how do you train

[eagles ring farm]

any tips on getting a horse to arch their neck instead of just a stretch for halter class

thanks

lori

 

[nootka]

First off, a horse has to have a good build to be able to get a decent arch. A ewe-necked or low-set neck won't look the same as a horse with one that sets well on their shoulders and is arched right to begin with.

Secondly, a horse that does not understand "whoa" will be harder to get to arch.

Once you are certain those feet will stay, you need to first get the neck "up".

Many trainers start out with the treat/target held up high and then ask them to reach "out and down" rather than holding the treat say at waist level, the horse will naturally want to reach straight out and get that treat.

Go slowly through the phases of training and personally, it's really difficult for me to explain this in type w/out photos or something.

I am hoping someone with a better gift for explanation of this process or perhaps another point of view will also post here as I'm always learning new tips to help with this training issue, myself!

Liz M.

 

[kaykay]

liz i thought that was a great description!! ive never been able to explain it either. I was trying to show leanna today. Some dont understand the difference between rubber necking (no no) and the halter stretch. And I must say its not nearly as easy as some make it look lol. Maybe someone has pics and ccould show a rubbernecked horse and a properly stretched horse??

 

[shane]

I BET YOU COULD MAKE A FORTUNE,IF YOU HAD SOMEONE DO A VIDOE OR DVD SHOWING HOW TO TRAIN A MINI TO STAND AND SHOW ECT........

:

 

[Relic]

l've never heard of RUBBER NECKING just what is that and what does it look like?? l'm in the process of teaching a yearling to arch his neck at least l think he has a neck LOL and start him high up then make him come forward towards the treat. But now l'm wondering if thats right or not l have gotten him to arch nice a few times but then he'll move on me. l think this guy needs to be sweated he might be thick but l hate to do a yearling. Hope others post on this very interesting to learn neck arching.. for people who don't know how.

 

[nootka]

This is the "ideal" first step for me. Note this is a weanling, yet I've got him held still and his neck upright. AFter he has this down, then I will ask for him to extend the upper portion of his neck outward. Note in the pic you can see my hand at his muzzle encouraging him to stay in place.

As a long yearling, and even though he knows what to do, we snapped a pic of him "rubbernecking" or just all out stretching his neck, no real poise to it. This is the inevitable result of just asking for them to reach for a treat w/out the training to back up the other portions of a halter pose.

Experienced horses will often do this anyway at times, and it's very frequent in young horses as they just don't know what you're asking for, and if you don't know how to ask, then it's a real problem all the way around and can be quite frustrating.

Here is a horse w/their neck in a relaxed, but still nice position. I would, in many cases, just let a horse relax and stand in this position if they didn't "get" the rest of it. This mare has a nice neckset to begin with, even if it's a bit thick and shortish.

Now what this pose does not do for this mare is neglects to show her throatlatch. Even though it's not the nicest, hookiest throatlatch, she has more than this suggests, but this pose is more flattering to this mare than a full out rubberneck stretch...though I could be wrong and sometimes that is what I got out of her in the ring!

Here you can see her extending her neck some, though with the extra thickness it doesn't look quite as pretty. If I were to "perfect" this picture, I would tuck her nose just a bit to take the "fold" out of her crest.

She is stretching similarly to the horse above, but her head isn't following quite the same angle. Either way, it's not the prettiest picture/presentation of either horse, IMHO.

This mare tends to be fat slightly so this is what I get for photoing a pasture condition broodmare...

A nice halter pose. If he had started out a bit more upright, it would have been even nicer, but one can see his neck in this photo (if it weren't for the ribbons but I couldn't find another w/better illustration of the head position). He could be using his neck more, but overall, this works and looks much nicer than the rubberneck of his yearling year pic (the second photo above).

A pic of him just standing fairly relaxed so you can see that this horse has really what I consider an almost ideal neckset. It comes up out of his shoulders at a great angle rather than tying in super low. He naturally stands quite upright and has a nice length of neck and a good, clean throatlatch. I do not sweat this horse though I have at times done so. I am just lucky he has such a pretty neck though we've worked on keeping him in place and using his neck to his advantage rather than just stretching it out.

I hope these help some.

Liz

 

[minih]

Here is a picture of one of our horses that just naturally has a beautiful arch to her neck. My daughter does it so much better than I, getting them to snake their neck out. She tells me just like Liz said, up and then out.

 

[nootka]

Relic, your horse is sort of rubbernecking, as in merely stretching rather than using his neck to the best advantage.

