© by Gordon Adair
My twelve year old gelding refuses to back while I am on him. When I ask my horse to back he freaks out and turns around.
Bit communication is fifty percent of your control while riding. When
your horse does not respond to bit pressure during the back cue, you will have a hard time stopping
also. To teach your horse to back off bit pressure stand next to your bridled horse. Apply bit pressure with one rein. At any hint of a backwards movement release
the pressure. Repeat the procedure until your horse is comfortable.
When riding the cue for the back is your body leaning and moving backwards in the saddle. If your horse does not follow your body your hands will make contact with the bit, applying pressure against your horse. It is important for you to remember your body moving backwards is the actual cue. The bit pressure is the correction for not moving with you. For your horse to avoid the correction he should respond to your body movement.
To prevent your horse from leaning on the bit always offset your rein pressure. One rein may control sixty percent of pressure, while your other rein is controlling forty percent of the pressure. When using uneven rein pressure to back, your horse will move backwards in a circle. Backing in a circle is much safer than backing straight because slight sideways motion eliminates your horse from rearing. As your horse begins to respond to a lighter back cue he will begin to back in a straighter line.
Gordon Adair is a professional horse trainer and riding instructor with over twenty-three years of experience. Gordonıs specialty is instructing owners with their horses, the philisophy of teaching and communicating. The ability to teach and communicate can then be used with the ownerıs own discipline and personality. Visit Gordonıs web site on the Internet at www.adairmag.com/gordonadair for more informtion.
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