts in
this manner, it is most likely because he doesn’t know which direction he is
going to be asked to go, or he is concerned about the wall/end of the arena.
To correct the problem, shorten the
length of your rundown. Practice a short
rundown until the problem seems to be solved, then begin to increase the length
of the rundown.
You don't want to scare the horse in
any maneuver. Don't scold the horse or
discipline him if he starts to bounce around; just shorten the rundown.
When teaching, the faster the horse
moves, the slower you want your hands to move.
Build the horse’s confidence, by
continuing to focus on a straight body and a comfortable lope all the way down
to the end of the arena.
If your horse wants to veer off to the
left or right, do not adjust left and right with your hands. To do that is much
like telling your horse where not to go. If he is running in the right lead and
he wants to run to the right and you pull to the left to try to straighten him,
all you’ve done is tell him to go to the left. This doesn't teach him straight;
you are telling him where not to go and by telling him where not to go you have
added a pressure.
Horses learn from the removal of
pressure.
If your horse is trying to veer off
left or right in the rundown, you need to go back to the basics, not try to
correct the problem in the middle of the problem. (The problem may be you are trying to
“manage” too much.)
If you want the horse to learn to go
straight, then you need to ask for straight and when he does go straight you
must release all pressure. If you are constantly holding the horse in the
rundown, he’ll start to look for a different place to go to find a release of
pressure.
Ideally, start teaching the rundown at
the walk.
Look at the spot you have selected as
your point of reference. Point your hand at the spot. Keep your hands out in front of you, not back
toward your body. Even lift your hands
up toward your shoulders and point your hands in the direction you want to go.
Hold that position and when the
horse’s body lines out and goes straight, release the pressure. It does not
mean you completely take your hands away, but release the pressure from your
hands by dropping your hands.
The horse knows there was a release of
so he knows he is doing the correct thing.
Now all you have to do is encourage more forward motion.
Move to a trot, and repeat the lifting
of your hands and pointing at the spot at the end of the arena. (It is much easier to point if you keep the
reins in one hand.)
When the horse’s nose goes in the
correct direction and you can feel the horse get his body straight, drop your
hands down. Give him the release of pressure and ask for more forward motion.
Pick up a lope and guide him with your
hands; when he gets between your reins, drop your hand.
Now that you have mastered the
rundown, you can begin to practice it coming from somewhere other than the end
of the arena.
In a competition or practice, come
around the end of the arena, and point straight down the arena until your horse
gets straight; drop your hand and begin gradually increasing speed.
Don’t try to add speed too
quickly. Allow your horse to get
comfortable with a little more speed. You are going to encourage your horse
with your legs by rocking with a rhythm.
Don’t kicking him trying to hurry him to get down there. Continue to
build speed with a rhythm from your legs.
When doing your rundown you are on a
loose rein. If the horse veers one way
or the other, simply lift your hand and point to straight, and your horse will
straighten. Then drop your hand and
release the pressure telling him he’s done the correct thing, and his rundown
is now perfect.
ASSIGNMENT:
Load two short
videos to YouTube, Photobucket, or another video hosting web
site demonstrating:
1. A rollback
2. A slow, controlled straight
rundown.
Send video
links to me at: todd@toddmartin.net