With my horse Ike, I have completed steps one through twelve. As I have said before, with some horses one may go through the steps fairly quickly (which i have with Ike so far), whereas some horses may need more time.
For example, I have a horse I'm working with for a couple that is very touchy, spooked easily, very sensitive to his body with touching and leg cues, and overall is not a horse that feels secure when he is caught up. Im telling you about him because he is one of those horses that really needs more time with each step. He. does complete cues very quickly and actually quite well but he does it in a insecure way. even though he is very smart and actually trained well.. he has beccome so insecure that each response is actually not controlled.
My goal with a horse like this is to calm him down so he learns to complete each step calmly and confidently and doesnt overreact. just the saddling stage was almost like starting from scratch for about three weeks. He still gets a high head and gets nervous when tacking him up but he is more accepting and doesnt move his feet around. When I first mount up he is very uneasy and responds to cues almost too good. I joke with his owners that he almost rides like he can read my mind because he responds to the slightest signal. For an experienced rider this is doable but really isnt "right", especially since the owners are beginner riders. To get the horse confident in himself so he doesnt overreact, I praise him a lot when he things are done well. to calm him down while walking and trotting I praise, tell him "easy" and rub his neck - all of this A Lot. REASSURANCE=CONFIDENCE.
Again, some horses may be very quick learners and multiple steps can be comptleted at once. BUT... the KEY is to have each step completed confidently and correctly, not just done and out control.
Moving on to what I originally planned on telling you and that is the rest of steps to the 21 Steps To Broke. They go as follows:
13. Backing Up (I usually make sure i have this down before walking a trotting but i recommend before loping FOR SURE). Be sure to ask and release immediately once you get a response. Do not continueously pull back or you will piss a horse off very quickly. Releasing the bit pressure is the horses reward to build confidence and build a softer horse.
14. Loping For The 1st Time
15. Loping Circles & Straight Lines
16. Whoa! & Seat Stops. Now with this you already want to have a version of "whoa" down (ex. one rein stops) and this step is building on it and perfecting it.
17. Moving Shoulders Away From Rein Pressure
18. Hip & Shoulder Serpentines
19. Collection & Nose Softening- At Walk & Trot
20. Hip Ins & Lope Leads
21. Simple & Flying Leas Changes
I hope this helps those of you following my articles so you know whats to come! I will go in to detail with each step as we come to them. If anyooe ever has questions you can always leave a comment or , contact me personally through the form in the contact tab above.
Keep Calm and Ride On until next time,
NJ