๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ป โ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฎโ? ๐ข๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป? ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐.
Itโs a common problem riders deal withโthe horse becoming front-end heavy, stiff, and unbalanced when asked to stop. Advice often boils down to "back them up" or "take the front end away." In the latter case, the exercises range from rollbacks on the fence to making the horse pivot or spin immediately after the stop; breaking the shoulders loose and eliminating that feeling of braciness against the riderโs hands.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ... ๐๐จ๐ง... ๐ถ๐'๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ.
Iโll give an example.
Awhile back I saw a video that perfectly illustrated this misunderstanding. It was a trainer demonstrating how to correct a horse that stops heavily on the front end by turning the horse left or right to "take the front end away." She would drive the horse forward, and when it collapsed onto its front end during the stop, she'd pull it around into a cowhorse-style spin with the nose bent laterally.
At first glance, this seems logical. You're redirecting the horse's energy and getting those shoulders freed up, to address that stiffness and heaviness.
๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ'๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ:
If the correction youโre making does not encourage engagement of the hindquarters and a committed shift of balance, then it's not addressing the root issue.
Th
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ-๐๐ป๐ฑ-๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐
๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ฒ
This exercise unlocks a level of responsiveness and balance that transforms everything from spins to circles, and teaches your horse how to correctly and effortlessly handle the neck rein. At the heart of it lies the concept of โcompressionโ, a term I use to describe the essence of true collection and engagement on a finished bridle horse.
๐จ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Before diving into the exercise, it's essential to grasp what compression means in this context. Think of it as a convergence of your horse's forward energy with the guiding influence of your reinsโ a blending of collection and steering that results in a balanced, responsive horse.
What weโre really talking about here is balance and quality of movement. The horse engages its hindquarters and drives forward while simultaneously accepting and softening into the contact of the outside rein. This combination of softness and direction creates a unique feeling of โuprightnessโ; where the horse is not just moving forward but is poised, balanced, and ready to execute advanced movements.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Without the ability to create this feeling, riders often face common challenges:
๐ Leaning and Dive-Bombing the Shoulder: The horse drops its shoulder or dumps its weight to one side or another; leading to ugly, unbalanced turns and circles.
๐ Stiffness: The horse is heavy on the riderโs hands and ignores subtle rein cues, requiring lots of nagging corrections (โcheckingโ their face nonstop).
๐ Lack of Impulsion: Movements lack power and engagement, making advanced maneuvers like spins or lead changes difficult.
๐ Inconsistency: The horse tenses up any time it feels rein pressure come on; instantly losing
Jake breaks down the five "skills that scale" โ the key abilities that make great horses feel the way they do. They are the ingredients you need to achieve a more elite feel:
โ๏ธ Drive (ability to effortlessly create movement on command)
โ๏ธ Direction (ability to follow a feel, soften, and yield to pressure while relaxed)
โ๏ธ Coil (ability to load up and engage the hindquarters for balance)
โ๏ธ Collection ("True Softness", lift, driving up to and seeking/acceptance of bridle contact)
โ๏ธ Compression (horse guides off of, softens, and conforms to indirect rein)
We call them the "Skills That Scale" because they are the fundamental abilities that help a horse transition from a simple foundation to advanced maneuvers.
And we have a proven system to teach these skills in a way that promotes ease and speed of learning, retention, confidence, consistency, and the horse's mental and physical longevity.
You learn that system inside our breakthrough course, "Foundations Of Excellence".
This course gives you a complete roadmap to guide your horse from "foundation" to "finesse"... and achieve stunningly advanced feel, connection, control and confidence in the saddle.
Want to discover the greatness in your horse?
You need "Foundations Of Excellence".
Get it here ๐ www.AdvancedHorsemanship.com/courses
I've always believed that my job as a horseman is to be a facilitator โ to put the horse, mentally and physically, in the best possible position to accomplish the task at hand.
Since I'm the one asking my horse for something, it's my responsibility to set him up for success โ by putting him in a better mental and physical frame than he would otherwise adopt if left on his own.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น.
There's a higher level of immediacy and precision in the guidance we're giving our animals. It's about establishing a line of clear, consistent nonverbal dialogue with the horse โ where he responds to cues in a relaxed and confident way without "static".
