Showmanship in Hand

By Cathy Hanson

Lesson Four

Pivots, Circles and Curves

A maneuver almost always found in a showmanship pattern is the pivot.

Circling or traveling in a curve while walking or trotting will also be used in patterns.

Teaching the horse to travel in a circle will help him learn the pivot. Traveling in curves makes the horse start thinking about moving away or following your body. This is the movement needed to perform a pivot right or left. Maneuvering the horse in a circle requires the horse to move away or toward the handler.

As discussed in earlier lessons, the horse will move off of the handler’s body and not off of the lead.

To teach the horse to follow the handler, begin by walking with the horse in a halter and lead with the chain used under the chin, as in a showmanship class.

Walk in a brisk manner, with the lead coiled in a big loop held in the left hand. The right hand holds the lead opposite the ring on the halter. When holding the lead, do not have contact with the horse’s head. Keep your eyes forward as this both aids your performance when showing, and does not create a cue to the horse.

A training technique will be used that is similar to teaching a dog to heel. Begin by walking around the practice area and make gradual curves left and right. You will have to change direction with your feet and shoulders first, and then allow the chain to connect to correct the horse by pulling him with you or pushing him away. Avoid jerking the horse with the chain, as this will cause the horse to brace away from you. Instead use a steady pressure, and immediately release the pressure as the reward when the horse comes with you.

When turning or curving to the right, turn into the horse and bump into the horse to reinforce that he needs to move away from your body.

Avoid using the chain under the chin and neck. Use of the chain for turning causes the horse to bend his neck. The horse must keep his neck straight and learn lift his shoulders for the turn, keeping them square. The horse should cross the front leg on the outside of the turn in front of the leg on the inside of the turn.

It is important the horse does not bend his neck. If the horse bends his neck and the shoulder drops into the turn the horse will not be able to maintain balance throughout his body, thereby allowing the hindquarters to swing out in the opposite direction.

If the horse does not understand how to move away from your body, use a tap or slap on the shoulder with the end of the lead. You must reinforce the idea that he needs to move away from your body. An easy way to do this is by exchanging the lead into your left hand and the loop into your right hand. With the lead switched it is easy to extend the right arm toward the horse’s shoulder and apply a tap. If the horse does not respond, become stronger with the correction, he will figure it out quickly.

Making large circles and curves is easier for the horse, as forward motion helps him maintain balance and gives him the opportunity to figure out what you want as he is not required to turn as sharply and promptly as in a pivot. When the horse is moving easily away from your body, he will not be feeling a pull or bump from the handler. This is positive reinforcement for the horse. Verbal praise and petting are certainly acceptable when the horse has responded correctly.

As you progress in the training of walking in curves and circles, throw in a sharp 90-degree turn to test your horse. At this point of the horse’s training, only make right turns. (The left pull turn is a more advanced maneuver and will be taught when the horse is farther along in his understanding of following the handler’s body.

The test will be – is the horse moving quickly away from your body, or is he still slow in his response? Are the horse’s shoulders lifted and square? Did he cross the front left leg over the right? If the answer is no – keep doing the basic curve training. If the answer is yes, it is time to increase the difficulty.

This is a great drill: use four cones set up to form a square. The cones should be 40 to 50 feet apart. Walk the horse around the outside of the cones. Walk the square to the right and to the left. When curving around the corner, try to stay as close to the cone as possible. This will help with your visual accuracy in creating the ninety-degree turn. Completing the corner correctly is important too. Be aware of over turning, or under turning.

After traveling around the square a few times, there will be a path in the dirt. Is it straight?

Using the cones in the square creates many practice exercises that help the horse prepare for the pivot.

Once your horse understands how to move away from your body, increase the difficulty by making ninety degree turns left and right around the cones.

When approaching a right turn slow down, bringing the horse almost to a stop, but maintaining enough forward motion to help the front left leg cross in front of the right leg.

Turn your body completely so you are facing the side of the horse’s muzzle. Lift the right hand slightly making contact with the chain in order to steady the head and prevent it from turning. This will also help shift the weight back onto the right hind leg.

The hand is not to be used in any way to turn the horse. Do not allow the hand to touch the horse’s head. The hand is only used to maintain straightness. In the finished turn the lift of the head is not needed, since the horse is so in tune to following the handler’s body, and will know to stay balanced. By practicing this frequently, the horse will catch on quickly and follow your body.

It is important to remember to stay on your path when making the turn. The horse has to see your body go into the direction first; this is the cue for the horse to turn. If you cue with the hand first, then the body, the horse will learn that the hand is the first cue and will wait to be given the hand cue.

It may be helpful to visualize a circle in the dirt, or even draw one. The circle will always be the same for each horse. When the horse is balanced, the horse’s nose will stay directly on the circle. If the nose passes across the circle the horse is stepping forward too much, if the nose moves to the inside of the circle the horse is rocked back too far.

