Al Ragusin's Dancing Horse Show

May 2008 Q&A - Proper double reins technique and weight distribution

Al — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:46:48 +0000

Dear Al,

I made a set of double reins exactly like yours and followed your instructions on the adjustment of them as exactly on your video. My eleven year old gelding did collect like you said I have him in a collected walk and trot. When I start to canter with him he pulls on the bit at times and wants to stop. I put pressure as you indicated he will make the circle in a collected canter once or twice and then he stops or wants to stop. I am not sure what is happening. Do I continue to put pressure on the outside leg and tap him with the crop? I have made a 42’ round pen and he seems to do it on each lead. When he stops suddenly I have a tendency to go forward in the saddle which makes me give him slack on the reins. What am I doing wrong? Need your help.

Ron

Hi Ron,

You didn’t mention if the bottom rein “the bungee cord” is being used because you need to keep it on him for at least 30 days or until he makes each movement correctly and does not do any of what you just described. You need to know when you change the running habits of a horse and make him run collected he is running against the pressure of his head down this might happen. You may be moving your hands in the gallop and he may think you are asking him for a stop. And you going forward in the saddle may be because your feet are in the wrong position. So let me break it down for you this way. In a left lead you need 80% of your weight in the saddle and 20% in the stirrups. So when you are loping in a left lead you are leaning in the left stirrup which means you must now have around 15% of your weight in that left stirrup which leaves you approximately 5% in the right leg. Your right foot should be slightly behind the girth with slight pressure against his right rib cage and you should be able to see your left boot and your left stirrup. That way if he decides to stop your left leg will keep you from moving forward and you must put immediate pressure on your right calf and your crop should be on the right ready to reinforce your cue when your right calf puts pressure to keep him in a lope. He may pull his head up during the loping but the rubber rein will bring it back into position until he learns to run collected. Once he is in a slow collected lope on the outside circle of your pen make the circle 3’ smaller for a couple of turns then take him back out to the outside circle. Keep doing this until he has both circles down pat. Then you might take 3 more feet and make a smaller circle in other words you have an outside circle, a medium circle and then a small circle. Always start at the outside circle then to the medium circle and then to the smaller circle and then repeat back to the medium then to the outside before you stop the movement. You don’t want to do more than 10 circles to start with then increase it to 15 or 20, no more. Now when he starts the smaller circle he will have a tendency to really slow down because in order for him to make a smaller circle his hind legs will have to make a shorter stride than his front legs. So be ready to reinforce the cue but be patient with him and go slow. You are asking for him to have a lot of confidence to put his left hind leg so far under him, only do this once to begin with. If you find that he changes leads in the back legs in that smaller circle it is to defend himself as he feels like he may fall or slip with his left rear leg under him. In this case bring him back to a trot and lope him in the bigger circle because he is not ready for the smaller circle. Do it a little bit at a time and you will be surprised on how fast he will pick it u p if you do it slowly. Then go to the right lead and do the same. If you find that he does one lead better than the other that is just natural all horse have a favorite side or one that he is more use to. If this happens just to the side that he is not so good at twice as much as the side he is good at. He will soon do each side as good. If you have any more questions just call me or send me a video but either way let me know. You are doing just fine it takes a little time for you and your horse to make this adjustment and sometimes an older horse takes more time because he is use to doing it another way. Once you show him walk, trot, and lope collected he will enjoy it more because it is more comfortable for him as it is for you.

PS: Due to the length of the explanation of this question this is all the room I have for your questions and answer for this month.

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May 2008 - What Exactly is a Kids Horse?

Al — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:15:49 +0000

This week I purchased two gray geldings, one is 11 years old and the other is 6. Both horses were represented to me as gentle kid horses except the 11 year old would need an experienced young kid that knew how to ride already. (more…)

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November 2007 Q&A - What does “breaking a horse” mean?

Al — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:20:07 +0000

Hi Al,

I really like your column I look forward to reading it each month, but I have a question. When someone says a horse needs breaking what exactly does that mean? My horse is gentle but sometimes it won’t go to the left and then all of a sudden he gets mad and tries to rear. A friend told me my horse was not broke well, is that true? Anything you can help me with? (more…)

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San Antonio Rodeo - Feb. 16, 2008

Al — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:10:28 +0000

Al will be performing at the San Antonio Rodeo on February the 16th at noon in Horse Barn No.#2

He will do a show and demonstration from noon to one.

