by Lisa Woodland
One of the most important things you can do for barrels and poles is LOOK.
The idea behind LOOKING is that you look with your entire body. When you shape your body as if your eyes were in your shoulders a number of things occur. Your shoulders are rotated in the direction of the turn. Your hands follow your shoulders and are in the most effective position to control the horse. Your weight is shifted on your seat bones and they move in the saddle in a way the horse can feel. Then if you notice your inside leg becomes active at the cinch, making it easy for you to ask for flexion. Your outside leg is in a great position to apply holding control to the hindquarters.
You need to practice this at a walk, trot, and lope, this trains you and your horse to communicate. In barrels and poles we tend to want to go fast but just as a roper must rope the dummy for accuracy a barrel racer and pole bender must slow things down and gain accuracy before asking for more speed.
I would also recommend using other things such as cones, (My favorite) sage brush in an open field. You can teach the same things as you can using a barrel and pole and your horse doesn’t associate it to just that event. This opens up better communication because he knows that when you LOOK know matter where or when he is expected to follow your lead.
Communication is the key ingredient for running poles successfully. Because you are human and will not be in perfect position every time. By communicating to your horse what is expected of him, hopefully he can compensate for your mistakes and you can compensate for his mistakes. Consistent communication is the secret to success in pole bending.
Remember to LOOK!
The idea behind LOOKING is that you look with your entire body. When you shape your body as if your eyes were in your shoulders a number of things occur. Your shoulders are rotated in the direction of the turn. Your hands follow your shoulders and are in the most effective position to control the horse. Your weight is shifted on your seat bones and they move in the saddle in a way the horse can feel. Then if you notice your inside leg becomes active at the cinch, making it easy for you to ask for flexion. Your outside leg is in a great position to apply holding control to the hindquarters.
You need to practice this at a walk, trot, and lope, this trains you and your horse to communicate. In barrels and poles we tend to want to go fast but just as a roper must rope the dummy for accuracy a barrel racer and pole bender must slow things down and gain accuracy before asking for more speed.
I would also recommend using other things such as cones, (My favorite) sage brush in an open field. You can teach the same things as you can using a barrel and pole and your horse doesn’t associate it to just that event. This opens up better communication because he knows that when you LOOK know matter where or when he is expected to follow your lead.
Communication is the key ingredient for running poles successfully. Because you are human and will not be in perfect position every time. By communicating to your horse what is expected of him, hopefully he can compensate for your mistakes and you can compensate for his mistakes. Consistent communication is the secret to success in pole bending.
Remember to LOOK!
Great post! I am always telling the kids that very same thing. If you look at the ground..... you will end up on the ground...always look......
ReplyDelete