Cutting, reining and working cow horse competitions share many similarities, one of which is the rollback. Whether executed while working a cow or when riding a reining pattern, the rollback is the most efficient way for the horse to...
Q. My 6-year-old barrel horse runs to the first barrel and home from the last barrel well, but between barrels she shuts off and practically lopes. I’ve tried kicking and even a crop and spurs to no avail. My...
The newest competitive event sanctioned by the American Quarter Horse Association is ranch sorting. Similar to the popular sport of team penning, ranch sorting involves a pair of riders, some cattle with numbers on their hides, a designated holding...
Teamwork, speed, skill and communication all tie in with a little luck for the western sport of team penning.It all started years ago with a practical objective. In order to brand, doctor or transport single cows, ranchers first had...
In the Old West tradition, horses earned their keep when gathering and trailing cattle on the open range. In fact, getting a herd of cattle to market in those days took a top hand mounted on a horse with...
A systematic training approach addresses your horse’s fitness from head to tail. Whether you run barrels or trail ride, regular use of basic dressage movements can improve your horse’s athleticism, achieve a deeper level of communication and responsiveness and...
Practice makes perfect, right? Yes, but if your speed event practice consists of running a pattern over and over again, all that hard work could backfire. Horses that run a barrel or pole pattern for practice begin to think...
Neck reining to a western horse is like a steering wheel is to a car. Without it, you have no control over where you go. It's one of the first fundamentals a western horse learns, and without good neck-reining...
