Magic of the 1 Rein Stop:
I feel like I’m the only person who knew nothing about the one rein stop up until the advent of YouTube! Not one trainer, horse camp or lesson of any kind ever taught me this and it has to be one of the most important riding aids you could ever learn.
After learning about it on the internet from Horse Problems Australia I started teaching my new horse Cotton how to flex and stop on 1 rein. To my surprise this simple aid came to my rescue just days after I started working with her. I had taken her out for a walk down the road and back. Just before we got to our turn around point someone on a snowmobile came flying by and needless to say I was now atop a bolting horse. I took a hold of just one rein and gave consistent pressure and to my surprise Cotton spun down into a walk and then a stop and flexed her head to my foot. I then flexed her to the other side and back. This little exercise took her from being a panicked state to a calmer focused state of mind. WHOO HOO!
When presented with this same scenario in the past I did what most people do, white knuckle grab both reins and yank back as hard as possible and pray that the horse starts to slow down. Usually a bolt like this would result in a quick direction change and me on the ground or a ¼ mile sprint before I managed to at least bring us down to a canter from a gallop. With the one rein stop, in under 30 yards we went from a bolt to circle to stop and flex.
For more information check out my favorite Aussie trainer at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b9OvUiOdW8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmpDSbXPtzU
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