So pleased I taught my children the one rein stop

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Field04

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My children are 7 and 8 and they have a small pony. She is small but has a strong character and is still quite new as we have only had her about 3 months. It has been going really well and she is a great little pony, she leads well in hand with me and is also well behaved when being lead beside my horse. So today I had her off the lead rein with my girls with me walking beside them, they would trot up the little lane and back again. We were in a stubble field when my daughters swapped over, and pony decided it was time to go home. She started trotting off in the direction of home and then went into canter!!! I am so proud of my little girl who kept her head and when the pony did not respond to the reins she did a one rein stop. I had taught them this in the sand school on several occassions as I think it is really important to know. So luckily crisis averted today!!
 
Well done your daughter :smile3: The one rein stop is one of the very first things I ever teach anyone who comes out riding at my farm and all my children were taught it from day 1 too.
 
I find it really strange that riding schools here don't teach it. If she had of just been pulling back on both reins I am sure the pony would of just taken off with her. I am just so relieved she actually kept her head and did it, as it is easy to panic in that situation.
 
There are a lot of things riding schools don't teach any more. Not sure why but I don't think they are producing as good riders as they did when we had the old fashioned screeching instructors who made us ride and jump without stirrups and no reins. Bareback riding seems to be thought of as something special these days, in my day it was par for the course that you rode bareback often. I don't know, I don't see that many young riders who make me feel that the art of horsemanship skills is being continued into the next lot of generations of horse riders *sigh*
 
When I was at pony club years ago there was talk of a handbrake stop don't know if that's the same thing. I think the hand brake was one hand on the mane and pulling the other rein til ned stopped.
 
Maybe I'm just being dim, and I know if you pull equally on both they will just pull against you and run to Timbuktu , but surely by pulling one rein completely and letting the other slack would potentially just turn you in a very tight circle (which at speed I'm not sure I fancy as I'd probably end up out the side door!) or you would end up in the nearest bush? Or is that the point? I'm having trouble picturing this ??
 
Gypley said:
Maybe I'm just being dim, and I know if you pull equally on both they will just pull against you and run to Timbuktu , but surely by pulling one rein completely and letting the other slack would potentially just turn you in a very tight circle (which at speed I'm not sure I fancy as I'd probably end up out the side door!) or you would end up in the nearest bush? Or is that the point? I'm having trouble picturing this ??
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Nope - generally they just stop - at least they are not bolting - which is, i am sure we can agree, far more frightening and dangerous. You may well end up going round in circles for a bit, but almost guaranteed it won't be for long.
 
The first non rs horse I rode was an hunting cob (the phrase "get yourself a nice safe cob" is a bit on an anathema to me!). She would bolt at the drop of a hat (or not even that!). As I was 12/13 I didn't care - I was on a horse!!!! On one particularly memorable occasion we were hurtling home after she had taken exception to a motorway bridge she did almost daily. As we were approaching the drive to the farm before home it seemed the most natural thing in the world to do a 90 degree (can't find the button) turn up the drive. Volvo estate in front of us, instant halt. We preceded home in a stately manner, both of us calm and non the worse for wear. If it happened now (aged 40) I think I would get off and cry!)
 
You don't just pull one rein and hope for the best. You have to teach the horse the one rein stop, and practice it regularly. If you just haul on one rein at speed, you are likely to bring the horse down - ugly.
The way to teach it is to start at walk...pick up on one rein with the other slack. The horse will probably walk a tight circle...let the horse circle but the very second it comes to a halt (which may take a while first time) LET GO OF THE REIN. Let the horse relax completely for a minute. If the horse moves off, pick it up and repeat. You are aiming for a time when you just have to pick up on the rein and the horse stops, with no pressure on the mouth...which takes time to achieve. Obviously, once you master it in walk, teach/learn it at the faster paces.This is one of the basics taught in western.
 
well done OP's Mini me however I would NOT feel comfortable about my daughter being tanked off with and risk of bolting towards home. am a bit over protective so take what Im saying like a pinse of salt...... If it was me and pony unpredictable I would stick a lead rope on in case any drama.