What do I mean by "static"?
I mean resistance โ the kneejerk, negative reaction to my signal coming on โ where the horse is so preoccupied with being confused, worried or offended about the pressure itself, that they aren't discerning the actual intent behind it.
They lose the signal in the "noise", so to speak. Like music being drowned out by static on the radio.
On one level, I'm talking about physical resistance. Like the horse being rude in the face, or heavy and stiff in the body. The kind of resistance that comes from either confusion or unwillingness to move, yield, or soften in the way the rider is asking for.
On a deeper level, I'm also talking about the horse's mental understanding. Are they mentally rattled by the cue itself, or are they able to stay focused and engaged with the maneuver? Are they just responding out of a simple reflex to avoid pressure and seek instant release? Or do they have the confidence to "stay in that feeling" with me mentally and physically; allowing me to maintain that connection?
That leveling-up from mere compliance into genuine partnership and trust is where ho
Need to fix something? Create a change in your horse's feet ๐ก
A compelling, engaging redirection of the feet (such as the โTurn On The Footโ exercise shown here) gets the horse thinking and makes the lesson stick.
Tie your correction to a change in the horse's feet. Itโs way more effective than simply pulling harder on their mouth.
When you tie your correction to a change in the horseโs feet, itโs way more effective than simply pulling harder on their mouth.
A horseโs mind is intricately linked to their feet. So a compelling, engaging redirection of the feet (such as the โTurn On The Footโ exercise shown here) gets the horse thinking and makes the lesson stick.
It also de-escalates a potential fight, encourages relaxation and softness, and actually builds a horseโs confidence to handle pressure โ including correction โ without getting overly worried or defensive.
Tie your correction to a change in their feet ๐ก
TRUE SOFTNESS ๐
A clear demonstration of what "true softness" looks and feels like. The horse accepts bridle contact and is just..... there. Not pulling on you. Not hiding either. Just there, honest, relaxed and connected.
Getting the horse to this feeling is a big milestone. The horse isn't trying to avoid bridle pressure. Rather, they are comfortable settling into it and seeking that contact. Not leaning on it. Not ducking or snapping away from it. Just...... there. With you.
This is the goal ๐
The โTurn-And-Goโ or โRollbacks-On-The-Fenceโ exercise teaches several powerful concepts. In effect, itโs a primitive form of Fencing. But instead of loping straight down the arena and stopping at the back wall โ you lope a circle in front of the fence, say โwhoaโ at the top of the circle, and turn into the fence at an angle.
Why do we do this?
Because one of the skills this exercise works on is the horseโs ability to get into his legs and create an engaged, balanced stop with his hindquarters. It ties the voice cue โwhoaโ to the sensation of โcoilโ or โloading upโ on the hocks, while staying light and supple in the front end.
This exercise really helps horses that are front-end heavy and stiff in the stop, or that have become defensive about bridle pressure at the lope due to poor previous training. It has numerous other benefits as well, and is an important foundational milestone in our program for any horse.
By using the turn and the physical barrier of the fence to help us teach these lessons, we avoid having to crank on the horseโs mouth to โmakeโ him stop. The fence is what challenges the horse to stop, not bridle pressure.
This is CRITICAL.
Where many people mess up this exercise is they focus on โmakingโ the horse stop with the reins. Most commonly, by being way too rigid with their hands and bumping or jerking on the horseโs mouth to โhelpโ him through the turn. By doing this, they prevent the horse from learning how to engage his hindquarters and get his balance without being cranked onโฆ which negates the entire point of the exercise.
Remember: As the rider, youโre not โmakingโ the horse stop. You should only be thinking about the TURN. And to drive the horse through the turn, youโre using leg pressure. The rein is just there to tip the horseโs nose, and the fence is there to challenge the horse to get back through himself and help create the stop โ without having to pull back on the
Teaching a Young Horse to Stop ๐ชโจ๐
"Skills that scale". Teaching core concepts in a simple, low-resolution way. Not maneuvers... concepts. Ideas. Then methodically scaling up the complexity/effort to create maneuvers. Building confidence brick by brick. The result? Connection & composure even at max intensity.
Quick example:
The Concept = Engage your hindquarters / load up / 'get into your legs' when you hear the word "whoa".