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November 2007 Q&A - RFD TV questions and collecting your horse

Al — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:01:07 +0000

Hi Al,

I didn’t get a chance to see but the last couple of episodes when you were on RFD TV. I liked your style and the simple way in which you present your technique. I wish I would have gotten the chance to see all of your series. When will you be back? I got a chance to see you in person perform and your clinic. The performance was totally awesome and the clinic was so informative, I learned a lot. If you go back on TV what will you teach?

Hal

Hi Hal,

Yes, I remember meeting you and really enjoyed visiting with you. I have the entire 8 shows that were aired on RFD TV on one DVD. It is 3 ½ hours long and I have added one more episode. You can buy it online for $79.95, which is less than $10.00 an episode. You would have a permanent memory of each phase of my training to refer to anytime you want. We are in talks to return to TV and since I have already completed my technique I am going to have a before and after student on each episode with only one week of training to show how fast this technique can be learned. I will do it in different disciplines whether it is barrels, team penning, dressage, or any of the other four disciplines. This will be real people with their own horses. Look for it perhaps next year.

Thanks for your letter.

Your Friend,

Al,

On collecting the horse I notice that you use a black bungee cord. I saw how fast the horse was able to collect at one of your clinics. Is this a special cord or can it be purchased at any store?

Thanks,
Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth,

Yes, it is a special cord that I order that increases the tension after the first eight inches. The further the horse pulls the cord out the tension increases but not so much to hurt him. I experimented with a couple of dozen cords before I found the right one. I don’t know of any stores that carry them but I will be glad to send you the two cords, they run $10.00 each. You want to make the tension enough to make him uncomfortable if he throws his head up but you do not want it to hurt him.

Good Luck,

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November Article - Me, Train My Own Horse? AL RAGUSIN, Are you kidding?

Al — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:24 +0000

I have trouble keeping him under control most of the time and this scares me replies Sarah Andis. I have been advised to send him to a trainer. I answered her this way, providing the trainer can really train him and how then only the horse gets trained. No, Sarah you must train him yourself. I will show you the method both with communicating with him and my technique on how to do that. I know you are probably thinking here we go again, another method and buying more equipment and it may work or again it may not. Then I would be back to square one where I am at right now. She just gave me a smile. I asked her have you ever loped or cantered with your horse? Yes, she says, then I said to her it would take two lessons. The first one is to adjust your horse to my reins and then the second lesson would be for you to show him my technique that I will be showing you as you are riding him. It shouldn’t take more than four hours maximum. Yes, Sarah you would have to use my equipment but no you would not have to buy it. You can make your own for under $20.00. I have two types of reins the one that I just mentioned is made out of 3/8” nylon rope, 1 1/2“ rings and some trigger snaps. The other newer reins comes with rollers and they are made of leather. Both do the same job. Or if you want you can order some already made along with a DVD showing you how to adjust them. I need for you to come with an open mind and really forget all that you have heard and read until I am finished with these two lessons. This method will work for you in any discipline that you choose. This is my 49^th year of training horses. Over 25 years ago I stopped training horses for people simply because I was not helping them by training their horses. In fact, I was making it worse because the horses were trained to react to my cues and the horse owners did not know what those cues which compounded the problem. No folks, you must learn to Train Your Own Horse, there is no other way. I will show you the method. It is simple and easy to understand and will not hurt your horse in any way. I will make him as comfortable under saddle as possible and I will use a bit that does not pinch or hurt him. Well it took Sarah and her gelding about three hours total and she had it down pat. I talked to her a couple of weeks ago and asked how she was doing. She replied, he is like a different horse. Once in awhile I find my hands out of position and this is the time that he will try to take control but just move my hands back into position and he immediately collects himself.

