Buckaroo Texan Blog

Buck Brannaman will be coming back to Texas for horsemanship clinics at the Bell County Expo Center March 25, 26, 27 & 28th, 2011.   We will be having Foundation Horsemanship and Horsemanship II.   The foundation class is for green horses and/or green riders.  We will work the horses each day, under saddle with emphasis on quality ground work  and then put these maneuvers to work with rider in the saddle.   The afternoon class will be Horsemanship II which is the advanced class for horses and riders.  The exercises learned in Foundation and Horsemanship I are taken to refined levels and new exercises added to advance the horse from the snaffle bit to the hackamore.   Introducing cattle work and ranch roping to the horses is part of this class.

The turnaround or spin was a real mystery to me for many years.   I tried to teach several of my horses how to turn around and was told by a cowhorse trainer that I had a nice coke bottle turn.  Imagine spinning a cola bottle around and that is how my horses’ turn looked.   The front end was going one direction and his hind end another.  Swapping ends is what the trainer called it.   I told him I guess I did not know what a proper turnaround felt like so I was having trouble knowing how to ask, train and ride one.

He put me on a horse named Joe who  knew how to spin in spite of the rider.   Once I felt how the footfalls felt under me,  I now had the idea  and I would know by feel if any horse I rode in the future was actually turning around properly. 

Two Kinds of Turnarounds

1.  Turnaround one:  the cowhorse turn.  This turn involves the horse  pivoting off the outside hind leg.  For example, a turn to the right, his outside hind leg, his left will be the pivot foot.  The horse will cross his leg front over his right front as he turns to the right.  The right foot will have to reach out and back each stride and the left follows over and in front of the right.  Some horses are just built or even trained that the horse kinda rocks back some in this turn and will step to the right and step behind the right front with his left front.   This is a type of turn cowhorses generally do to keep them in position just with or to beat a cow.  If you do lots of cow work with your horse this is a turn that is very advantageous for your horse. This turn is generally for one half of a turn up to a full turn.  If you do this turn really fast, most horses will appear to be hopping about every 1/3rd of the turn due to the large reach of the legs.  This turn allows the horse to be in good position at any point to jump right back with a cow in the opposite direction.

2. Turnaround two:  the reining horse turn.   This  turn around is generally the type of turn you see in horses that are strictly reining horses.  This type of turn looks a bit different than the cow horse turn when you study the footfalls and over all movement of the horse.   On a turn to the right,  the horse will step over and back with his right front foot and then bring the left across and in front of the right.  The inside hind foot, in this case, the right.  is the pivot foot.  This makes a very fluid turn that can become very fast, the footfalls are very even.  The horse develops with time and practice a very fluid rhythm and cadence.

When you start to train your horse to do a spin or turnaround, you need to know what type of spin you are training for.  You need to be able to feel where every foot is being placed and how to time your asking for the turn.  It is developed one or two steps at a time over several weeks or even months. Recognize the horse trys and reward them the moment they happen.

A common problem is having a horse suck back in his turns.   This is generally rider error of letting the horse do this early in his training.  It is not all bad if you just work cattle, but a horse that sucks back to much is actually backing up with his hind feet in a circle  and crossing over, back and behind with his opposite front leg.   A hind leg needs to be fairly stationary, for the horse to make a proper turn.  If you feel a horse backing instead of turning on a pivot foot, generally sending them forward and starting over is the answer.  Reposition the horse and ask for a step or two of turn.   For a horse that has made it a habit or his style to suck back in his turns and has a tendency to drop his shoulder into the turn, you might can remedy this by trotting very small circles in one direction until your horse feels rhythmic.  If he kinda drops his shoulder into the turn, that is a good time to ask him to stop and turn back to the left.  He should be able to set a pivot foot, step over smartly to the left and slightly back with his left foot and follow thru with his right front over his left front.  Ideally he should have his left hind as the pivot foot for this exercise.

Some people are handy enough to teach their horses both types of turns.  Not every horse or every rider is at the level to do this and to be able to ask for either turn at any particular time.   Having one of these types of turns in your bag of manuvers can come in handy.

My training is in the Buckaroo Way and I offer consultation services to those who believe in partnership of horse and rider.  

 Honoring the horse and horsemanship through the western buckaroo way.

Join us for what will become an annual celebration continuing the vision of Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt for the next generation of horsemen and women. 