Helps you teach several maneuvers. Spin. Backup. Balanced transitions. The stop. Especially the stop.
How? Use association/anticipation to connect the word "whoa" to that loading action and the horse using their hindquarters to get balanced.
How? Use a modified version of the turnaround to reverse-engineer the feeling or "spot" the horse needs to get to. Once they figure out the game, they start offering it themselves.
This is the foundation of a committed stop where you don't have to "pull the horse into the ground" and rely on the leverage/compression/the horse bracing against your hands to create the stop. Rather, the opposite. You've got the horse offering balance and hindquarter engagement.
You're creating the stop through creating understanding of engagement and balance.
You're not creating the stop by using the horse's fear of running into an invisible "wall" created by your hands and the bit. This means less tension. Less leaning. Less stiffness. Less things to fix down the road.
Horse's confidence is higher.
Next โ Take this understanding you've built and sprinkle it into your loping program.
Only when you have more "face" on them and they're more advanced/softer in the bridle, THEN begin stopping with whoa+draw on the reins.
Use rein pressure to help the horse be secure in the stop. Not as a barrier to compress their body into and pull them into the ground.
Ever notice how some trainers constantly have problems with horses stopping front-end-heavy, even to the point of tripping/stumbling/knuckling over on the
Yes... you CAN have it all. A horse that's as good on the trail as he is in the arena. A horse with performance handling that's soft, quiet, and controlled. A horse that's willingly and effortlessly guided. No matter where you're at right now with your horse, we'll get you where you KNOW you can and should be.
Few things are more satisfying than an effortless flying lead change where the horse stays completely relaxed.
I often get comments from students who are shocked by how easy this maneuver becomes, when taught with our system. The High Level Pathway gives you the tools to figure it out, even if you've never changed leads on a horse before.
Here's a complete roadmap from start to finish:
โ
Establish Direct-Rein Controls โ Start by teaching the horse basic impulsion/steering/guiding (โgo forward and follow your noseโ) type exercises; and softening/suppling/yielding (lateral flexion, yield hindquarters and forequarters, bending, etc.) type exercises โ using only DIRECT rein pressure in a snaffle bit at first. I call this โone-dimensional softnessโ.
โ
Start Adding Indirect Rein โ In your impulsion and steering exercises (such as loping patterns, circling cones, etc.), start applying INDIRECT rein pressure and teach the horse how to follow that feel. Depending on how youโre using it, the indirect rein functions both as a steering wheel and brake โ you can gauge how much pressure is needed to steer and control the horseโs front end while moving forward, or actually inhibit forward motion and โblockโ the horseโs shoulder โ depending on the exercise. This is a crucial skill you will need later. Overall, weโre casually introducing the horse to the idea of accepting more dynamic contact on the bridle. This is โtwo-dimensionalโ softness.
โ
Add Vertical Flexion โ With the indirect rein already working, the addition of more vertical flexion comes naturally without a fight. The horse is already used to, and is comfortable accepting, more contact on the outside rein. He guides off of it well by this stage. Now all you need to show him is a new โspotโ where he softens vertically and โbreaks overโ at the withers โ relaxing and softening his entire front end. As I call it, โthree-dimensional softness" or "true softnessโ.
Riding a bridle horse one-handed... the RIGHT way... is a new and challenging feeling if you've never done it before. So if you're trying to get there? If you're looking to put your own horse in the bridle eventually? Here's a juicy insight...
An exercise that will help get you more comfortable and identify the "feel" you need to be going for:
COUNTER-CANTERING your horse one-handed.
On circles and around corners.
Simple. But too often overlooked.
You can even start this in a snaffle. It's an under-rated yet powerful way to understand what expert riders mean when they say things like "Drive the horse UP TO the bridle", or, "Ride from the inside leg to the outside rein".
In the process of figuring out how to counter-canter a horse one-handed on a soft and collected circle, you will โ by necessity โ start figuring out how to use your inside leg effectively to keep the horse in the lead and on the circle without breaking gait. You'll start to identify the feeling of your leg driving the horse up into the bridle; creating impulsion, and your outside rein "catching" that energy and providing structure and direction; creating an awesome feeling of collection, balance and rhythm.
