Stiffness is one of the biggest things that will get you in a bind in the sorting pen. If your horse won’t move left and right the way he should, you’re going to struggle with quick maneuvers in the ranch sorting pen. Here are a few ways that I like to work on stiffness with a horse and get him using the body the way he needs to.
1. Push the Hip Out
When I ask a horse that likes to be lazy or stiff to collect, I’m going to check in to see how responsive he is. If I feel that my horse isn’t responding to my cues, or is slow to do so, I’m going to stay in a circle at the trot and use my foot to push his hip to the outside while keeping him moving in the same direction.
To do this, slide your foot back toward the back cinch and apply pressure to push the hip out and away from the center of the circle. A stiff horse wants to fall in, leaning toward the inside instead of carrying itself through the turn. Pushing the hip out forces the horse to engage and actually use its body rather than taking the easy way through. What you want to feel is the hip stepping out and away from your foot, not the horse bracing against the pressure or falling further into the middle. It may not look polished, and that’s fine.
While I originally asked my horse to trot, I’m not going to make it a big deal if he breaks into the lope. All I’m focused on is getting my horse to respect my leg pressure and move away from it.
The goal is to get your horse to move his hip enough so that when you return and ask for softness and bend, he responds to your leg. Once I feel my horse has softened in this direction, I’ll test the other side to see if he’s stiff on that side. It’s common for a horse to be more soft and supple on one side of the body, so don’t be surprised if your horse finds collection and softness easier in one direction than the other.
Stretching Exercises for Your Horse
2. Use Foot Pressure to Create Shape
Once I’ve gone to my leg and pushed and tested my horse’s responsiveness, I’m going to return to my circle and focus on having my horse carry some shape in his body. A stiff horse can collect fine through his head and neck, but still feel like a board throughout his body. Shape is extremely important when you’re working cattle in a timed event, and collection without shape will leave you falling behind in the sorting pen and unable to keep up with the cattle you’re trying to work.
To focus on the shape, I’m going to ask my horse to move his ribcage away from my leg pressure. Because I just pushed my horse out with that foot during my first drill, he’s most likely going to respect the pressure more and respond a little quicker. What I’m looking for when I ask my horse to move his ribcage is a horse that carries some arc through his body around the circle, not just a nose pointing one way while the rest of his body stays straight.
3. Demand Quality Out of the Lope Departure
A stiff horse will almost always cheat the lope departure. He will lean into it, fall across the circle, and dive through the transition instead of lifting off the ground.
What you want is a horse that feels like he’s reaching up with his front feet, pulling himself up out of the ground to pick up the lope. When he does it right, you’ll feel him rise, step under himself, and lope off straight with collection instead of feeling lazy and heavy.
If he falls in on the departure, bring him back down, chase the hip out again, and ask once more. Keep after it until he picks up the lope soft, collected, and responsive.