When ready to ask for the actual pivot, do so, in small increments. Begin by asking for ninety-degree pivots. Start in the presentation position. Turn and face the horse maintaining body position directly in front of the horse’s nose. Switch hands on the lead. The right hand will hold the loop of the lead and the left hand will hold the lead close to the head to keep it steady and straight. Apply slight pressure on the chain in order to keep the horse’s head straight, and directly in front of his shoulders. Step toward the horse’s nose, when the horse does not move away tap the horse on the shoulder with the lead held in the right hand. The shoulder needs to move. The left front leg must cross in front of the right. The response needed is that the horse must start to move to the right when he sees your body move toward him.

If he does not move the tap on the shoulder will be applied. As the horse starts to move, slightly elevate the horse’s head to keep the weight shifted back. By watching the right hind leg you will know if the pivot is being performed correctly. Ask only for a few steps in the first attempts.

Stop and praise when done correctly.

The horse is in a trial and error stage of training. He really isn’t sure what you want, but if he gets praised when performing correctly he will figure out what is desired by the handler.

Continue with ninety-degree pivots to the right Remember to save left pivot work for later as they are more difficult and even though we have started a foundation in curve work, they need to be taught later in the horse’s training.

As the ninety degree turn is perfected move up to half turns and then to three quarter turns, and finally, full turns or three hundred and sixty degree turns.

Go back to the square of cones. Walk from one cone and slightly past the next cone. Stop and ask for a ninety- degree turn around the corner. Trot to the next cone and stop. Now make a half-turn and trot back to previous cone. This exercise can be mixed up with many different variations. It also incorporates the previous lessons--starting and stopping at cones, squaring up, maneuvering around corners or circling a cone, changing direction etc.

Problem Solving:

1. The horse is stepping forward out of the pivot.

This happens because the horse does not have his weight shifted back on the hindquarters. Make sure you are staying on the circle path created around the horse. If you are accidentally drifting to the left, the horse will lose his pivot foot and step forward. The handler may be accidentally pulling the horse forward with the lead. Make sure your body is facing the side of the horse’s head, if your shoulders are slightly rotated to the left this will cause your circle to be off. Lift the hand holding the head slightly to shift the horse’s balance back onto hindquarters.

2. The horse is stepping backward in the pivot

The handler has shifted the horse’s weight back too far. The handler may be starting with her body facing the throatlatch or neck of the horse, instead of the muzzle causing the horse to shift the weight back too much. The handler is stepping to the right while traveling in the circle. Adjust the handler’s body position and pull the head forward slightly.

3. The horse is pivoting on the left foot instead of the right

This is caused by the horse’s balance being placed on the left hind foot instead of the right. The horse does this when the weight is shifted too far back. Usually this occurs when the handler is positioned between the center of the neck and the horse’s shoulder when asking for the turn. Correct by correcting the handler’s body position, and pulling slightly forward and squaring up the shoulders so the horse can lift around the turn. A left hind pivot foot can occur if the horse is bending his neck to the right and failing to lift the shoulder, causing the left shoulder to lean left. This is usually caused by the handler pushing the head to the left or by allowing the lead to travel under the neck.

4. The horse is bending his neck to the right in the pivot

This is caused by the lead traveling under the neck. Always keep the lead near the ring on the halter. Never push the horse’s head to the right with your hand.

5. The horse starts out correctly and then loses his pivot foot.

The circle is not staying consistent. Draw the line in the dirt to help stay on track. The horse is losing the straightness in his body or his shoulders are not staying square. Ask for consistency in speed. Stay slow and correct; teaching form is very important. Speed will come later.

6. The horse steps on his front foot when stepping across

The horse is too bunched up. Allow the neck to stretch out slightly. The handler may be lifting too much on the lead, jamming up the horse’s forehand. Remember the pivot is a forward movement; the horse must have forward motion to perform the pivot correctly.

7. The horse crosses the left front behind the right front foot.

The weight is shifted too far back. Slightly pull the horse forward. Make sure the handler is in the correct position, facing the side of the muzzle.

(There is no quiz for this lesson.)

Assignments:

Please answer the following. Send your report to cathyhansonqh@gmail.com

1. Describe your horse’s ability at the beginning of this lesson.

2. What problems occurred in the training process of walking in curves and circles? How did you solve them?

3. How many training sessions took place before asking for ninety- degree turns?

4. Describe patterns used with the cones set in the square.

5. Is your horse comfortable with pivots? Happy or confused? Why?

6. How much time are you devoting to your horse’s training program?

7. Did you have problems occur that are not discussed in this lesson? If so, what were the problems and how did you solve the problem?

8. VIDEOS: Please send videos of you performing the "showing/cue" techniques described in this lesson . You may post the videos to a video hosting web site; for example - PhotoBucket or YouTube. Please send the links to cathyhansonqh@gmail.com