Drifting the Hindquarters

Now, through the first three exercises, you should have some control of your horse's front and hindquarters and they should be starting to free up. This exercise is an extension of the last exercises, it will help get control of the hindquarters and keep your horse from anticipating and will help keep him waiting on you. The goal is to get the inside hind to reach up underneath and across so that the horses front and hindquarters will be moving on two different tracks- the horse's hindquarters will be drifting to the outside of the circle.

Now to get this done, you will start by leading the horse around you, like you learned in the last exercise. You will focus on the inside hindquarter as you will want to time your request with this foot. As the foot leaves the ground you will take your leading hand and move it across your chest towards the horse's hip. This should cause the horse to reach deeper with his inside hind across his outside hind and drift his hindquarters towards the outside of the circle, causing the horse to be moving on two different tracks. If you horse does not respond when you move your leading hand across your chest towards his hip, bump lightly on the lead rope, IN TIME WITH HIS INSIDE HINDQUARTER, until the foot breaks loose from its track and drifts out.

At first, you will only ask for a step or two, do not try to drift the hindquaters too many steps. Try to maintain a lively walk through this drift- if the horse starts to slow down or stop open back up and lead the horse out around you, then try again. Once this is going well, untrack the horse's hindquarters like you learned in the previous exercise, send the fronts through and work on the other side.

Best of Luck

Nick