  $75/day, $200 for three days (in advance via the web site)

Schedule:  (New work each day)

9:00 AM- Colt Starting with Buck Brannaman and Martin Black

11:00 AM- Cattle working with Martin Black

1:00 PM -Show Jumping with Melanie Smith Taylor

2:00 PM- Cutting with Doug Jordan

3:00 PM- Reata Roping and Cattle handling with Buck Brannaman and Martin Black

Email: think.rayhunt@gmail.com    website: www.alegacyoflegends.com

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 Do you every get bogged down with your horsemanship and feel like you are just sitting in the saddle?   Maybe you want your horsemanship to move forward but you seem stuck.  You are not able to get your horse to “do” anything.

 It may be as simple as a mental block on your part.   It is very seldom a horse problem, but rather a rider problem.   Take the hard part out of horsemanship and just ride.  That,  sounds simple and it is.  A lot of the time we are thinking to hard, asking the horse too hard, demanding too hard of ourselves and our horse.   Just take a slow breath, look ahead and just ride.   Enjoy your ride!

A process to help get your horsemanship moving is to think out a plan.  

 1.  Think about what you would like to happen, for example- a nice round circle.

2.  Picture you and your horse moving in a circle.

3.  Make a decision that you want this and just flow with the idea. Start at the walk, get it good before moving to the trot and lope. Look for those horse trys.  This may take a few days to several weeks, depending onyour skill and how often you ride.

4.  If you are having trouble with circles, go slow and envision the circle and let your seat and legs follow the horse in a circle.   Your intention will set your seat and legs for a circle and let your horse follow your form.  It your horse does not follow your form, guide the horse using the reins, to enforce your seat and legs then release by moving your hands slightly forward when you feel your horse form the thought of getting in the right position.  

Do some research on setting a horse up for circles or whatever maneuver you want, then think it through in your mind, then add your horse.   Get coaching if you need too.  That can shorten the time to teach your horse if you are not real sure or real consistent.

 Add a little at a time with your horse, let the horse soak, or get the idea, then just ride on.   Doing small bits of maneuvers at a time and changing up what you are asking and then leaving the horse alone will advance your communication with your horse by leaps and bounds.  This may mean doing half of a circle and then riding on, repeating to build  to a full circle.  It may seem very little today, but the horse has a tremendous capability to learn.    You will be surprised in the advancement in a week or two.   That is a short time to develop something that will last a lifetime between you and your horse and be solid between you.

Remember, to train for tomorrow, do a little bit today.  Just ride!

Peter Campbell will be in Texas for a 4 day Clinic- November 13-16, 2010 at Nueces Canyon Ranch, Brenham, Texas.  There will be a horsemanship class and a cow working class.   Contact Deb Bruner at 361-564-8793 or debra.druner@att.net.

DECEMBER 3-5 , 2010-A Legacy of Legends- Old Fort Worth Stockyards Coliseum Ft. Worth, Texas. Join us for what will become an annual celebration continuing the vision of Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt for the next generation of horsemen and women. More information coming soon.

Photo by:  Cindy Meehl

Summer is blazing here in Texas.  There are precautions you can take to make your weekend rides enjoyable.   If you work in an air-conditioned area most of the time, you might not realize how quick you can dehydrate and just “give out” while riding.  Your horses stay out in all kinds of weather and they are adapted to surviving with Mother Nature.

Here are some horse riding tips to help you survive the heat:

1. Wear the proper clothing:  Cowboys and buckaroos wear cotton clothes that breathe and long sleeve shirts shield you from the sun and can be actually cooler than a sleeveless or short sleeve shirt.  Lightweight light colored cotton is generally best to keep you cool.  Wear a hat that has a wide brim.  This protects a lot of you from the sun, and is almost like having a parasol over you!  Of course if it is extremely windy you will need to tie it down with a yahoo string or opt for a baseball cap.   Wear a cotton bandana soaked in cool water with 3 to 5 ice cubes rolled up in it when the heat is over about 93 degrees.  They melt fast but will keep you pretty comfortable for a while.  The secret is to keep your bandana wet.  I will even wet my head with cool water about every hour or so and then replace my hat.  This keeps me ready to go some more.

