11/12/2023
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Do you Kick, Cluck, Kiss Or Something Else.
When you ask your horse to move out at a certain speed do you have and do you use specific cues; if so what are they?
For the walk, what is your cue?
For the trot, what is your cue?
For a lope how do you ask?
For each individual speed we need to have clear and defined specific signals that stay consistent and are ALL separate from each other.
Some of the problems we have with our speed transitions and a delayed response from our horse is due to unclear cues. This creates a situation where our horse has to sort out what specific transition we are specifically asking for; allow me to clarify.
The scene typically goes something like this; it is noticed that there is some confusion and I ask the question, what is your cue to ask for a walk?
Rider: "usually I kick"
Me: "How about the trot?"
Rider: "I kick"
Me: "Now the lope?"
Rider: "Well I kick"
And here in lie's the confusion, we kick for a walk, a trot and a lope and wonder why it takes our horse so long to figure out what we are asking for, what we expect.
Instead my advice is to decide on what cues you want to use, it doesn't matter what they are as long as the horse can understand what they mean and we are consistent with using them.
Make them specific to the speed you are requesting and make sure there is a clear difference between the other speeds.
So take a few minutes and think about what and how you cue your horse, tomorrow I will go over what I use to cue when I ride and why I chose them.
Pc Tracey Buyce Photography
