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Down The Fence with Richard Winters
 For those of you who have followed along on our journey to the 2008 Snaffle Bit Futurity, here’s an update. Rocky’s back! This (now 3 year old) palomino stallion has been out of training for over three months. He’s come back a little out of shape, but sound and ready to work. Here’s an added twist: Sarah, my daughter has worked out an arrangement with Rocky’s owner and she will now be training him exclusively and showing him in the open division at this year’s futurity. With the good training Rocky received from me all last year I’m sure she’ll do great! We’ll continue to monitor Rocky’s progress along with the other colts that are futurity bound.
Now that we are into the New Year, we are stepping these colts up a little more all the time. They’re no longer two year olds. In about six months these colts will step into the show ring and be expected to perform. So what does it mean to “step up”? It means more refinement, more precision, and more speed. I’ve spent 12 months laying a solid foundation on these colts. If I’ve done my job right, things should hold together as more pressure is applied. Last year when I first picked up the reins and asked my colt to get soft, it was only for a few steps. Now I should be able to drive these colts up into the bridle and have them stay soft and framed up at every gait and at every speed for as long as I need them to. When I ask for a spin, I’m now not only looking for correctness, I’m looking for correctness with speed. When I cluck, I expect them to step quicker. If they respond by speeding up, great! If not, I’ll bump them with my leg or spur to let them know its time to start trying a little harder.
Reined cow horses have to handle speed. They need it in their circles and their run downs in the reined work. And they certainly need to keep their mental composer when going down the fence at 30 miles an hour with a cow. A few times a week I want to lope some large fast circles and really encourage my horse to move out. Sometimes I’ll put my hands forward and ask him to run. Other times I’ll keep him bridled up to make him really drive from behind and get soft while at speed. I’m spending a considerable amount of time working on the transitions from a fast circle to a slow circle as well. Some colts will tend to fall out of lead when they slow down. A lot of consistency and repetition will help these colts maintain their leads and gaits during the transition.
Here’s an interesting piece of information: You’re horse cannot slide far if he’s not running fast. There needs to be strong forward momentum to produce a spectacular sliding stop. I’m gradually asking for more speed all the time. These colts have spent months building their confidence loping and stopping at a casual pace. Now, a few times a week I’ll ask them to run at a pretty good clip and then say “whoa.” Sometimes I’ll ask them to stop with contact. In other words, the slack is taken out of the reins when I stop. At other times I’ll expect them to listen to my voice and body language and go to the ground on a loose rein.
Now don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. This doesn’t mean that I coasted along on these colts all last year and then turned up the fire on January 1st. Every concept has to be taught in a gradual progression. These colts are maturing mentally and physically more each week. And they’re handling the training regiment with good attitudes. These next few months will be a balancing act in helping them progress without peaking to early or getting physically sore. I also don’t want to be three weeks away from the futurity and realize that I’ve got to dramatically turn up the heat to catch up.
We’re not playing sand lot baseball. This is the major leagues. It’s time to get serious about the work. These colts feel good and are stepping up to the challenge. I’m the coach. It’s my responsibility to help them be the best they can be. If I’m too passive, we’ll never get there. If I’m too aggressive, they’ll quit. It’s a fine line to walk. No pressure, right?
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