join up...I think...

Haha so I tried join up for the fisrt time tonight, and I'm not sure if I did it right.

So I moved Rowdy out until he was cantering around me and I had him keep going until he put his head down and started listening to me, then I dropped the whip and looked down, bu the didnt stop right away, like 10 secinds later, but then he came in and started following me once he realized I wasnt chasing him anymore...did I do it right?

You can always test the strength of the connection by doing various things, like walking right, left, trotting (you trot and see if he'll do it too), backing up, and even send him away from you a bit, quit and see if he'll come back.

He did follow me wherever I went and at the trot, but he usually does ythat anyway...he backed up with me too, so deos that meann I did it correctly? (thanks for helping by the way:)

Sounds like you made a good connection with him, good job keep it up and continue to practice it. Change the environment too. Try it out in his paddock the next time you go to get him.

What were you trying to join-up for? Respect? Attention? Trust?

Join-up actually should be altered depending on the horse. When I meet a horse for the first time, I do join-up differently based on how the horse responds. If the horse wants to come up to me and stick his nose in my face, I do join-up for respect meaning I do lots of transitions and put pressure when he takes his attention off me. If a horse is frightened of me, I'll do join-up for trust, so I ask for lots of stops and use slightly less pressure in order to draw the horse to me.

I tried join up with my pony, but it doesn't work well!
She was really attentive to me, but she didn't come when I stopped walking. She was just looking at me!
But I work in liberty with her and she is very connected, she trust me (I think) and she respect me.
I don't know what's wrong in my join up. I think it's because I do it in a big manege so I can't be really close to her ...

Skyhorse, it seems to be good! I agree with SRose! ;)

If the horse is coming to you because its exhausted or bored or expects a treat for reward then it means only that and you havent achieved anything at all
I prefer to use the roundpen technique for ordered disciplined work - like lunging without the lunge rein so the horse is obeying verbal commands or hand signals. I then ask them to whoa and stand and then come to me when I ask them too

Did you ask her to come to you? Or did you just stand there looking back at her?

The way I teach horses to hook on to me is after I stop them, I walk to them, pet them for standing still, then make sure they will point at me. If I step to the side, the horse should turn and face me. This means they're paying attention and following my lead. Then facing them, I will walk to the left around them so they will turn with me, and then I will take a step away from them. At that point the horse will either step with me, turn away and run, or not move at all.

If the horse steps with me, I immediately turn and pet them. If the horse turns away and moves off, I swing the whip and start join up all over again. If the horse doesn't move at all, I veer back to the horse and walk left past their nose and try again. Not all horses will automatically trot up to your shoulder and follow you everywhere after join-up. You have to encourage them by asking them to follow and if they take a single step, pet them for doing the right thing.

What were you doing it for? What did you want her to learn from it?

Perhaps it's not you, but the technique. Also yes, if she's loose in an arena, rather than trapped with you hassling her in a small yard, this makes a difference to the outcome. 'Join Up' being such a natural process needing a natural environment that is...

If you can play with your horse at liberty & have a real connection with her, if you don't need to stand in the middle of a small pen with a stick to teach her to follow you(or whatever you were aiming for) then I submit you were doing 'join up' the truly natural way already!