2. Saddle up for comfort:   If your horse will be saddled for a long period of time or it is just plain hot when you do saddle up, wet your horses’ back with tepid water before putting on the saddle.  This keeps his back cooler, keeps your saddle blanket or pad cleaner and even the girth will feel more comfortable for the horse.  Because these areas being already wet  your horse will stay cooler.  Plus, not as much sticky sweat will accumulate around the girth and at the corners of the saddle pad, which can irritate and make sores on the horse when ridden for extended periods of time.

3.  Stay Hydrated:  The old southwest Indians would tell you to “drink until you slosh” It is hard to keep enough fluids in your body when the temperatures are near or over 100 degrees.     I like to mix mangosteen juice with my drinking water.   It seems to satisfy my thirst better than straight water.   I will fix up some bottles at home, freeze them and then carry them with me wherever I am riding.  I drink as they thaw.  I have some friends that are horse shoers by trade and they are the ones that got me on to mixing the mangosteen juice and water in frozen bottles.  Be sure to offer your horse tepid water a few times during the day.  A carrot or two during the day for your horse keeps him hydrated and enzymes working in his stomach.

4. Eat right:  To keep up your strength and energy be sure you fill your body full of probiotics and vitamins.  Most of us do not have a good appetite when the temperature soars.  Eat light healthy foods in small amounts. such as carrots, boiled eggs, celery, nuts, dried fruit and nutrition bars. Sugar and caffeine can make a lot of riders ill while competing or out on the trail.  Take a note from your horses.  You may notice they eat slower and seem to want less when the temperatures are high.   If they are big eaters anyway, you may want to cut your horse’s ration a bit for their own sake.   Tough love I call it.  Watching someone riding an extremely fat horse on a hot day is pure torment to watch and an unhealthy experience for the horse.  I will take sea salt and carrots with me just for my horse and feed according to the intensity of the ride and depending on how many days in a row I am asking a lot of my horse.  I may put a bit of salt and carrots in every meal.

5. Pace yourself and your horse:  Depending on your conditioning and the condition of your horse, pace yourself, as the day gets hotter. Lope your horse in the early morning or after a break.   As the temperature gets really hot walking and some trotting will keep both of you from becoming overheated. When you and your horse are hot, slow down and let the sweat dry for a while.  Re-wet your bandana and head.  If your horse seems pretty hot, take a sponge and wipe his shoulder and neck down with tepid water from water in a tough.  Find a few spots during the day with shade for you and your horse to rest for 30 minutes to an hour or more, depending on your activity.  This will let both of you relax, cool your head and body, and revive for another few hours out in the sun.

These tips will keep you and your horse going during a horse clinic or at a competition all day.

My training is in the Buckaroo Way and I offer consultation services to those who believe in partnership of horse and rider.

April 17, 2010 -   Spring Branding  Part 2-Crewmembers:  Roy Bowling, Nate Bowling, Mike and Cindy Bowling, Jake Bowling, Richard Crawford, Sam and Kate Gooding, Jeannie Choate, Keenan Ivy, Josh S., Cody Porter, Johnny Moore.
 Photos by Kate  & Sam Gooding.

The cattle and calves are gathered at a slow pace after trotting many miles looking for the cattle.  Many of the calves are rather young so the cattle are slowly pushed to the pens about 2 miles away.   A couple of the younger calves get tired and a crew member stays with them to tie them up at a well marked area so a pickup and trailer can come back to get them and haul them to the pens. 

The crew of cowboys spread around the herd on all sides.   The ones in front show the cattle where to go.  The ones on either side of the herd keep the cattle funneled in the direction of the leaders and the ones riding behind, the drag, keep the slow ones moving forward and with the herd.   It takes concentration to details to read the cattle and calves.  Several of the cows along the way will try to make a run back in the direction they came from.  Just the pressure on the eye of the cow by a horse is usually enough to turn them back into the herd.  The cattle will generally not make more than a step or two out of the herd if you and your horse are alert and reading the cattle.  As we get near the pens, we let the cattle and calves water as the leaders set the gates to take the cattle through and in this instance, we need to open gates to cross the highway to the bigger pens on the opposite side.   The cattle mingle here for about 15 minutes while everyone gathers in and gets spaced out to watch and hold the herd.   The trail boss, Roy, takes quick count and checks with the crew on how many calves were left behind.    Several of the cows and calves think about making an escape.  Button and I are in the right place at the right time and turn the mommas back.   There is plenty of opportunity to get horse trys while working the cattle.  Backing half circles, backing straight lines, turning on the haunches, asking for soft feel, and backing then rolling back quickly to stop a cow.

