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Neck Reining

4K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  Abby 
#1 ·
I'd like to try and teach my boy to neck rein.. see in the summer I work at the stables for the holidays. I take rides out and we quite often have a horse on lead rein, most of the horses neck rein really well so it's blissful! I didn't normally take my boy out on the rides because he was so spooky and scared the customers :P but he's alot better now and I think he might be able to be a lead horse this year. :D It would be really useful if he could neck rein so how do I go about it? He hasn't had any experience of it before so it's completely new to him.. any advice would be great!

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
What I did to get my mare neck-reining was to just add in the pressure of the outside rein while asking the horse to turn, i.e. if you're turining right, you're using your right rein to ask the horse to turn, but also touch the left rein to the horse's neck while you're turning. Soon enough, pressure from the left rein onto the neck means go right, and vice-versa for the opposite direction.

If you need me to delve into it deeper, let me know :)
 
#3 ·
Just do both at the same time. Use your outside rein for direction while pulling him around with the bit on your inside rein. He'll pick up on it after a while.

Use the bit less and less and when he seems to be getting it, latch onto that and start to rely on the neck reining more. Give him time to recognize the cue you're trying for before using the bit if you think hes starting to get it. Once he realizes it on his own, he'll be good to go.
 
#6 ·
Parelli teaches it like this. Have a little riding crop in your "neck rein" hand. As you apply pressure on his neck with the rein, the riding crop should move up beside his face (don't wack him accidently) and just sort of jiggle it there beside his eye. His natural reaction will be to turn his head away from it. And you know how it is, where the horses head goes, so goes his body. The minute his head turns away from the crop, drop it out of his line of vision and ease up on the neck pressure. Move him up a few steps then do it again. As he gets used to turning his head away, you can begin to maintain the pressure, both on his neck and at his face level so that he actually is turning a couple steps. After a while you will begin to be able to just use the rein as it starts to click in his brain.

I think that by using just one rein, you maybe also train yourself and get away from the habit of two handed reining.
 
#10 ·
Deb said:
Parelli teaches it like this. Have a little riding crop in your "neck rein" hand. As you apply pressure on his neck with the rein, the riding crop should move up beside his face (don't wack him accidently) and just sort of jiggle it there beside his eye. His natural reaction will be to turn his head away from it. And you know how it is, where the horses head goes, so goes his body. The minute his head turns away from the crop, drop it out of his line of vision and ease up on the neck pressure. Move him up a few steps then do it again. As he gets used to turning his head away, you can begin to maintain the pressure, both on his neck and at his face level so that he actually is turning a couple steps. After a while you will begin to be able to just use the rein as it starts to click in his brain.

I think that by using just one rein, you maybe also train yourself and get away from the habit of two handed reining.
argh I don't like Parelli :evil: Sorry it's just some of his stuff is kind of weird. Justdressageit is right, I mean, wiggle a crop in front of his eye???? Weird. I say Harlee, tim, dressageit, and I all agree on what method to use, and Harlee's idea of crossing the reins also works if you are having trouble getting the message across to your horse.
 
#11 ·
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Post subject:
Deb wrote:
Have a little riding crop in your "neck rein" hand. As you apply pressure on his neck with the rein, the riding crop should move up beside his face (don't wack him accidently) and just sort of jiggle it there beside his eye.


My mare would have absolutely flipped if I waved a crop in her face!]

You aren't "waving" it in her face, I said just a little jiggle, or in some cases, just a touch to the cheek and she would move away from it.

My Anglo is a very hot mare, and she took it very well.
_________________
 
#13 ·
[argh I don't like Parelli Sorry it's just some of his stuff is kind of weird]

Have you ever taken the time to get to know what the Parelli techniques are all about? Or checked out his website? I believe he has some really good info available on it that will give you a better understanding that I could.
 
#14 ·
Yes, I have watched his show several times and read his stuff. I can see how he would be useful to people with pet horses, but his methods aren't very practical for show horses. I mean, he never shows and most successful show people don't use his methods, if you can name some people I would be interested. Ok, now I am ranting and off topic :lol: It's all a matter of opinion and preference, but I would never use his methods. I do appreciate John Lyons, I feel he is a bit more practical, but he can be weird, too. As my cutting trainer once said, those guys are more so movie stars that do tricks with their horses than showmen. Which is fine, just my thing.
 
#15 ·
Regarding Parelli's methods, I think his goal is to teach people how to understand how horses communicate with one another, and how to use that understanding to communicate with their animals in an effective way so that they don't have to resort to some of the more "demanding" and abusive ways that some people have. Seems to me that this kind of understanding would be helpful to people in any discipline wouldn't it?
 
#18 ·
I'm not going to keep going on because you are never going to agree with me, but after watching his methods he could never, EVER, train a cutter that way, ect. Don't get me wrong, he's great, just not a showmen. There are some specialized events that take special training that I am involved in and he just doesn't work. And then there is the occasional thing he says that is weird or ticks me off, and then i stop watching and go ride my horse.
 
#19 ·
And there are other ways to train your horse. I always think of myself as a member of the herd when I train my horses, even if I'm not going out there with a weird stick and doing Parelli stuff. I go out and do a lot of bending, keep my horse very light in the mouth and sides, and play with cows. i have always been very happy with this method and I have never done Parelli stuff.
 
#20 ·
Well I'm glad for you that what you do works and that you enjoy it. It does seem to me that the more different things you do with your horse, the better off his mind is. And these techniques are simply another thing to do. And I think that lots of these guys who do clinics are focussing at those times on giving people a good grounding, but are fully expecting that those folks will also move into specific disciplines that will take specialised training. It's been a very long time since I looked at Parelli's stuff, so I can't even remember what he teaches to those who go through all the levels but from what I do remember, he wanted people to develop relationships with their horses to the extent that no matter what the person asked, the horse was willing because he'd come to respect and trust him implicitly. Kind of like the police horses who become so used to all kinds of weird stuff, that going into crowds, etc., doesn't phase them.

I think that just like everything else, there is always room for multiple ways of doing something or achieving something, just as long as no one, including animals, gets hurt.
 
#22 ·
Abby said:
This is way off topic I'd ilke to bring it back into the topic a little.

How would crossing the reins help? I too am teaching my horse to neckrein and its proving impossible.
You should cross the reins uner his neck. When you move your hand to the left, you will put pressure on his neck, but also put pressure on the left side of the bit. This way you have a combo of neck and direct reining, and he should pick it up rather quickly.
 
#23 ·
You can learn to communicate with your horse just by interacting with it. Like she said Parelli isn't god, his methods dont' work for everyone. They don't work for me.

Waving a crop in the face? Thats just flat out strange to me. It would take too much effort anyways, where are much easier ways to teach a horse to neckrein then using a crop in its face.
 
#24 ·
quixotesoxs said:
You should cross the reins uner his neck. When you move your hand to the left, you will put pressure on his neck, but also put pressure on the left side of the bit. This way you have a combo of neck and direct reining, and he should pick it up rather quickly.
That makes a lot of sense now, I will DEFINITELY have to try it. I am also teaching my horse to leg-yield at the same time and he is getting that rather quickly.
 
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