WHOA!!

Question
Hi,

I have a 10 yr old mare who doesn't stop. It takes her a while to whoa and she doesn't back up either. She's a great mare, but I do not know how to teach a horse to whoa if the won't back up. She doesn't have a low head set and thats also another problem with her whoa. I was hoping you could help..:O) Please let me know. THANK YOU  FOR YOUR TIME!!!

Answer
Hi Kim, thank you for your question. I would go back to some basics with your mare. She needs to not only stop and back up just off your verbal cues on leadline/lunge line but also lose in a round pen and arena. I'd start by working her on the lunge line, in an enclosed area. Get her trotting in a circle, then stopping your forward motion and say whoa, if you do not get a reaction, you want to drive her forward (or around you) aggressively at a bit of a faster pace, atleast a few turns of the pen, until she shows signs of wanting to stop, then ask her again. It may take several times, it may even take several dozen times. Each time she does not stop, send her forward again at fast trot. When she finally does stop on your verbal command, stop, let her sit there and rest. You've now made doing the right thing (stopping at the word whoa) easy and the wrong thing (ignoring the word whoa) hard by making her work harder. She'll learn to search out the word whoa, as it will become a reward and rest for her. When she learns to respect that on the line, remove the line and work her both ways at all gates. Now she'll have more respect and awareness of your signals and teaching her to back or move away from pressure will be easy. I start with lateral movement (ie: sidepassing from the ground) before I ask them to back. Backing is one of the few things horses do not do naturally in nature, so it can be the most intimidating to them. Ask her to move sideways, while standing at her hip, with light contact on the halter, just a few steps at a time. You might need to gently tap her side (hearth girth area), but be sure you say off her shoulder at a 90 degree angle, so you are out of kicking range and if she darts forward, won't get run over. When she will move both directions, decrease your angle to her shoulder, square your shoulders and with light jiggles on the line, walk towards her and say back. When you've mastered all this, your basics should transfer over under saddle, especially the whoa. Sometimes a horse will have to re-adjust to being comfortable backing with someone on their back, just to do a different balance point, but ask her for a few steps at a time, using the same verbal cues and reward her for each step.

I hope this helps and thank you again for your question.

Happy Trails,

Jen