When the gates are set, the leaders file through the gates and we start moving the herd through the trap and out over the highway into the bigger set of pens.   Two crew members hold traffic as we get the cattle flowing at a fast walk and get them across as quick as possible.

After gates are shut behind the cattle and all the crew is across the highway, the trail boss sets crew members up for sorting.   Button and I were in a big pen to hold the cows as they were cut off from the calves.   This job was easy at first but as the numbers of cows grew and calves were bawling, realizing their moms were gone, the cows gave us several good tries to get back into the pen with their calves.  Mommas wanting to get to their babies no matter the species can be pretty darn headstrong.   Button and I had to be quick and assertive to keep them back, until the sorting was done and we were able to shut the gate.

The ground crew works quickly to set the branding fire and brands.  Vaccines and earnotcher is made ready.   The crewmembers that will rope the calves, get their horses set and the rest of us tie or hobble our horses outside the branding area, while we work the ground.    The calves are roped by the hind legs and drug to the fire.  The ropers us a trap shot or a ride by flank shot.  

Two crew members hold the calf down, one by the neck and foreleg and the other by the hind legs, they take the rope off the calf so the roper can get another calf while the crew works on this calf.  One person, brands, another person castrates if a bull calf, one member ear notches the ranch marks, another person gives vaccines to the calf and the last person gives the calf a dewormer.   This process takes on the average, less than 30 seconds for the calf to be down at the fire.   Two ropers can keep the ground crew moving at a steady pace. Two of the crew take a horse and a pickup with trailer and go back to find the 2 small calves that were left behind.   The work moves fast and the near 90 head of calves are worked in a little over an hour.

The next chore is to treat the cows for flies, ticks and lice and vaccinate.  The cows are brought down an alley into a curved chute and 4 to 5 cows are worked at a time.  The cows are over 1000 lbs and not real happy about being in the chute.  It takes some timing to vaccinate each one and not break off needles. 

The cow and calf work is done in less than 3 hours.  The cows are turned back with their calves into a big pen for them to pair back up.   The cattle will be allowed to rest for a couple of hours before being turned into a fresh pasture.  The fire is put out and the gear stowed into the pickup.  The crewmembers get horseback and head to the ranch headquarters for a late lunch.  The ride is alittle over  a mile.      

The ranch supplies the crew with a big meal of steaks, potatoes and salad.  Roy’s wife is a wonderful cook.  The talk at the big table is of adventures with cattle and horses.  Times that were challenging  but now funny in the retelling.    

 It is time to head back to the  horse pens.   The horses have rested and are ready for the trip.  Kate, Sam and I head off at lope for a mile along the ranch road.   We cross the highway and head for home.      The horses know they have done a good job and we arrive back at the horse trap about 4 p.m.   What a day for horse and human and a rewarding experience.

When we talk about the try in a horse, we are looking for a response to a request we have made.  A change in the horse, where he is looking, where his ears are pointed can be a response to an idea.  We are asking the horse to let an idea we have become his idea.  You have to ask, not make the horse.  The horse learns by searching for the answer and when he has a thought or movement in the direction we want we have to recognize that change with a release.  We need to break down our big picture and look for a subtle response and build on that  “TRY“  
1.  As a student of the buckaroo way do you read to find answers and then do what you have read?  This is recognizing the try in yourself.  When you and your horse have an area where you don’t seem to communicate, then you need to stop and think about that situation and try to figure out what is going on or maybe what is not going on.
2.  Do you watch good horse and rider partners and then go and practice to learn what you have seen? 
3.  Do you give your horse the chance to learn what you want him to do?
4.  Are you consistent with how you handle your horse every day, every moment you are around him, so he knows what he can expect from you and is comfortable around you?

Students of the buckaroo way know signs of a  horse try can be very very subtle.  Paying attention to this small detail every second you are around your horse, until you don’t have to think about it, will pay big dividends for your horse and rider relationship.

You will know you are developing the horse and rider partnership you seek when you are in the saddle and ready to head to the right and you notice the horse has his right ear tipped back at you, he is feeling of you and knows which way you are asking him to go before you ask.
As Ray Hunt would say “Practice does not make perfect, Perfect practice makes perfect”.

Jeannie

If you would like help in developing the try in you and your horse contact me.   My training is in the Buckaroo Way and I offer consultation services to those who believe in partnership of horse and rider.