Ranch sorting is an inclusive sport that welcomes riders of all levels and skill sets. And while your horse doesn’t need prior cattle experience to successfully compete in it, there are a few exercises you can do at home to prepare your horse for cattle, that will help you gain the body control and steering your horse needs to be able to master this event.

Collection and body control are two things that you can work on at home to prepare yourself for a ranch sorting event that doesn’t require having access to cattle. By incorporating a rate-down drill into your riding routine, you’re able to test your horse’s ability to speed up and slow down, and move off of your hand and leg. All things that are going to help you be successful in this event.

Since this is a timed event, you must be efficient when you’re sorting the cattle. By practicing this drill you’re going to ensure your horse understands your seat, leg, and hand cues, and is comfortable moving off of your hands and feet. This is going to help your horse be able to rate what speed the cow is going when it comes time to compete.

While there are no rules in ranch sorting about riding in a snaffle versus a one-handed shank bit, I recommend all riders use a snaffle and stay two handed. Ranch sorting is a fast-paced event and guiding with two hands is going to make it much easier on you and your horse.

One

On a large circle, I ask my horse to move forward into an extended trot. I prefer to post when I’m asking for an extended trot, so my horse can easily tell the difference between my cue for going forward and slowing down and collecting. My horse should be willingly moving forward into an extended trot and shouldn’t be sucking back or trying to anticipate my slow- down cue before I ask for it.

Two

I’m going to test my slow-down transition by shortening my reins, so that I have contact with my horse’s face. Then I am going to sit deep in my saddle and use my feet to ask for collection and to push my horse into the bridle until he wants to be soft in his face. If there’s resistance, I’m just going to hold my horse until he softens; I’m not going to seesaw my hands or get into a pulling match.

[READ: How Can You Get Started in Ranch Sorting?]

Three

Once my horse feels soft and collected, I push him back into an extended trot to test his ability to shift gears. The goal is to be able to get him to lengthen his stride without breaking into a lope.

Four

When you’re in a sorting pen, you’re most likely going to be in the center of the pen on the inside of the cow. This is why it’s extremely important that you’re able to counter-arc your horse when you’re moving him around at the trot.

Here I use my right hand and my right leg and ask my horse to cross his front legs over. Just like I do when I ask for a slowdown and collection, I’m going to hold my horse in this position until he wants to soften and move his body over. Then I’m going to release the pressure as a reward. You can also incorporate the counter-arc into your basic rate-down drill, as your horse should be able to move off your hand and leg at different rates of speed.

Five

All of this prep work is going to set me up to where I can now incorporate the rollback into my rate-down drill. Once I’m able to slow down and speed up at the trot, and practice counter-arcs, I can add the rollback. To do this, I trot my horse forward, making sure he stays collected and is driving through the bridle.

Then I’m going to stop, take a step or two back to rock my horse onto his hind end, and then ask him to roll back. During the rollback, I keep my horse’s shoulders stood up, so he doesn’t fall into the turn. This is where practicing the counter-arc comes into play. By being able to lift his shoulders up and move his body over, I’m able to ensure his shoulders stay stood up during the entire rollback.