How to Teach a Horse The Slide Stop

Horse reining started when cowboys had to teach their horses to obey the slightest commands to perform specific actions. You must teach a horse eight to twelve movements to prepare for a horse reining event. Common reining movements include circles, flying changes, rundowns, backups, spins, sliding stops, rollbacks and pauses.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Large round pen with hard-packed dirt covered by 2 to 3 inches of loose dirt
• Riding equipment
• Long rope
• Protective leg gear for the horse
• Proper horseshoes for sliding

1. Watch the horse's natural ability to come to a sliding stop with a simple two-foot slide. The horse should be able to stop within one stride at command before working on the sliding stop.

2. Give the command "Whoa!" to the horse while walking, and wait for a fraction of a second.

3. Relax your body on the horse to give an additional signal that you want to stop.

4. Apply pressure to the reins for a second, and then set your hand to allow an inch or two of slack. The horse should immediately stop.

5. Repeat the command and rein work at a slow pace. The horse should perform a short slide while stopping quickly.

6. Increase your speed gradually. Continue issuing the stop command and setting the reins. When you feel the horse wants to release the stopping action, reset the reins again to inform the horse you want to a sliding stop immediately.

7. Work on sliding stops with gradual increases in speed for days or weeks until the horse comes to a sliding stop instinctively without much direction from the reins.

Tips & Warnings

• Be prepared to spend weeks teaching the horse moderate to difficult skills.
• Teach all reining skills at a slow pace and gradually increase speed.
• Teach the horse properly from the beginning so the horse doesn't have to unlearn bad habits in the future.
• Don't forget to go back and practice previously learned skills to keep the skills fresh for both the horse and rider.
• Don't start training the horse until she is at least 2 years old. Spend time with the horse to develop trust, but avoid rigorous training, which can damage growing bones.

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