Field04 said:
My children are 7 and 8 and they have a small pony. She is small but has a strong character and is still quite new as we have only had her about 3 months. It has been going really well and she is a great little pony, she leads well in hand with me and is also well behaved when being lead beside my horse. So today I had her off the lead rein with my girls with me walking beside them, they would trot up the little lane and back again. We were in a stubble field when my daughters swapped over, and pony decided it was time to go home. She started trotting off in the direction of home and then went into canter!!! I am so proud of my little girl who kept her head and when the pony did not respond to the reins she did a one rein stop. I had taught them this in the sand school on several occassions as I think it is really important to know. So luckily crisis averted today!!
Click to expand...
 
I hadn't heard of the one rein stop, and all this talk of "disengaging the hind legs" left my mystified.
I wish I had been taught this at an early age too. As you say, you have to teach the horse/pony too, but it is useful.
 
Silvermiyazawa said:
The first non rs horse I rode was an hunting cob (the phrase "get yourself a nice safe cob" is a bit on an anathema to me!). She would bolt at the drop of a hat (or not even that!). As I was 12/13 I didn't care - I was on a horse!!!! On one particularly memorable occasion we were hurtling home after she had taken exception to a motorway bridge she did almost daily. As we were approaching the drive to the farm before home it seemed the most natural thing in the world to do a 90 degree (can't find the button) turn up the drive. Volvo estate in front of us, instant halt. We preceded home in a stately manner, both of us calm and non the worse for wear. If it happened now (aged 40) I think I would get off and cry!)
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LOL that could have been me in my youth and yes at 50+ I would now cry.
 
I hadn't heard of the one rein stop either - I was told by an instructor that the emergency stop was crossing both reins ? - will try the 1 rein method in the school x
 
Landcruiser said:
You don't just pull one rein and hope for the best. You have to teach the horse the one rein stop, and practice it regularly. If you just haul on one rein at speed, you are likely to bring the horse down - ugly.
The way to teach it is to start at walk...pick up on one rein with the other slack. The horse will probably walk a tight circle...let the horse circle but the very second it comes to a halt (which may take a while first time) LET GO OF THE REIN. Let the horse relax completely for a minute. If the horse moves off, pick it up and repeat. You are aiming for a time when you just have to pick up on the rein and the horse stops, with no pressure on the mouth...which takes time to achieve. Obviously, once you master it in walk, teach/learn it at the faster paces.This is one of the basics taught in western.
Click to expand...

And don't just learn it on one side do both equally.....and when you use it think about which leg the horse is leading with!! With practice this comes naturally very quickly!! You can actually start at a halt with neck flexion and hindquarter disengagement.....
 
Orangehorse said:
I hadn't heard of the one rein stop, and all this talk of "disengaging the hind legs" left my mystified.
I wish I had been taught this at an early age too. As you say, you have to teach the horse/pony too, but it is useful.
Click to expand...

Disengagement of the hindquarters means the horse moves his hindquarters away from pressure and crosses his legs - like a turn on the forehand.....
 
It seems to be a much more western thing as my horse was taught this first when being backed western but as a kid in a riding school we had many a bolting/strong naughty pony and I was taught to alternate (see saw) the reins so tighten and release each rein alternately to try and distract the horse and break the bolt as they wouldn't be as focused on grabbing the bit and charging also if safe to do so to pull them onto a circle till they slowed down but obviously if in a narrow lane or similar it was not always possible to circle to slow down so the see saw method often helped steady up a bolting horse
Also yes keep calm lean back slightly and lower leg off as instant reaction to a bolting horse is to clamp on for dear life thus driving your horse faster am always yelling at kids in classes to relax and sit back when there horses are being sharp and jogging off with them as they don't realise its them tensing up and leaning forward that is causing the pony to run away with them
 
Gypley said:
Maybe I'm just being dim, and I know if you pull equally on both they will just pull against you and run to Timbuktu , but surely by pulling one rein completely and letting the other slack would potentially just turn you in a very tight circle (which at speed I'm not sure I fancy as I'd probably end up out the side door!) or you would end up in the nearest bush? Or is that the point? I'm having trouble picturing this ??
Click to expand...

