LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

I have a short video that explains a common error when riders make cow turns.

They tend to release a horse from remaining on its hindquarters before the turn is complete. This often happens towards the end of the turn. It’s caused by using your feet too soon, or releasing the reins too quickly – or both.

It’s easy to want to “get going with that cow,” (-: and be unaware you’re rushing. 

There’s no transcript this time, but the video shows how you can “fall out” of a turn – and how to avoid this error. 

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

When it comes to working a cow, there’s a lot going on – you – the horse – your mentors – the cattle! 
 

In the Cow Smart Series, Lesson One is about your job as a rider when you work cattle. This clip also has a fun visualization. I hope you enjoy it. 

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

Have you ever walked down to the herd without a plan?

Maybe you entered the body of the herd without a thought about how you will impact the cattle?

In this week’s video, I discuss three different places to enter the herd for a cutting or herd work run, the impact that entry has on the movement of cattle, which routes I prefer, and why.

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

This week, this question came up: “What does deepen your seat mean?”

Now, that’s a GREAT question.

That’s what this podcast is all about.

Our seat is the most fundamental part of our riding, and it is multi-dimensional. It is our most direct line of cueing and communication with a horse. It is the center of our balance. And when our body is aligned, our limbs are loose, and we are focused; it’s as if we are one with a horse.

When we understand all that’s involved with our seat, we can continue to develop this means of communication with our horse for a lifetime.

1. Experiencing your seat in unison with your horse…

• • Expand the concept of “seat” to mean the lower trunk of the body.

  • The hip bones are aligned with the shoulders and down to the ankles for much of the time in the saddle.

  • When a horse is moving, our seat moves in a variety of ways and rhythms with a horse (depending on the gait, speed, situation, etc.).

2. Use your seat proactively with your eyes and breath for…

• • Slowing down

  • Stopping

  • Speeding up

  • Turning

  • Smoothness in all maneuvers

3. How-to reminders:

• • Keep your body loose

  • Give your horse time to feel your seat

  • Go to your seat/eyes/breath first for communications and transitions

  • Legs/feet come next as cues

  • Hands are used as support last

Before I go, I want to remind you that learning a new skill or deepening a skill has many layers.

First, you learn what you want to do and why it’s important. In this case, we’re talking about riding with an active consciousness of your seat because it is the most direct line of communication with your horse; it is how you develop feel, and it can help you stay calm and focused on the inside as you stay softly anchored in the saddle.

But here’s another critical point. It’s not just understanding what we’re doing and why it’s important that allows you to grow a skill. It’s the practice of the new behavior day-in and day-out and refining your technique indefinitely.

You come to any riding session with your own positive behaviors as well as things you need to improve – and so does your horse.

This is the spot where many people neglect cultivating a skill to higher levels. If they only understand that a behavior is important but don’t really practice it strategically over time, they return to their default skill levels – for better or worse. No true progress is made.

In the case of developing more feel through our seat, it’s easy to want to move on to more complex maneuvers and just assume that we know about our seats and what to do.

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

Not too long ago I did an in-depth 5 hours and 20 minutes total time, webinar series on cutting. I thought it would be fun this week to share 8 minutes of one of the sessions. It’s all about breaking making the cut down into individual pieces.

I identify seven in all. There’s nothing ‘official’ about this number. However, I’m a big believer in ‘chunking’ – that is knowing the different skills and behaviors that comprise a beautiful flowing whole when it’s put together.

Please leave a comment for us!

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

In this video, I discuss five essentials of good herd work and show examples of:

• Driving forward for the cut

• Pausing and then moving across the pen with the flow of cattle

• Using the cow-side leg during the cut

• Keeping your horse on his haunches as you make the cut

• Transitioning down to a deeper seat after the cut and when you start working the cow

• Lowering your heart rate and planning between cattle and before re-entering the herd

I love hearing your thoughts. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

I just returned from the NCHA Futurity. 

When I saw these two cuts. I thought they would be great examples of how you can make the best decisions possible on the cut if cattle threaten to stay together and ‘get tangled up.’

Watch for three things: 

1. How the cutters both steer and move their horse amid the threatening situations
2. How the cutter moves (or not) with the cow to be cut
3. How the cutter is aware of the cattle or cow that need to be cleared.

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS 

Have you ever wondered what someone means when they say, “Get a hold of that cow!” You might think, “What in the world?????”

When a trainer or a helper says this, he or she means to become more aware of your mental and physical connection to the cow in that moment. It’s like saying, “Above all else, zone in on the cow.” That’s because beyond all of the technical things we do with our legs and seat, we always need to relate them to the cow first and foremost.

Sometimes as cutting horse riders, we become so wound up on getting the cow cut, putting our hand down, keeping it down, sitting deep in the saddle, using a herdside or cowside leg … the list goes on … that the cow becomes secondary as it moves around in front of us. We’re too busy multi-tasking on all the other stuff to be intently focused on the cow.

But actually, the connection to the cow should come first.

It’s analogous to playing tennis. You have to keep your eye on the ball to play tennis or else you won’t be in the game very long. Your connection to the tennis ball is key.

In cutting it’s keeping your eye on the cow. It’s the same in regards to your effectiveness as a rider as you work a cow. The more connected to a cow you are, the more accurate and purposeful you will be as you ride. The difference between tennis and cutting is that we don’t always have to be that focused. Our horse will cover for us most of the time if we don’t laser beam in on the cow.

Here are three ways to get more connected to a cow:

1. Make getting and staying focused to the cow your first priority. Have a phrase you say to yourself repeatedly that connects you to the cow.

The thought “Watch the cow” is a good one, and of course essential. But by nature, the word “Watch” is a little passive. There’s nothing technically wrong with that idea. But if you tell yourself to “Take a hold!” … now you’ve got some energy going on! Boom! “Take a hold of that cow!”

2. Be purposeful regarding the angle you take to stop the cow. Go for more than just position on the cow (although that’s a good starting point). Go for moving up into the “energy” of the cow at a slight angle to the cow.

3. “Read the cow” in all you do, especially with your seat. Go beyond the mechanics of how to sit. Use the mechanics of your seat for the purpose of connecting with your horse and stopping the cow. Let the purpose of stopping the cow tell your body when to sit. Take “a hold of the cow” in the stop with a dramatic seat drop.

LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS