# Texas Rollback



## FlyinSoLow

No comment but WOW, do you do barrels also? 
I can't imagine how difficult it is for a horse who is trained in barrels to not circle around that one barrel haha :lol:.


----------



## kevinshorses

I never saw anything close to a rollback.


----------



## Thatgirlsacowboy

Me either. I'm slightly confused. Do you think you could give us a brief description of what you two are doing? That will help with critiquing. =) Your horse is gorgeous.


----------



## MacabreMikolaj

My positive critique would be to get some lessons before you bother with competitions. What you need to learn is not going to be learned on a forum. You could be a good rider, but whoever is pushing you into gaming being a good thing for a novice rider to be doing is quite frankly, a fool. You're not doing your horse any favours, and I'm sure you love him dearly, so why rush the competitions until you have it perfect at home?


----------



## ShutUpJoe

I'm confused to. I thought a rollback was a pivot finished with a trot or canter off.


----------



## farmpony84

I'm not sure what you were supposed to do to be honost, I thought he screwed up when he got to the barrel, was he supposed to do that? I don't think I've ever seen that class before. I think he's a cute horse and he definitely enjoy his job. I like that you are using a looser rein on him but I don't think you need to flop your arms like that to make him go. Your legs are a bit forward and your seat needs some work but you guys look like you had a lot of fun. He doesn't look like a hot head or anything, just a guy that loves his job....


----------



## SorrelHorse

Oh, I get it. 

Guys, it's a gymkhana pattern. Just like those odd ones differant saddle clubs come up with for speed events.


----------



## Citrus

Wow- so no one is even listening to the part where you said give nice critiques.... sorry about that OP.

I think your horse responds well when you ask it for speed.
Your horse is beautiful.
Sounds like you have at least one adoring fan- which makes you extremely lucky.

Stay in the horse business despite people on a forum not being able to read a question and follow instructions


----------



## MacabreMikolaj

Citrus said:


> Wow- so no one is even listening to the part where you said give nice critiques.... sorry about that OP.
> 
> I think your horse responds well when you ask it for speed.
> Your horse is beautiful.
> Sounds like you have at least one adoring fan- which makes you extremely lucky.
> 
> Stay in the horse business despite people on a forum not being able to read a question and follow instructions


Gushing about how beautiful her horse is is not a critique. Nor is it in any way helpful. A negative critique is telling someone "OMFG, you're a horrible rider, stop riding!" A positive critique is identifying the riders faults and giving suggestions to fix them. At this point, I don't believe she should be gaming as her position is not solid enough. I say this out of worry that she will get injured by not being able to properly ride at that speed.

Nobody is going to learn anything if all anybody ever did was gush about how amazing they are. Welcome to the real world. Your advice will not save lives.


----------



## wild_spot

^ You post in critique, you get a critique. If you want people to tell you how great you are, then you post in pictures. 'Nice critiques' don't work - Critique by nature is showing you things you did wrong, and not many people see that as nice.


----------



## Honeysuga

I agree, a positive critique is "here is what you are doing wrong, here is how you can fix it." Cut and dry. We are all grown ups here and can handle being told we are doing something wrong.

You are unbalanced and floppy in your seat, legs, and arms. Sit down, lower your stirrups, and relax your arms but keep them in control. Let the horse do his job don't go "gettin him" or "PULL PULLING" like the narrator is yelling to you. RElax, get in your seat and out of his way and you will be fine with more practice. Use your Legs when you ask him to turn, move his butt do not pull his head, it makes him shoulder in and lose his balance, let him push himself.

Good Luck!


----------



## smrobs

One thing that I noticed that nobody else has mentioned is that you are leaning into your turns too much. You should keep your body centered over his body and lean only as much as he leans. You are leaning way over before you ask for the turn and throwing him off balance. But that is another thing that would come from having a solid core and good seat. You need to work on getting your seat relaxed and secure and your core centered before you worry about speed. IMHO, you should be able to sit a trot and make it look good (no bouncing) before you move up to the lope, let alone asking for speed.


