To do a counter-arc to the left, he starts out walking a circle to the left, tipping the horse’s nose to the inside just enough he can see its inside eye. He begins by applying outside (right) rein and leg pressure, encouraging the horse to follow its nose. He then lifts his right rein straight up and slightly to the left to tip the horse’s nose to the right only to the point he can see the corner of the horse’s right eye. The left rein stays in a neutral position but can be used for support if needed. His right leg bumps the horse to continue moving left, while his left leg is off the horse. With repetition, you can decrease the size of the circle and the horse will move its left front foot to the left, the right front foot will reach across, and the horse will turn on its inside hind pivot foot. This is the foundation for a turnaround.
For a two-track, Edsall uses the same cues except he starts out walking the horse in a straight line. Maintaining forward motion, he initiates the cues and the horse moves diagonally across the arena.
Back a Circle
“Before I work a cow, or even the flag, I want a horse to be able to back in a circle,” Edsall says. “In order to turn a cow, a horse has to rock back on his hindquarters and spread his hind legs, and then step over in front to make the turn, so he’s essentially making a backing turn behind and forward turn in front. Backing a horse in a circle teaches him to rock back on his hindquarters, which frees up the front end to turn.”
When backing, Edsall establishes contact with both reins, encouraging the horse to flex at the poll. He cues the horse to back using give-and-take pressure on both reins. To back a counter-clockwise circle he lifts his right rein to tip the horse’s nose slightly to the inside of the circle. Inside leg pressure arcs the horse’s ribcage, and outside leg pressure as needed keeps the horse’s hindquarters from drifting away from the circle. He reverses the cues to back a clockwise circle.
“When I pick up the reins and make contact, I want the horse to flex at the poll, round his back and rock back on his hindquarters [into a collected frame],” Edsall says. “This makes him lighter on his forehand.”
Once the horse’s forehand is moving freely, he can initiate the counter-bend cues and turn the horse 180 degrees and then back in the other direction. For example, if he’s backing a counter-clockwise circle, Edsall applies the cues for a counter-bend to the left and turns the horse 180 degrees in that direction, and then backs in a clockwise motion and does a 180-degree turn to the right. This movement simulates what the horse will do when working a flag or turning a cow.
Sit and Stop
Before working cattle, Edsall likes his horse to stop, round its frame and collect when it feels him sit deep in the saddle.
“I like to be able to sit down in the saddle and have my horse come back to me without having to pull on the reins,” he says. “Eventually, he’ll draw back to me and turn.”
When he’s trotting or loping a horse and feels the horse wants to stop, he sometimes capitalizes on that by sitting deep and allowing the horse to stop.
“Most horses will hunt for the stop,” he says. “If I feel the horse want to quit, I sit deep and quit riding. Once he has the idea, I will lope him four or five circles and then sit down and offer the stop.”
Training a cow horse does not always require cattle. If you take time to prepare your horse for cow work with these drills, it will come more naturally and fluidly for you and your horse.
Article originally published in the December 2015 issue of Western Horseman.