Crazy Friesian said:
Nope - generally they just stop - at least they are not bolting - which is, i am sure we can agree, far more frightening and dangerous. You may well end up going round in circles for a bit, but almost guaranteed it won't be for long.
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Ditto Crazy Friesian, in this case, you need to remember that the pony wasn't running in panic where any direction would do, she tried to see if she could go home, when the rider then made the head point in the wrong direction (from the pony's point of view) and soon also the body was going in the wrong direction, then once the pony realised that the rider wasn't going to allow it to go home, she had no reason to continue.
 
As kids we were taught the one rein stop, and everyone i have taught i have done the same. I think its a vital part of managing horses. When you learn to drive you learn how to do an emergancy stop. Its the same thing, you dont use it in every day driving, but its there if you need it.
 
I will not be taking this little naughtly pony off the lead rein again! To be honest although it was all ok and I praised my daughter she was a little scared and I doubt she will want to behacking without the leadrein on this particular pony for a while!!

I teach each pony or horse that I get the one rein stop starting in walk, trot and then canter. I also regularly do flexion exercises with my horses to help with this.

The other thing I always drum into my kids heads is sit back in the saddle, never go forwards if you are scared and want to stop. I make them visulise the race horse trainers next door and how they ride to go fast is out of the seat and forwards so if you want to slow down do the opposite!! I find it helps them if they can see it in their heads.
 
showpony said:
well done OP's Mini me however I would NOT feel comfortable about my daughter being tanked off with and risk of bolting towards home. am a bit over protective so take what Im saying like a pinse of salt...... If it was me and pony unpredictable I would stick a lead rope on in case any drama.
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Ditto well done mini Field04.
a035.gif


But about the rest of the reply, you should of course do what you want, personally I think that it could be a boost for the rider's confidence (= the pony tried to take off, but I kept my head calm, did what I should and I made the pony stop
k025.gif
), and also that it could teach the pony that she can't do whatever she feels for with this rider onboard.
 
pansy said:
I hadn't heard of the one rein stop either - I was told by an instructor that the emergency stop was crossing both reins ? - will try the 1 rein method in the school x
Click to expand...

I think you might be thinking of bridging your reins. Both reins in both hands, one passing on top of the other & braced against the base of the horses neck? This is more to stop horses that pull the rider forward and probably wouldn't have any effect on a bolting horse.
 
No by crossing your reins it means cross your hands over neck and then push hands down horses shoulder. So reins tighten and nutcracker action of bit comes into play severely. It works a treat when I've been bolted with in the past.
 
FinnishLapphund said:
Ditto well done mini Field04.
a035.gif


But about the rest of the reply, you should of course do what you want, personally I think that it could be a boost for the rider's confidence (= the pony tried to take off, but I kept my head calm, did what I should and I made the pony stop
k025.gif
), and also that it could teach the pony that she can't do whatever she feels for with this rider onboard.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, it did show the pony she could do not it with my daughter which I am really pleased about. Plus we turned her back around and carried on further so she didn't think she was getting her own way by going home once back on the lead rein. I could not of told my daughter more times how well she did, really I was so thankful that she managed to remember what to do!!!
 
Landcruiser said:
You don't just pull one rein and hope for the best. You have to teach the horse the one rein stop, and practice it regularly. If you just haul on one rein at speed, you are likely to bring the horse down - ugly.
The way to teach it is to start at walk...pick up on one rein with the other slack. The horse will probably walk a tight circle...let the horse circle but the very second it comes to a halt (which may take a while first time) LET GO OF THE REIN. Let the horse relax completely for a minute. If the horse moves off, pick it up and repeat. You are aiming for a time when you just have to pick up on the rein and the horse stops, with no pressure on the mouth...which takes time to achieve. Obviously, once you master it in walk, teach/learn it at the faster paces.This is one of the basics taught in western.
Click to expand...

At three, my son got carted off with.
I think there was little time for him to appreciate the training techniques involved or the "what ifs".

Suffice to say me bawling in the background "just pull on one rein" got through. Followed by "hang on until I catch up" when he had the pony's head by his leg, stopped a repeat.
 
Different to my mums and sisters reaction when the borrowed village pony used to beggar off down a stubble field with me aged 6/7. They knew he would stop at the end to shove his head on the floor and eat, so watched me being carted whilst laughing merrily. RIP Monty, great pony who wasn't dangerous, just opinionated!

Glad your daughter took it so well :)
 
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