Use your inside leg to guide your horse into the perfect arc or turn.
Article and photos by Annie Lambert
Robinson bends the relaxed horse before releasing the pressure of his inside leg.
With cutting, reining and fence-work courses to complete before their final futurity season exams begin, cow horses face a plateful of challenges. With that competition in mind, Tucker Robinson of Oak View, California, has developed a few simple exercises that he says can relax a horse while improving the arc in its body. He has found that one way to improve performance in all three events is by balancing leg pressure.
The secret to the exercises, he says, is applying pressure via the rider's inside leg, while the outside leg provides light counter pressure.
"What we do is try to keep from the shoulders to the hips fairly straight," Robinson explains. "When the horse is straight, he can roll over his hocks and get through the body in a turn. Keeping the body straight with a slight arc allows the body parts to complement each other and the horse can be much more physical.”
Robinson likes to know how all of his horse's body parts are positioned at any given time, and prioritizes being able to move the parts that are not where they're supposed to be. For example, if he is loping a horse and the left shoulder is bowed out and its hip is pushed away, Robinson knows he needs to get that horse straight before he can get the proper bend in the body.
The inside leg acts somewhat like a pivot, giving balance to the turn and keeping the horse squared up. It is much the same in the turnarounds and during the cow work down the fence, where those hard, fast turns are implemented.
There is a fine line when balancing pressures on the inside of a horse's body with those on the outside. Light pressure from the outside can counterbalance the inside leg and keep the horse from overcompensating, drifting too far out.
Using a mare he rode to the NRCHA Hackamore Classic Open and Intermediate championships, Robinson explains his warm up, which is based somewhat on the fact that this mare has problems connected to her right side. Just walking in a circle, he can feel the mare's ribs and hip getting pushed out of the way via pressure from his inside leg.
After six months of working on the 4-year-old with his inside leg theory, Tucker sees a big improvement. Getting the feel of how much pressure is needed, however, takes some time, he says. Getting the feel isn't something that happens in one day.
"I can push her hip clear around and pull her nose clear around there is really no resistance, she is very willing and comfortable moving her body," Robinson explains.
"We'll trot a circle; I'll use the inside leg to straighten her up if she is leaning to the inside. I might push her around with my leg close by the back cinch or up nearer the front cinch. I always want the nose pulled inside just a hair.
"As I'm pushing her with my inside leg I'll use my outside leg to keep her from [swinging] too far out. That is the fine line; that takes a lot of feel gained with experience.
"This mare stays really relaxed, keeps her head down low and is comfortable. She understands what we're doing and is not dreading her job. All the body parts are out of her way, which can be tough to accomplish."
As the sorrel turns a slow, relaxed spin, Robinson points out that he is just laying his foot against her ribs on the inside. He is not asking for speed, just letting his mount "float" through the turn while keeping her body aligned and free-moving.
Article and photos by Annie Lambert
Robinson bends the relaxed horse before releasing the pressure of his inside leg. With cutting, reining and fence-work courses to complete before their final futurity season exams begin, cow horses face a plateful of challenges. With that competition in mind, Tucker Robinson of Oak View, California, has developed a few simple exercises that he says can relax a horse while improving the arc in its body. He has found that one way to improve performance in all three events is by balancing leg pressure.
The secret to the exercises, he says, is applying pressure via the rider's inside leg, while the outside leg provides light counter pressure.
"What we do is try to keep from the shoulders to the hips fairly straight," Robinson explains. "When the horse is straight, he can roll over his hocks and get through the body in a turn. Keeping the body straight with a slight arc allows the body parts to complement each other and the horse can be much more physical.”
Robinson likes to know how all of his horse's body parts are positioned at any given time, and prioritizes being able to move the parts that are not where they're supposed to be. For example, if he is loping a horse and the left shoulder is bowed out and its hip is pushed away, Robinson knows he needs to get that horse straight before he can get the proper bend in the body.
The inside leg acts somewhat like a pivot, giving balance to the turn and keeping the horse squared up. It is much the same in the turnarounds and during the cow work down the fence, where those hard, fast turns are implemented.
Inside Out
Beginning with a simple warm-up exercise at a walk and jog, Robinson moves his horse in a circle using both inside and outside leg pressure, pushing the horse's body around and driving it into the bridle. When the horse is supple from head to tail, he is able to straighten the body and arc it properly for any maneuver.There is a fine line when balancing pressures on the inside of a horse's body with those on the outside. Light pressure from the outside can counterbalance the inside leg and keep the horse from overcompensating, drifting too far out.
Using a mare he rode to the NRCHA Hackamore Classic Open and Intermediate championships, Robinson explains his warm up, which is based somewhat on the fact that this mare has problems connected to her right side. Just walking in a circle, he can feel the mare's ribs and hip getting pushed out of the way via pressure from his inside leg.
After six months of working on the 4-year-old with his inside leg theory, Tucker sees a big improvement. Getting the feel of how much pressure is needed, however, takes some time, he says. Getting the feel isn't something that happens in one day.
"I can push her hip clear around and pull her nose clear around there is really no resistance, she is very willing and comfortable moving her body," Robinson explains.
"We'll trot a circle; I'll use the inside leg to straighten her up if she is leaning to the inside. I might push her around with my leg close by the back cinch or up nearer the front cinch. I always want the nose pulled inside just a hair.
"As I'm pushing her with my inside leg I'll use my outside leg to keep her from [swinging] too far out. That is the fine line; that takes a lot of feel gained with experience.
"This mare stays really relaxed, keeps her head down low and is comfortable. She understands what we're doing and is not dreading her job. All the body parts are out of her way, which can be tough to accomplish."
As the sorrel turns a slow, relaxed spin, Robinson points out that he is just laying his foot against her ribs on the inside. He is not asking for speed, just letting his mount "float" through the turn while keeping her body aligned and free-moving.
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