one rein pull. It is understandable why I still use the corners of my arena and roping chute to teach the round turn, following the head, and stepping over. Another part of teaching the proper turn is using the fence in a rollback motion. Walk or trot down the fence, parallel and two feet away. Stop, back a step, reach down the fence side rein, pull smoothly toward your hip, and add your outside leg (1-2-3) to trot off in the opposite direction. Doing his correctly will teach your horse to get on his hocks, duck his head to the fence and move his front feet properly. If you pull abruptly or too hard, your horse will resist and raise his head above the fence while moving his hind end rather than the front. As my horse advances, I move away from the fence doing the same drill. Trot, stop, back in a straight line, complete a half turn, and go out in the opposite direction. Repeat until perfected! Circles are key to good turns. As you progress, you will start to use the outside rein (neck-rein) more. The sequence will then be: 1-Take the slack out and pull toward your hip with the direct rein. 2-Add your neck-rein to move the shoulder. 3-Add the outside leg to add impulsion.
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I am always concerned with not letting the energy escape out of the back cinch area on the outside. This means the horse is falling backward, not crossing over in the front, or not giving to a soft pull. If you feel this happening, lighten the pull and add more outside leg. Maintain a slight forward motion while teaching the turns. Practice two-tracking and side passing to keep the outside ribs straight and up under your horse. It is a matter of using the right amount of direction (rein) and the correct amount of leg (impulsion).
I pretty much start all my prospects the same. After you go through the next several installments of my “Training the Performance Horse” series, you will begin to see that it works for all horses and all events. One of my main focuses is for you to learn feel, patience, and have a plan to progress. Always remember to not cause any defense mechanisms in your horse by getting too rough. Be logical and think like a horse! Ride well and be happy, Al Dunning has been a professional trainer since 1970 at his Almosta Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ. His career includes 45 World Championships and Reserve World Championships through the National Reining Horse Association, National Cutting Horse Association, National Reined Cow Horse Association, and the American Quarter Horse Association In 1996, Dunning was named the AQHA Professional Horseman of the Year. This year he and his horse Expensive Hobby were inducted into the AzQHA Hall of Fame. www.aldunning.com
WORKING HORSE MAGAZINE • August/September 2016