| It is important to understand what works and why, | | | | So to teach neck reining, initially you start off with the |
| otherwise it is easy to come up with silly stuff. With | | | | horse standing still and follow this three steps process. |
| horses you can never be quiet sure when training a | | | | First lay the rein against the horse's neck (pre-cue), |
| young horse what they are actually going to do. | | | | take notice as to whether or not he looks in the |
| With neck reining there re a number of methods to | | | | direction that you are asking. Remember that if the |
| teach a horse to rein, but a true reining horse operates | | | | horse doesn't look in the direction you're asking with |
| off nothing but the neck rein cue, and the initial training | | | | the rein, then he won't neck rein, they need t look |
| techniques need to build towards this. The process of | | | | where they are going. |
| teaching a horse to rein involves three separate but | | | | If the horse fails to look in the direction you are asking |
| connected pieces. There's the pre-cue, a cue and if | | | | then take your inside leg and brush it down his side |
| necessary an enforcer. | | | | (the cue), and hopefully the horse will look to the side |
| Initially there is nothing about just laying a rein on the | | | | you brushed, just like someone tapping you on the |
| horse's neck that compels him to do anything let alone | | | | shoulder. If this fails to get the horse t o look then take |
| move, and so this must be taught, through repetition, | | | | the rein and draw their head to that side(The enforcer). |
| which is the biggest single key to getting a horse good | | | | When they look then release the rein. So the rein on |
| at anything. Repetition is explaining something to the | | | | the neck is the pre-cue, basically saying 'we're about to |
| horse day after day after day so that he gets really | | | | do something' and the pull of the rein is the enforcer, |
| good at it. It has been estimated that it takes between | | | | the obvious message getting the horse doing what |
| 300-400 repetitions for a horse to learn a cue. | | | | you want. Now straighten the horse up and repeat. |