----------



## brighteyes08

I second that. 

some people just don't know the difference from constructed criticism and bashing.. how I just don't know. BUT what I do know is that someone isn't going to get any better at riding if no one is telling them if their doing something wrong!


----------



## Honeysuga

You second what exactly? No one is bashing her, they just aren't candy coating everything. If that is what she wanted she shouls have put "Candy coated critique please" for the title. As far as I can see everyone is being nice.


----------



## maura

Constructive criticism -

You lack both a following seat and a following arm at the lope and gallop. Improving both of these will improve both your speed and your accuracy and get you working with your horse. You know this already because you mention the bouncing and working on improving it. Best way to work on both is at slower speeds, preferably on a lunge line, with an instructor to help you understand both the mechanic's of the horse's movement, rhythm and how you can work with it. It is very hard to maintain a following seat at speed - you need to be rock solid at slower paces before attempting it at gaming speed. 

Your horse looks like a nice guy, willing and responsive who's capable of going to higher levels as you improve.

To Citrus - "nice critique" is an oxymoron. The dictionary meaning of critique is critical review or commentary, or a critical discussion of a specified topic. If you only want positive comments, you don't want a critique, you want fan mail.

The OP received some constructive criticism, none if it was mean-spirited, personal or harsh but it wasn't fan mail either.

I believe the OP was actually looking for a true critique, if she wasn't, she should have posted in the photos section rather than her.


----------



## Seahorseys

Isn't that a Texas rollback? It's so tight. Looks exhilarating!


----------



## kevinshorses

THAT^^^ was a roll back!! Notice the hindlegs pivoted where in the OP the horse basically did a U turn.


----------



## Spastic_Dove

Is that at game horse in Jersey? Piney Lane Farm or whatever?
If so, I ran there for like 3 years and LOVED it. 

Work on quieting your hands first. You didn't technically do a rollback (but most people doing games don't to be fair). If this is an event they run a lot, I would work at it slow. Teach your horse to actually turn and pivot around. It's going to save you a lot of time instead of just doing a little circle where he's going to drop his front end and break gait. Games are tons of fun though!


EDIT: Didn't see the second video before I posted. That is what you are looking for. Nice, balanced, and quick. Work at it from a walk where youre just pivoting around focusing on keeping yourself giving, centered, and quiet, and move up from there.


----------



## farmpony84

well if that's the case, then not really bad for a novice rider. I stand my by previous post though. Work on your seat (it needs to be much more solid), and don't flap the arms. You can't fix everythign at once. I feel like my original critique was "nice". The horse is really enjoying his job and could be good at it, but for the two of you to be a team, you've got to learn to ride him well.

You guys are cute.


----------



## Phantomcolt18

Thanks so much guys i think what i definately meant to say was constructive criticism not nice and thats definately what i got.you guys are AWESOME!! To answer a few questions...yes this is Piney Lane Farm and it's gaming so its all just for fun. Also Phantom was never trained to do a REAL rollback I have been working on his pivot over this winter and he seems to be getting it. He used to be an abused english lesson horse before i got him and all he knew how to do was trot with a rider on his back so i believe he's come pretty far these 4 years and he's 22yr old...i have too. As i said before i am working on my seat BIG TIME lol im doing alot of bareback, trotting, and lunge line work. Honeysuga about the narrator my friend i can never hear anything outside the arena as soon as i go in its like i shut everything out besides my horse and me i try to focus on him as much as possible. and to someone who said it he is DEFINATELY not a hot head lol and he enjoys his job its not really a job more of a partnership lol. Seahorseys I LOVED that rollback i totally wish i could do that thanks for posting it!! What are some exercises I could do to "quiet" my hands and i know i need to work on something with my legs i just cant figure out how to do it lol. I cant get an instructor kind of have no money right now.....As i said before the bouncing has gotten alot better ill try to find a vid but im leaving for a weekend vacation after i type this so i wont have it till tues. to those who said it thanks for saying phantom is gorgeous or pretty not what i was asking for but it brightened my day lol. So any exercises to help with my hands and my legs would be great!!! thanks again guys!!