Plus, this exercise is great for your horse's mind and promotes softness and balance in general.
When we've taught this exercise in private lessons with aspiring reiners or "advanced beginner" riders... it's been a major "breakthrough" moment for them.
If you've not felt it yet... you don't know what you're missing.
The collection.
The power underneath you.
The control.
If it sounds far-fetched right now, we can promise you:
Once you learn and achieve this milestone, the bridle horse "feel" becomes very apparent and everything just clicks. You'll have a light bulb moment where you're like, "So THAT'S what all the fuss is about!"
Nearly any western horse can and should get to this level, in my opinion. Even if you have no intentions of showing. You should still get
The idea of โcollectionโ frequently comes up in horse training. Understanding collection โ what it truly means, how it feels, and how to achieve it โ is a challenging but necessary step in your evolution as a horseman.
To help demystify collection, let's draw a comparison with the world of auto racing, where a seemingly counterintuitive principle operates:
Sometimes, going faster can make a car EASIER โ not harder โ to control.
In horsemanship, thereโs a similar paradox. Sometimes, the way to increase softness, responsiveness and control with a horse is not by pulling harder on the reins, but by asking for more drive โ more forward energy โ more impulsion.
Let's dive deeper into this analogy.
Imagine driving a high-powered race car. If you drive it too slow and timid, the car will actually be LESS stable, and you have a higher chance of spinning out and crashing. Why? Because the car was designed to operate better at higher speeds. As speed increases, air pressure creates "down force" on the aerodynamic surfaces of the car, enhancing its grip on the track. This increased grip makes the car more responsive and balanced, allowing for higher speeds around corners without compromising safety. If the speed drops too much, the car loses this down force, making it trickier to control.
In the horse world, we draw a parallel to โdown forceโ with the term IMPULSION.
Synonyms for impulsion include 'drive', 'hindquarter push', and the sensation of the horse 'running uphill'.
Impulsion is not merely 'forward motion', though that's a part of it. It's about the horse engaging its hindquarters, driving forward in a balanced and collected manner. It's not just about the horse moving forward, but doing so with energy, power, and purpose, instead of coasting flat-footed across the ground.
As one client of mine put it during a private lesson, when she felt her horse driving off its hind end correctly, โIt feels like the energy is coming from a diff
๐ Amy took Cooper out for a peaceful lope around our back field ๐
How to describe Cooper in one sentence?
He's the equine version of a Porsche...
Sporty and fun when you ask for it, luxurious and civilized everywhere else.
He's going to make someone very happy ๐
Colt Starting Secrets
The psychology behind training young horses can be tricky.
You need enough variety to provoke curiosity and teach new concepts to the horseโฆ
โฆand yetโฆ
Enough consistency and repetition to cement learning and build permanent knowledge.
Striking the right balance between Variety and Consistency is often challenging.
It gets even harder when, once the horse understands a lesson, he starts looking for shortcuts and ways to anticipate, or "cheat the system".
That's not him being bad, it's just normal horse behavior.
Horses have one of the best memories in the animal kingdom. Their ability to recognize patterns and anticipate things is what makes them trainable in the first place.
Once the horse grasps the concept of the exercise youโre teaching him, heโll start trying to find that release of pressure โ or comfort zone he knows is in there somewhere โ faster.
Thatโs good in some ways, but it can also have unintended consequences as I explain in the video clip.
A good horseman knows how to manage this type of anticipationโฆ
When to CULTIVATE it, encourage that desire, and allow the horse to take greater responsibility for the exercise...
Or when to DISCOURAGE it, so the horse isn't ignoring and taking every decision out of the rider's hands.
And not just when, but HOW.
How to do that effectively, and get the point across without damaging a green horseโs confidence.
As a horseman, how can you improve your feel and timing in order to walk this fine line and not mess things up?
The best way:
1. Hundreds of hours of in-person lessons at a cost of many thousands of dollars.
Or, the Next Best Way:
2. Getting a video course like this for less than 150 bucks.
Raw, unedited training sessions where you get to see the daily ebbs and flows of a horse's progress as it happens.
Nothing is edited out. Diluted. Or hidden. You get the full context of the experience and see the nuances. It's the best possible supplement to real-life e