BACKING UP

We have now covered lateral flexion, vertical flexion and stops in recent articles. In this article, we will teach your horse how to back up.

Why do we need to teach our horse to back up? A good back up is the foundation of everything you do with your horse. A stop is centered around a back-up; collection is centered around a back-up; rating your horse's speed is centered around being able to back your horse up. The stop and the back-up are directly related.

Most people teach their horse to back up by picking up on the horse's reins and applying pressure to the horse's face. Usually, that is the only cue they use to ask the horse to back up; and the more they pull, the more the horse resists and lifts his head and neck. You enter a tug-of-war that is very difficult for a rider to win. Sure, you might get the horse to back up; but it will be a very sluggish, lazy back-up with the horse dragging his front feet rather than picking his back and shoulders up and backing up soft and collected.

As a general rule, the harder you pull the horse when you back him up, the slower he gets. The softer you pick up, the lighter he will get and the faster he will back up. What you don't want to do is try to make him back up by pulling on the reins. I like to teach my horse to back up by getting his feet to move, then redirecting his feet backwards. Let me give you an example.

The mechanics of the back up -

When the feet stop, the head and neck go up. When the feet move, the head and neck come down. It's pretty simple. So, what we are trying to do - instead of just pulling back on our horse and making him back up - is get his feet to move, redirect his feet backwards and teach him to back up.

Break your back-up into two separate components.

First of all, teach your horse to disengage his hindquarters and be able to pivot on his front legs, moving his hindquarters around his front legs. Basically what this does is take away a lot of the horse's power.

To do this, bend your horse's head around as taught in my lateral flexion exercises. You should also have very good vertical flexion at the stand-still, the walk and the jog. The better your basics, the easier things are when you start to progress into slightly more difficult exercises.

To begin with, I pull the reins to my hip, put my inside leg back and apply pressure. If the horse does not move his hindquarters, apply more pressure with your leg, and rest your spur on the horse's side. Repeat this over and over again. So, step number one is to get your horse to disengage his hindquarters at the stand-still. Once we get this well established, at the stand still, then we will starting putting it together with the back up.

Basically, what we are doing is moving the horse's hindquarters and moving his feet. Once we get his feet moving so he can move three or four steps consistently with minimal resistance, we let the horse's head and neck straighten out, and we ask the horse to back up. The key is to let the horse's head and neck straighten out, but don't allow the horse's feet to stop moving - meaning that once I have his head bent around and he is moving his hindquarters, I will let his head go straight, pick up on the outside rein, adding pressure to both reins with his head and neck straight. This will cause him to react by backing up.

With my legs, I will gently tap him with first one leg and then the other - like a bump with the left leg, then the right leg, then the left leg again, and so on. What this does is makes it a little uncomfortable for him not to move his feet, and it also encourages him to move his feet a little quicker. Remember, when you are asking him to back up, pick up very softly on the reins - one or two ounces. Remember, the harder you pull in reverse, the harder they will pull against you. Let your legs wake his body up and teach him to pick up his feet. As soon as your horse takes one or two steps backwards, immediately release both reins, give him a pat and let him sit there for a little bit. That is his reward for doing what you asked.

So basically, all we are doing is breaking the back-up into two steps. Move his hindquarters and, before his feet stop, redirect his energy backwards.

If you move your horse's hindquarters by bending him around and disengaging the hindquarters, then you let his head go out straight, and his feet stop before you ask him to back up, bend his head around and get his feet to move again. Put your leg back and disengage his hindquarters. Try to keep the hindquarters moving and then straighten his head and ask him to back up.

The exercise will soon build to three and four steps, then four and five, and pretty soon he will be backing up very soft and collected on a light rein. The key to backing up is good preparation - good lateral flexion, good vertical flexion and getting the horse to move his feet and then redirect him backwards. Of course, over time, you are not going to have to ask the horse to disengage his hindquarters first. He should be trained eventually so that when you pick up on the reins, apply a little bit of pressure and sit deep in your saddle bumping with one leg, then the other leg, he will back up by himself without lifting his head and neck.

The reason we bump with one leg and then the other, rather than use both legs at once, is to separate our leg cue between the horse moving forward and the horse moving backwards. If we don't use our legs when we ask the horse to back up, the back-up will be very stiff and rigid; and it will never get snappy and light.

