My feelings are that when you get to the show you go with what you got. You’re not gonna make anything better in the practice pen, you just want to make sure you got what you had at home. Remind them it’s all the same thing as what you learned at home just different dirt.

Whether you’re going for the hundred grand or getting a colt a little show ring exposure, if you try to put 15 days of training in a 15 minute warm up you’re cheating yourself and your horse.

Les says you have to have a happy horse to win the futurity. I bet he’s right.

I like to look through the Western Horseman magazine pictures. Even though they are still photos, sometimes you can feel the movements. I remember one picture of a Great Basin rancher. His hands were weathered and looked rougher than sandpaper layin on a gravel road. But you could feel his touch on the reins through the page. More delicate than a brain surgeon. And you got the feeling when he moved those reins it wasn’t a thought, it was an instinct.

Al, Les also talks about whoa not meaning stop. I’m learning, obviously by this post, that a real WHOA STOP stop isn’t so great. I’ve been really working on the neck after the stop like you said. He does have a tendency to pull for a minute just after he stops sometimes. Then it’s like he remembers and gets back to being good.

One of the things I teach my colts is that “whoa” doesn’t mean to stop, it means “come back to me”. When I say whoa I want them thinking back up. Not stop and back up, back up while stopping. Which they of course can’t do but when they are going full out and think back up, they have to stop hard. And I want that head and neck to suck back into my hands.

I also want that head and neck to stay soft after it’s all done. No sky gazing or daydreaming once they’ve stopped. Shake their nose down and let em hold it for a few seconds.

Some horses prefer to bring their nose in toward their chest when they learn to stop. Others seem to like to root their nose out when they are stopping hard. I think you have to work with them. I prefer they bring their nose in because it looks prettier. But as long as they are soft and willing I can live with them stretching out some. But you have to be careful with them types to make sure they don’t don’t over extend and hollow out their backs. Either way, the head has to be down.

Good stops are the greatest! When he does it right, let him know!! Let him feel your excitement! He’ll get to where he can’t wait to stop good for you.