I have trained hundreds of folks to train their own horses and possibly thousands on television and through my articles and clinics. Training a horse is really not as difficult or as magical as some trainers would like everyone to believe. The horse is a very simple animal and he lives in a horse world. He was born with herd instincts which one of you will be in control. If you don’t take the lead he will. He will harbor no resentment, it is not like some argument or disagreement that you would have with some other person. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you and your friend had a difference of opinion and one has to compromise so the one doing the compromising may hold some resentment for compromising then he would be quick to tell you I told you so if his way proved to be the right way. It is not the same with the horse. He may want to go one way and through your hand position and leg cues you tell him you want to go another way. His simple reaction will be “OK” because to resist the equipment would make it uncomfortable to do it his way, and he is not going to want the added discomfort. The double rein attaches to his bit at four different points. While collecting him he is not uncomfortable, it is only when he wants to resist will it become uncomfortable. There is no special way to hold the double reins, you just hold them as one. The properly adjusted reins will do all the work. There will be no “giving to the hind quarters, giving to the front quarters, my space and his space, his mood or my mood, his natural way, or to get inside the horses head”, it will not be any of that stuff. This method is so simple that is why it works so fast. Two weeks ago I gave a clinic in Atkins, Texas near San Antonio. I first performed my dancing horses and as I sang my horses dance to the rhythms of country, rock, including the “moonwalk”, rock-a-billy, cumbias, mambo, and other rhythms. Afterwards I did a one hour clinic and explained my technique. My double reins and how they help me get the dance movements. During this clinic I met a woman and her horse I had never seen or worked with her before. However since my time was limited my good friend Larry Rodriguez from Lavernia, Texas had introduced her horse to the elastic rein that comes with the two leather reins for about 15 to 20 minutes the week before my clinic. He did this so that the horse would be somewhat familiar with the elastic rein to conserve time during the clinic. The lady had trouble in two areas, first she could not collect him and second she could not stop him well. After some adjustments on her stirrups and adjustments on her hand and feet positions the double reins was able to collect her horse, stop her horse on cue and she learned how to change leads. All of that in less than 30 minutes, it’s that simple. Ask anyone that was there June 30, 2007. You can go to my web site and down load many different articles on different disciplines also there are videos of the dancing horses and a weekly training video. All of this is free. It has been my pleasure passing on this technique to folks so that they can enjoy and train their own horses in a safe and positive manner.

Allow me to give you a brief explanation of how my technique works. Basically there are two methods. One is Positive Reinforcement and second is Negative Reinforcement. Positive reinforcement can be used when your working him on the ground and give him a treat after he has responded to your cue. This can work if the treat is given the moment he does what you want because he lives in the moment but if you are riding him this would be impossible. I was taught this way in the early 60’s. First ground work and then on his back. I feel now years later that if my intention is to ride him just train him from the saddle, it just saves lots of time if riding is what you desire. I think it was Monty Foreman, a great horse trainer, that said, “training horses is equal parts tradition and ignorance.” Bingo to you Monty, that is exactly right. Then there is negative reinforcement, which I think I was the first to use that term publicly. Remember I said negative not brutal. You never want to hurt your horse, you would lose his respect and concentration because he would be afraid. The word reinforcement is described in the dictionary as to strengthen or support, or to make more forcible or effective. This method was taught to me by a tiny bee. As I was observing a mare and her colt, the colt was trying to nurse but his mother was moving around because she was bothered by a bee and she would not stand still. The colt was very irritated because he wanted to eat. Then the bee started buzzing around the colt, this made him forget about eating he just wanted that bee to go away. It came to me that that was the answer, apply the negative in order to accomplish the positive. Apply a cue that at the time will not mean anything to him until it is associated with an irritating gesture. Let me give you an example. While in your saddle press your left calf against his rib cage, “the cue” and gently tap his right leg with your crop. Continue the leg pressure and the cue until he moves his foot. He is doing this to stop the irritating tap. As he moves his foot take the pressure off the leg and stop the tapping. Pet him and let him know you are pleased then do it again. Soon he will associate the leg pressure “cue” with the tap. He will then move the leg as you apply pressure to his rib cage before you tap him again. He will associate your cue with the tapping and he will anticipate the tapping following the cue. There are two things all horses will give you and that is ANTICIPATE and ASSOCIATE. Remember those two words because they are the key to communicating with him. Then add REPETITION and that is the beginning of communicating with him. If you will do this in a 42’ round pen, this is the size the circus has used for hundreds of years and there is a reason for it. You can teach him everything that he needs to know which includes leads, transferring power to his hind legs where the power is naturally using his front legs to steer and balance, collection, side pass, spins and more. Then you can take him out and do whatever event you want. You would not get in a car and drive off if you did not know how to steer or stop so why would you get on a horse that could not do the same. I write extensively on this subject which can be found on my web site, dancinghorseshow.com. You might want to give this method a try I am sure it will work for you. Bye for now.