----------



## Honeysuga

Find a person to be with you when you ride. Have them watch you and tell them what they are looking for. In your case it is wiggly legs and hands. Have them tell you when youare doing it as you ride and then take a few seconds to think and focus on what it feels like when you are wiggly. It will take a little bit, but eventually you will learn to feel when you are moving and when you are nice and relaxed and have a solid seat and legs.

LOWER YOUR STIRRUPS lol, get your heels down and your legs with quiet down quite a bit, stretch into your stirrups press your butt into that saddle. Make sure to stretch your legs out really well before you get on so you can stretch into your stirrups properly until you learn to do it all of the time.


----------



## RadHenry09

I know what a Rollback is but I have never seen a Texas Rollback gaming class before. That is interesting , maybe something to add to the 4H fun shows....

Is this something that is pretty popular at gaming shows?


----------



## PaintsPwn

RadHenry - I've never seen or heard of the class before and I've attended several gaming shows - both fun and rated.


----------



## Phantomcolt18

Honeysuga said:


> Find a person to be with you when you ride. Have them watch you and tell them what they are looking for. In your case it is wiggly legs and hands. Have them tell you when youare doing it as you ride and then take a few seconds to think and focus on what it feels like when you are wiggly. It will take a little bit, but eventually you will learn to feel when you are moving and when you are nice and relaxed and have a solid seat and legs.
> 
> LOWER YOUR STIRRUPS lol, get your heels down and your legs with quiet down quite a bit, stretch into your stirrups press your butt into that saddle. Make sure to stretch your legs out really well before you get on so you can stretch into your stirrups properly until you learn to do it all of the time.


 
thanks i am definately going to try this. I feel like an idot cause i've been riding for about 9 years and NO ONE has told me any of this thank god for this forum!!!


----------



## Honeysuga

No problem, glad to help. I know how it feels, I have been riding since I could sit a saddle and had to pretty much learn everything on my own.

The best way to learn the technical stuff is to just read up and read some more, you can never get to much knowledge and the more you read the more you will find conflicting opinions and be able to decide for your self what is right and wrong and what you want to do and it will help you make your own path to horsemanship. After you read you need to just get out there and into the saddle as often as you can and on as many horses as you can and practice. You need to get out of a nice level sandy arena and onto some trails and near traffic and everything to get that real sense of what your horse is capable of and what he is afraid of, this will help you by leaps and bounds. To me reading is the foundation though, once you have that knowledge you can build on it by practice and hone your skills as a rider and horseman.

The more knowledge on horses biopsychosocial behaviors and systems, the more you can really understand what makes them tick and the best way to approach riding and training each individual horse.

Sorry for the novel.


----------



## Phantomcolt18

no problem i read almost everything i could lol....now i watch a lot of the good/nice riders at my shows who know what they're doing . i also go on youtube and watch pro trainers to try and get some info. a lot of people(my non-horse friends in particular) don't think riding horses is hard work but it really is...but it's totally worth it.


----------



## bethsone

your pony is very cute' i think your lucky to have such an honest Gelding!!! they are few and far between and worth there weight in gold. Good luck with the gaming i loved games when i was younger!


----------



## Gidji

You've gotten some pretty awesome critiques from the people above, but I don't think anyone pointed this out out.
At the end of the pattern when you were trying to bring him down to a trot, you leant back _really far. _I couldn't see if you were pulling on him to make him stop, but the leaning back made me think that. Try working on stopping at a work and a trot and instead of leaning back, deepen your seat and say "Woah". If necessary, move the reins slightly back, but don't tug on his mouth.

