How did you teach your horse to back up?

I taught mine by teaching her the voice command, "Back," on the ground first. I did that by saying the word and pushing on her shoulder, until she moved back - instant praise. Once she could move backwards just from my voice, I used the spoken command with the ridden aids for backing up. I did have a person on the ground to guide her if she got confused, but she got it straight away.
 
I did it as I was taught at a clinic by Mark Rashid. Sit still. When you are standing still, take a steady pressure on both reins and wait for the horse to find out how to relieve the pressure. The INSTANT he offers even a slight shift backwards, release. Repeat until the slight shift becomes a step and so on. Then all you will need is the lightest of pressure on both reins when standing still and you will get as many steps as you want - softly and fluently.
 
Mine all know back on the ground.
So for under saddle I had someone give them the back command whilst I made the associated aids and then did it without the person on the ground.
 
I taught him the word by making him "Go Back" for his feed bucket - then used it all the time on the ground, and now he understands the command. Under saddle I use my voice first, and then it's a squeeze of the reins and calves, but not letting him go forwards - he got it very quickly.

very useful for gates I can tell you !
 
V similar to Jill A - once you've got the shift and a step or two they think ok iv done it il stop now, so getting several steps then normally means raising your hands a little, lifting your weight slightly forward, opening the back door so to speak, and squeezing your legs slight backwards.

Remember a horse can't rein back properly, i.e. not like a hollow giraffe, if its heads in the air as soon as you put pressure on the bit so you need to practise your stationary flexions first.
 
Rein back should be ridden as a forward movement.
I keep an even pressure on my reins & apply pressure with 1 leg which should encourage them to move backward with that diagonal pair, once they have took that 1/2 step massive pats then do the same with the other leg & they should move back with that diagonal pair
This should ensure that the rein back is on the bit & not hollow & rushed
you dont want them backing up quickly when teaching the steadier the better or they could start to use it against you
Rein back is a 2 time movement
 
Thank you. He already knows the cue 'back' when I bring him his feed, but just struggling to translate this to ridden work.

I'll give it another go tomorrow with your suggestions, thanks :)
 
I always use the Mark Rashid way too. There is a full description of how to do it, and how he himself learned to do this in his book, Horses Never Lie. It is in the chapter, Finding the Try.
The thing about his method is that it is simple. I could do it even as a beginner. It worried me that the horses I hacked didnt have a reverse gear. Not like driving a car. So any horse I hack, I show how to gently back up for me.
 
If a horse is suffering from sacroiliac issues then rein back is painful. I spent four years trying to teach it to one of mine under saddle and he just didn't 'get' it. Nor did he 'get' turn on the haunches. Cue serious back pain, remedial shoeing, several months off and once back in work he learnt it within a week. It also helped that he learnt to do gates at a similar time and needed it for that. He's one of those that if he can't see the point of something won't do it willingly. A little like me and trigonometry ;) But make it useful in the real world and he's very good at it.

My youngster I've been teaching this week as it's a movement in the Novice Dressage test he'll be doing shortly. The first day, he didn't understand. But I put my leg back and on, prevented the forward motion and then rewarded any step by taking the pressure away. My trainer is also very big on positive reinforcement, so he gets a huge pat and told how wonderful he is - which he appreciates lots- straight away as well. Left it for four days (which is the optimum time for their stagnant learning) and yesterday he gave it to me, first time. Four straight, two time steps backwards. Huge pat, very clever pony... As an aside, he's also been clicker trained to go back on the ground as well.
 
Mine learned to back up from my ground cues of a gentle wiggly rope....so when mounted I repeated the signal and got rein back! Then I advanced it so they learned to back from both reins evenly....if necessary emphasised by gentle feet in front of the saddle...it works so much better than methods I tried using before I started studying nh!!!
 
mystiandsunny said:
I taught mine by teaching her the voice command, "Back," on the ground first. I did that by saying the word and pushing on her shoulder, until she moved back - instant praise. Once she could move backwards just from my voice, I used the spoken command with the ridden aids for backing up. I did have a person on the ground to guide her if she got confused, but she got it straight away.
Click to expand...

This.
Mine respond to verbal commands stand, wait and back, on the ground and mounted
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top