ArizonaRealCountry.com 39 January 2019 Reprinted from @CraigSmithTeamRoping on InstaGram LEGS When we teach our horses to yield from leg pressure, we create understanding in their mind and build confidence in their feet, which leads to relaxation in their body. Here are some steps to do so: • Teach your horse to yield to body steady and rhythmic pressure on the ground first. • Block forward movement by positioning your horse in front of a wall or fence. • Always start with light pressure - a horse will never respond lighter than the pressure you first apply. • Be patient and particular without being critical (‘set it up and wait’ to teach) – reward the slightest try. • Gradually increase the pressure you apply until you get the correct response, then release instantly. • If your horse is not responding, stop, re-evaluate and try another approach – don’t be ‘too wrong for too long.’ • If or when you start over, remember, to always start again with very light pressure. • Be sure when you get the response you want in the teaching phase to RELEASE instantly. • When training a horse to move off your leg, start at the standstill, then move up to a walk, trot and lope. • As you advance, experiment with moving their body parts around while traveling on a straight line or circle. • If your horse already understands leg cues, but is slow to respond, increase the rate (speed) at which you increase pressure. FEET How we use our feet to ride our horse plays just as an important role as our legs and hands. We need to use them correctly to effectively communicate with our horse. If we lean forward too much and get our feet behind us, we’ll send conflicting signals to our horse and they may not rate off the steer. Instead, we would want to keep our feet under our center of gravity, which helps cue them to get their hind end under themselves. We may also use our feet to slightly move our horse over so they are standing in the correct spot in the box, or even in a run to help keep our horse standing up and underneath themselves to provide a smooth handle. We need our horse’s response to be immediate. Sometimes the use of spurs is helpful to be effective in our communication. The intention of spurs is to guide our horse, not to gouge, and to be an extension of our feet, allowing us to communicate with less movement in our lower body which improves stability. If we ever feel as though we need to be firm with our spurs, it’s an indicator that we haven’t provided our horse with the level of education, understanding and emotional fitness they need to be light and responsive under all circumstances. Fractions of a second can make a big difference in our success and if we can keep our body in position, and cause & allow our horse to work efficiently by doing our part as a rider – we’ll have even more of it! If we ever feel as though we need to be firm with our spurs, it’s an indicator that we haven’t provided our horse with the level of education, understanding and emotional fitness they need to be light and responsive under all circumstances. ROPING TIPS: LEGS & FEET