[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3156066]
Didn’t you have a freakin earthquake last night?! Yikes, I heard that on the news today! :eek: 5.2. Did you feel it?[/QUOTE]
I woke up to my bed shaking this morning. :eek:
I agree with everyone else. TEACH THE HORSE FIRST before you use it. It can come in handy but may not always be the best thing to use. Just depends on the situation.
Well! I like the ORS. Yes, you need to know how to do it and your horse needs to know how to do it and you need to know when to do it. I too disengage the hind end not just yank the horses head around. I also give the horse ample opportunity to stop by asking first with my seat, whoa, heels and then reins. If she is is still charging off I use one rein pull release and if that doesn’t stop her she gets the full ORS. It has never failed me in over 30 years of riding.
I got a chance to think more deeply on one rein stops over the weekend. I needed one on a trail ride. We had gotten to the far end of the loop and started heading back home. My horse tried an opportunistic spook and bolt, setting off another greener horse. We now had two horses trying to bolt for home and feeding off each other. First my horse rocked back on his haunches and launched himself forward. Then he gathered himself up for a second stride. By this point I had already taken in the left rein. Instead of launching himself forward and increasing speed on the second stride, he launched himself into a spin away from the greenie because I had his head turned. We went 360 and ended up pointed into a fir tree. I let the pressure off at that point because he didn’t seem likely to go anywhere with his face stuck into a mass of prickles. :winkgrin: The other rider meanwhile spun her horse to the right, away from my horse, and came to a stop facing away from home. The horses settled down when they realized the race had been called off, and we continued home sedately.
carp - that story reminds me of what we used to do in lessons when I was a kid. We would turn the lesson horse sharply right into the wall to get them stopped. Or drive them into a corner. I took jumper lessons and there were a few lesson horses who really took advantage of the kids. I suppose they weren’t really dangerous, but it would shake you up to be on a cantering horse that REFUSED to stop cantering and flinging his head around like a fool.
The instructor had us get on one rein and pull their head into the wall. That would shut them down quick.
There was one advanced lesson horse who was a real jerk. The advanced students rode him. That beast would jump a fence and then buck like a fool. So I remember watching lessons where the instructor had the person jump a fence then immediately drive the horse into the wall or the corner as punishment for the bucking. A couple times of that and he got the message but a couple weeks later he’d be right back at it again.
