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About April Reeves
Expertise
Ask me questions regarding problem horses, training advice, saddling and bridling, feed, groundwork and handling, behavior and manners. Visit my site: Horseman's U.com for articles and great video on training and useful information. Watch for my clinic dates for 2009 - I may be in your area!

Experience
April Reeves has been in the Horse Industry since 1963. She has shown almost every breed and discipline along the West Coast of North America. April travels around North America giving clinics on Horsemanship, training for breeds and disciplines in English and Western.

Education/Credentials
EQUINE: studied under Rick and Jennifer Maynard (H/J), Patricia Deptford (Dressage), Kevin Pole, Morgan Libbert (reining). Hundreds of clinics, including Al Dunning and George Morris.

Past/Present Clients
I currently have a string of show students, a few recreational riders and groups of private barns. During the summer months I travel to private facilities for specific instruction.

You are here: Experts > Recreation/Outdoors > Horses > Horseback Riding > RIDING WITH A TIE DOWN

Horseback Riding - RIDING WITH A TIE DOWN

Expert: April Reeves - 10/27/2009

Question
I have quarter horse that I work cows with, is it safer to use a tie down for the horse's head?

Answer
Answer from April Reeves: When working with cattle, the only rule I have ever followed religiously is not to use any equipment other than a bridle and bit or bosal (hackamore).

Additional equipment such as tie-downs is both dangerous and shows that your horse is not ready to work on cattle. Whether you are showing or just using the horse around the farm, horses can get hurt when cows get tangled in extra equipment. (Additional equipment is not allowed in the show ring for a reason).

A high-headed horse can get the rider into trouble also. Working with cattle requires a horse that is savvy and thinking, and a horse with its head in the air is neither. Cattle are unpredictable and can really do some damage. My stallion and I were knocked over from a cow that decided to jump on us. It took a few months of retraining to get the horse back to where he was after that.

Somewhere your horse is missing an important piece of his foundation training. Any horse should be able to keep his head low because he has been taught to ‘seek’ low and down when pressure is applied to his face (from a bit, nose band or anything).

My advice to you is to take the time and teach this to your horse. It’s not tough, in fact it’s fun and a really great thing to learn as it will get you out of a lot of trouble if you ride another horse with a high head. In some cases, you can teach a horse to drop its head within minutes.

I will give you a link to a very extensive article on this instead of adding it here. In this article, I outline the basic foundation work to getting a horse obedient and responsible. Scroll down until you find the headline “Vertical Flexion”. There is a photo of a palomino with his head flexed and a very loose rein. Read it over and over until you have it firmly in your mind before you try it. The most important parts are to NEVER move your hands while the horse is resisting, and once you feel the slightest try, release immediately.

You may also want to try a few of the other exercises for riding, especially the circle exercises and counter canter. These will help with balance, which helps with high heads.

Link to vertical flexion article: http://aprilreeveshorsetraining.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/how-to-collect-horse/

Here is another valuable article on foundation work:
http://aprilreeveshorsetraining.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/groundwork-saddle-work-...

I hope this information helps you. It’s no fun to ride a horse that needs specialty equipment. Horses should be easy to ride, not difficult.

Thank you for choosing me as your online helper,

April Reeves, Horseman’s U.com & April Reeves Horse Training.wordpress.com

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