Good luck, he seems like a cute boy and he looked like he enjoyed himself


----------



## Phantomcolt18

thanks for that advice : ) but when i lean back i am not pulling on his mouth he slows down basically as soon as i start leaning back and the only reason i use the reins is to turn him. i don't want to just straight stop him(tried that and he stumbled so i deemed for him it wasnt safe) so we turn to stops instead i lean back to slow him and use the reins to turn him...he's always been like that since i got him 4 1/2 years ago thats also why during the pattern to slow him i lean back before a turn because thats how he slows down i dont want to pull on the reins because he has a very soft mouth. And he did have a good time as you could see at the end he was prancing and getting a little too nutty for my liking (i dont want him to be a hot head) he's allowed to get excited though but thats why i took him around the edge of the arena again to calm him before we walk out...he knows he not allowed to run through the shoot. such a good boy lol (sorry i dote on him a lot)


----------



## Phantomcolt18

hey here is a more recent video i just made it up for youtube the reason i put a song to it is because the wind sounds HORRIBLE in the normal video that was from october this is from the end of december....have i improved at all?

***i know my toes are down phantom and i were just doing a lazy day of trotting and walking. Also i know it looks like my legs are swinging but im just bumping him a bit to keep him up as i said we had a very very lazy day lol


----------



## Honeysuga

Use your feet on his sides to maneuver him around he cones, dont rely on your reins and you will get smoother turns. He is a cute boy!


----------



## Phantomcolt18

thanks and okay i will definately try that...he never really worked off of my legs to turn before but leaning always seemed to help but i have been told i "overlean" i guess i need to fix that lol.


----------



## farmpony84

I love you guys. I think you are a perfect match.


----------



## Phantomcolt18

haha thanks and the funny thing is he chose me. he was with my friend for a year and they never clicked then she noticed after my third time riding him that he would leave his hay to watch me walk around and follow me and "talk" to me so that december she gave him to me for my birthday......BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER!!!! and i've had him 4 years now


----------



## Honeysuga

Aww, how serendipitous.


----------



## Phantomcolt18

exactly its destiny .....abused horse finds loving girl and they learn together and live happily ever after forever.....i wish it was forever.


----------



## Honeysuga

Why wouldn't it be forever?


----------



## Phantomcolt18

he's not gonna be here forever...and almost every time i ride him i end up crying afterwards because i know that at any second anything could happen to him and he wont be there i know i will never have another horse as sweet, willing, or unique as him.....it really stinks.....my friend says it's reality and she said that with each horse it gets alittle easier.....i think i doubt that very much.:-| i know i shouldnt think into the future but thats what happens when i get bored lol and i think to much...i should really focus on the now.


----------



## farmpony84

He's only 22. Take care of him and he'll stick around as long as he can. My walking horse was in his 30s when he died. I have a QH that is 26 this month...

Don't give up on him!


----------



## Phantomcolt18

Of course i'll never give up on him : D ....he's spoiled lol but not to the point where he knows he is and is pushy about it. ; )


----------



## shermanismybaby3006

Citrus said:


> Wow- so no one is even listening to the part where you said give nice critiques.... sorry about that OP.
> 
> I think your horse responds well when you ask it for speed.
> Your horse is beautiful.
> Sounds like you have at least one adoring fan- which makes you extremely lucky.
> 
> Stay in the horse business despite people on a forum not being able to read a question and follow instructions


When you post pictures or videos and ask for a critique in the critique section you are asking for people's opinions. If you are too sensitive then the critique section probably isnt for you. They arent trying to bash her they are trying to help her and give her advice. Taking the advice and putting it to good use is her choice.


----------



## shermanismybaby3006

Phantomcolt18 said:


> haha thanks and the funny thing is he chose me. he was with my friend for a year and they never clicked then she noticed after my third time riding him that he would leave his hay to watch me walk around and follow me and "talk" to me so that december she gave him to me for my birthday......BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER!!!! and i've had him 4 years now


 
Thats so adorable!=) i agree u guys make a perfect match!


----------

