# Teaching a reining horse to do team penning



## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I would think you'd probably have a pretty good go of it as a team penning horse as long as he gets along with the cows....


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

I don't see why it would be a problem. Reining would probably be the best training foundation you could get for a cowhorse that I can really think of.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Agreed. All I would do is maybe slap him on a flag (Or a friend  ) a little bit. Then play with the cows.

Of course I don't ever really "Train" for team penning because I only compete for fun, not for anything serious. But I suppose its cheating for me because my horses are mostly reined cowhorses 

The foundation is perfect. Just point him in the direction you want to go!


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I guess for me the biggest thing would be teaching him to power forward out of his turns/rollbacks and to be prepared to turn again straight away. But agree with others, a good foundation as he should already be very maneuverable.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

I've done my fair share of penning and sorting. A reiner should have the basics for the fast turns, stop & go, and be light in the bridle. I've used reiners before but the one extra ingredient they need to have if you are doing it more then just to have some fun, is that they are cowy.

If your horse could care less about a cow then you will be having to direct him all the time which will slow you down considerably. Turn him loose with a small herd and watch him. He'll tell you if he is interested. I do that with each horse I will use for sorting. The other reason I do it is because some horses are afraid at first, especially when they are bumped by a cow or one runs at them. I would rather have them sort it out before I step in the saddle and a cow tries to run over him.


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## nrhareiner (Jan 11, 2009)

There is no reason why a well trained finished reiner should have any problems teem penning. All my reiners double up in reined cow horse and do very very well with it with no extra training. It is all about how well the horse will listen and follow your directions. You will find out how well a horse is trained by putting them on cattle.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

iridehorses said:


> The other reason I do it is because some horses are afraid at first, especially when they are bumped by a cow or one runs at them. I would rather have them sort it out before I step in the saddle and a cow tries to run over him.


I take it you don't own cattle.

I would NOT turn a horse out with the cattle. The horse can become agressive and do a lot of damage. With cattle prices what they are right now, no way I'd risk my calves.

In our area roughing cattle is taken very seriously.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

No, unfortunately. What I'll do is to take them to a friend's place and put her the pen with ~10 cows. I'll go in and move the cows - not get them stirred up but moved from one side to the other so that that my horse will have to react to them surrounding her. Then I'll get on and move the cows from her back.

As for roughing them up, no more so then at a penning or sorting.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

iridehorses said:


> No, unfortunately. What I'll do is to take them to a friend's place and put her the pen with ~10 cows. I'll go in and move the cows - not get them stirred up but moved from one side to the other so that that my horse will have to react to them surrounding her. Then I'll get on and move the cows from her back.
> 
> As for roughing them up, no more so then at a penning or sorting.


If you are riding, you can control the horses reaction to the cattle. If they become to aggressive, you can pull them back. There is no opportunity for that if the horse is loose in the pen with the cattle. 

I have some photos of my horse looking as if he is going to tear the calf apart but he's been trained to know that his teeth at no time can contact the cattle during a run.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

This is not something I do on a regular basis. It is what I do the first time she is on cattle. I've have a horse nearly come up and over on me due to getting bumped for the first time so that is what I do. It's worked for me for over 15 years and I've never injured a cow.


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## nrhareiner (Jan 11, 2009)

I do not even worry about the horse being scared of the cattle. A well trained horse will still work the cattle no matter what. Most great cutters at one time are scared of cattle.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

One little note, if the horse is truly afraid of cattle (I've rode a few that were), ride them in with some cattle that are soft and well broke to horses...cattle that are really easy to drive but don't have big erratic movements. If you spend a few minutes just letting the horse walk around behind the cattle, then trot along behind the cattle, then walk through the middle of the herd, they normally stop being afraid.


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