Common Mistakes

• The most common mistake people make when teaching their horse to back up is having a tendency to pull too hard on the reins and force the horse back up.
• When people bend their horse's head around and ask the horse to disengage the hindquarters, another common mistake is not putting their leg back far enough toward the flank. Remember, when your leg is back towards the flank, it is telling the horse to move his hindquarters. When it is in the middle of the ribcage, you are asking him to move the ribcage; and when it is up near the girth, you are asking the horse to move his shoulders. In the beginning, these three "buttons" are quite far apart; but as the horse becomes better trained, these "buttons" get closer and closer together and you don't have to exaggerate as much.
• Another common mistake is made when bending the horse's head around, the rider does not keep the reins still on their hip. The more you fix the rein to your hip and the more bend you put in the horse's head, the easier it will be to have him disengage his hindquarters.
• When asking the horse to back up and the horse takes one or two steps backwards, the rider keeps asking the horse to back up more and more. Remember, reward the slightest try.

TROUBLESHOOTING

1. Your horse does not want to move his hindquarters - Have you done enough lateral flexion? If you have skipped the previous exercises and haven't done enough lateral flexion, your horse will be still stiff and rigid, and it will be more difficult to do the more advanced maneuvers.
   
   
2. Your horse moves off your leg when you ask him to disengage his hindquarters, but instead of disengaging and pivoting on his inside front foot, he wants to walk more of a circle. This is quite common in the beginning. Apply more bend to your horse's head and pull your hand harder towards your hip. Put your leg a little further back and, maybe apply a little bit more leg pressure. As soon as he takes one or two steps, disengaging and moving his hindquarters, immediately take your leg off, release the rein and let him get that reward.
   
   
3. Your horse doesn't want to back up and locks his front feet up when you ask him to back - Again, move his feet. Get the feet to move and redirect them backwards. If he stiffens up when you ask him to back up and doesn't want to back up, resist the temptation to pull harder. Immediately bend his head around again, put your inside leg back and move his hindquarters.
   
   
4. Your horse backs up, but he is still very stiff and his head is way too high. Be prepared for this to take some time. Backing up is one of the most unnatural moves horses make. Horses don't back up very much in a natural environment. They may take one or two steps backwards, but you don't see horses back up by themselves a lot in the pasture.
   
   
5. Your horse backs up, but he backs up really slowly. If you want your horse to back up quicker, don't pull harder on the reins. Use more leg and bump harder. If you have to, kick him with one leg and then the other, or with your spur. You might get a whip and tap him in front on the shoulder and make him pick his shoulders up and move backwards. Remember, the lighter you pick up with you hands, the lighter he will back up. The more you use your legs - the more you control the speed of the back-up. The legs will generate energy which will cause him to want to pick up his feet. If you don't use your legs and you only pull on the reins, the horse will become stiffer and stiffer.
   
   
6. When you ask your horse and use your legs, he thinks you want him to move forward. This is a common problem . If your horse tries to move forward when you use leg pressure - one leg and then the other - apply more rein pressure and pull a little harder on the reins until he eventually stops. Keep bumping him gently with one leg and then the other leg; and as soon as he starts to shift his weight backwards, release your leg pressure, drop the reins and pat him. Pretty soon, he will figure out that legs don't necessarily mean go forward; they can mean go backwards as well. Remember, if you are squeezing with both legs when you want him to back up, this is the cue to go forward. The leg cue that asks your horse to back up is to bump near the girth - not near his hindquarters. The further forward you get your legs, the less confusing it will be for your horse to understand that your legs mean back up.

Key Note: One thing this is very important for our readers to understand. The previous exercises covered in these articles are designed to be executed and practiced before asking a horse to accomplish any new exercises. If you cheat and start at a level too high for you or your horse, you are doomed to fail. Make sure you follow along, complete the basics and do your homework. Most problems arise when resistance is encountered, and training methods fail because of a lack of preparation and a lack of understanding. The more you ride, and the more consistent and patient you are, the better your horse will become. If you only practice once a week, don't expect your horse to become much better. Remember, children are sent to school five days a week because they learn best when they have repetition on a daily basis. You don't expect a child to be very smart if he only goes to school one day a week. Keep this in mind in all of your horse training activities - the basic principle is the same. Be safe and have fun.