Teaching Rollbacks

teaching rollbacks, outside the turn, ride outside the turn, rollbacks

Teaching Rollbacks is one of the best ways to get good shoulder control on your horses. Shoulder control is at the top of my list when it comes to making a solid, honest barrel horse. Recently, I shared a video on my IGTV about removing the brace from your horse, and rollbacks are another great […]

Let’s Talk Rein Length

let's talk rein length, horse training, reins, release

Let’s talk rein length, shall we? To me, rein length is really important. When we’re training a horse, we are, or should be, teaching them to search for the release. We do it with our feet, and even with our seat, so why do most barrel racers not do it with their reins?

Collection: Part Four

collection part 4, outside the turn, a properly collected horse, ride outside the turn, horse training

Today we’ll wrap up this video series on the basics of collection. I hope you’ve all found it helpful in your journey with your horses. In case you missed them, here’s part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Getting on From the Fence

getting on from the fence, horsemanship, outside the turn, ride outside the turn

Getting on from the fence is a handy trick to have in your arsenal. It’s one of the most important things I believe we can teach our horses to do.

Collection: Part Three

collection part three, outside the turn, ride outside the turn

We’re covering more ground in our series on collection today! A couple things to note — in the video below: Cosmo wasn’t perfect with her lateral flexions. We are still working on those, and eventually they’ll become just right. But I won’t pick at her, because that will ruin all the try this mare has. […]

Life Lessons from the Horse

life lessons from the horse

This mare here, I’ve never picked at her. Never ever. Ever never. She can do no wrong.I’ve never said a negative word about her.She’s been my pride and joy since she was born. And you know what I’ve learned from never saying anything negative about her? The relationship is pure. It’s unadulterated. It’s honest. I’ve […]

Collection: Part Two

collection, collected horse, chris dickinson photography, collection and elevation

In our continuing series on creating a collected horse, the next thing we need to talk about is how to carry what the horse is learning on the ground to the saddle. Below, in the video, I get on Luna and show you how collection begins to look from their back. Make note that there’s […]

My Warm-Up

the warm-up, renae cowley, barrel racing, outside the turn, south dakota cowgirl photography

Keep in mind, you only have about 10 minutes of quality time to train at the lope. Due to this, I do most of my softening work at the walk.

Collection: A series

collection a series

Over the course of the next four weeks, I’m going to share with you, the basics of collection. This series will show you where I start, and how I progress. As we delve further into collection, I’ll show you how this relates to the barrel pattern. I need to start by saying this: I believe […]

Choosing a Horse Trainer

When choosing a horse trainer the options can be endless. With this article, I aim to help you decide what’s important to you, what’s important to your horse, and highlight some things you will want to look for to find a good fit for you. There are a lot of handy horsemen in this world […]