Checking In With Your Horse

It's easy to throw your leg over your horse and start cruising around the arena in autopilot while you warm up. But is that what you should be doing?

- MONIQUE POTTS, WITH NICHOLE CHIRICO

As you warm your horse up, you should also be using that time to check in on him to ensure that his focus is on you and not everything else happening in the arena. Having your horse's attention on you and what you're asking him to do during the warmup will help you figure out what you need to work on during your actual riding session.

If you ask him to focus his attention on you and he's stiff going one direction, or dull to your leg, you can make a mental note of it and include some exercises in your training session for the day to address those issues.

One

As I cruise my horse around the arena, I leave my reins at a drape and see how she responds to being in the arena. Within a few minutes of walking, she puts both her ears up and fixates on the cattle in the pen behind the arena. My horse has officially checked out on me and has checked in on the cattle in the pen behind us.

Two

Because her ears are focused on the cattle in the pen behind the arena, I go to my hand and leg to get control of her hind end. I use her feet to get control of her brain again and remind her to focus on what I'm asking of her and not locking on to what the cattle are doing.