Problems
Like most things in life, we try to complicate the issue rather than look at the simple things. With the spin this often presents itself as ‘Why won't my horse turnaround?' rather than ‘What part of the turnaround am I / my horse having difficulty with?’ Separating the difficult parts and working on them will enhance the manoeuvre. All horses can turnaround. Conformation and mental and athletic ability will make some horses much better and faster than others, but they can all do it. We have to be aware that in order to achieve it correctly, they have to move their shoulders and ribcage laterally and keep their shoulders level. If a horse drops its shoulder to the inside it will more than likely flop around like a fish out of water. The inside front leg can't reach out far enough and the horse gets 'long' with that leg, resulting in the outside leg having to throw itself across and the horse jumping to allow that leg to clear the inside leg. If the horse drops its outside shoulder, the outside front leg
won't move far enough and step across, sometimes even reaching behind the inside foreleg, resulting in the horse turning on the outside hind leg. Neither are correct or desirable. We need our horses to balance the movement between their
front legs so they take an equal stride with them. That gives us the nice even rhythm to the turnaround – step, step, step, step, - not step, step, pause, step, step. When we talk about a stationary inside hind leg being correct, some horses literally pivot on the inside hind leg, some have to lift it and reposition it. If you have a horse that does the latter, it is not incorrect if it stays in the same geographical area and keeps driving with the outside hind leg. It is very important that you take your time in teaching the
turnaround. One or two willing correct steps are better than 10 forced ones. If you can't feel a problem area, then get help show you where it is so you can fix it, otherwise you will create a permanent problem. It may be in the start, the middle or the end of the turnaround.
CORRECTION EXERCISE
If your horse has trouble in getting his inside front leg to step out sideways then try the following: Get your horse into a nice two time back up with light rein pressure. Then when (in a turn to the left) the horse's right front leg begins to move backwards, keep the left rein, relax the right rein on his neck, move your core weight to the left and backwards and apply your outside leg at the back of the horse's ribcage. The next leg to move will be the horse’s left front leg, and by your actions you will cause this leg to go out and sideways and even slightly back. Timing is of the essence. When the horse’s leg steps out, stay sitting to the turn side, keep your outside leg on but release any rein pressure thereby allowing the horse’s outside front leg to turn over in front of his inside leg. Then walk out a couple of steps and start the backup and turn all over again. Your outside leg provides the drive and reason that the horse follows its front leg stretch with its ribcage. Basically the ribcage is following the nose. Do not pull them around, let them find out how to place their feet. Work on one side only until the horse gets comfortable doing this and then work the other side where obviously your movements will be the opposite of what you did on the left. Don't make the mistake of switching from one side to the other straight away.
When we have got our horse moving the shoulders and ribcage comfortably in the direction our core weight takes them, we'll begin to trot circles. Draw down that circle by pushing the outside ribcage across, not pulling the
horse’s face. The trot step is used because of the nice rhythm and the fact that one or other front leg is on the ground at any given time and there is sufficient drive and forward motion from the horse. Draw down the 'flat' circle (flat because we want the outside ribcage flat and moving forward and laterally) until the horse wants to make the turnaround. If he can't find it yet at the jog, it is OK for him to break to a walk provided he can find that turnaround without stopping his shoulder movement. If your horse finds this
difficult and wants to stop the shoulders and swing his back end out, move back to trotting squares and drive the ribcage with your outside leg. Move out onto a straight line before the horse has time to slow the shoulder movement down, even if it is not quite a 90 degree turn on your corners. The ultimate goal is getting the shoulders to move laterally and getting the horse to understand that the best way to achieve this is to step underneath itself with its inside hind leg and keep driving the rest of his body around with his outside hind leg. Remember it is correctness before speed. Two last thoughts. Try to work your turnarounds into the earlier part of your ride, not when your horse is tired, and secondly, having achieved your super turnaround, don't show off. Work on form and correctness going into, during, and exiting a turnaround. Nothing sours a horse more than continually being asked to do plus 1 ½ turnarounds every minute of the day because someone is watching and you want to impress! Happy 360 turns.
BOB MAYHEW Is an AQHA, APHA, NRHA of Germany, and
WES judge with over 20 years experience
www.westernhorseuk.com 31
NRH PHOTOGRAPHY
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