The leaning/reaching is somewhat less attractive than a relaxed, upright pose (see the full shot of the standing black mare in my post above).

If you can go back to square one with "whoa" and have the horse similar to my foal pic (first one) before you ask for the upper neck and head to reach and tuck, then you will be ahead of the game. I don't know any magic method other than to repeat repeat repeat ad nauseum til they get it.

I wouldn't sweat that neck, myself, I don't think it looks particularly thick...?

Minih, that is a very pretty horse and a very pretty presentation.

Good photo for illustrating!

Liz M.

 

[Relic]

Okay so once l get to this point at least l hope thats what l''m suppose to be doing does the head just have to come down more and his neck have the cure in it. Or is that still rubbernecking??

 

[nootka]

Relic, the neck is still reaching out too low in that photo. If you get your horse sort of "set back" over the front legs more as in the base of the neck, and let them look at you sort of in the eye. You may have to stand way too close to them for what would be good in the ring to get the right pose at first, but they will learn, then move on to the "hook" part which is using the throatlatch, telescoping it out and the head part reaches downward. Think of a swan...*LOL* that is the pose and effect that tends to look best with horses with a nice, long neck and clean throatlatch.

I would say that pose is "fair to good" but most times we can always improve a little with just some fine tuning and I am ALWAYS learning in this respect.

Liz M.

 

[Leeana]

I have this problem with my horses to.

Today at Kay's Royal had his eye on The Pretty girls and i've been trying for 2 month's to get that archy neck on him and he walked right up to her fence and arched his neck and made it look soo pretty.

I can get him to Arch somewhat, but it doesnt look right to me for some reason. I just hold the treat down and back more so his head is almost verticle ..i looks good if you can get it right ...i'm still working on it!

I wish they had a DVD of training/showing a halter horse and all the little halter tricks. I think with how Popular halter is ...they would make a killing on a dvd like that and i've yet to see one anywhere.

Leeana H.

 

[slaneyrose]

what I want to know is how do you stop them from moving their feet in the first place!!????

 

[Jaxjag2000]

Very nice topic and photos!! Thanks for sharing!!! I love this forum!

 

[Miniv]

What a GREAT topic! Thanks Liz for your explanation..... I've never had anyone put it into words before and it's a big help! I've also never heard the term "Rubber Necking" before.

I'm going to start working with one of our horses and Brianna here, for a show, so this is definitely helpful.

MA

 

[eagles ring farm]

thanks so much everybody for the great descriptions and at least we know where to start

lori & art

 

[Leeana]

slaneyrose Posted Today, 07:08 PM what I want to know is how do you stop them from moving their feet in the first place!!????

When they move ...back them up. I've always tugged on the lead when them moved but then today Kay started me on backing them up when they moved ....i noticed when i got home and worked with him a few minutes while dad found the water hose and i think backing him up when he moved just made him improve each time.

Leeana H.

 

[user 488]

what I want to know is how do you stop them from moving their feet in the first place!!????

Here is a novel idea! Teach the horse to WHOA! WHOA means stop......plant it........don't move. It's the most basic, but yet the most important command you can teach a horse. It is the first thing every halter horse of ours learns.

 

[disneyhorse]

I've definitely been-there-done-that with this thread!

When I started, I remember lots of my old halter bad habits... standing too close to the horse, not watching where the judge was (I would set my horse up and "use up" my horses' expressions when the judge wasn't even looking), and stretching their neck straight out (Magic here on the forum calls it Alligator Neck cuz they go straight forward).

Just take baby steps... FIRST get the horse to set it's feet square! The expression and arching necks comes later

Andrea

 

[kaykay]

Rubbernecking: making a horses neck go straight out stretched all the way to the limit. Looks like a straight line like this ___________________ Not as pretty as a neck with a pretty arch and the nose slightly down

I still sometimes struggle with it!!

Teaching a horse to whoa and not move. *could save their life someday. If you whao a horse and it moves even one foot IMMEDIATELY back them up. Reset. Horse moves BACK THEM UP. They learn really quick what whoa means and to stay still. Lisa davis taught me this my first time showing. Honestly this only takes a few times consistently and the horse will stay still. But you HAVE to be consistent. If the horse moves once set and you dont immediately back them up then they wont take you seriously. *Leanna im glad that helped!!

 

[Kendra]

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed this topic! Gave me lots to think about, even though I've been doing this for .... well, a long time!