# Showmanship



## Horse_Chick (Mar 27, 2008)

Hi

Just a quick question ( i feel dumb asking this but) How do you teach a horse to pivot on it hind for showmanship???

Thanks
XX


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

You walk into him. You walk towards his shoulder from the front... well, not the front, you walk into him at an angel. He should move away from you because he should respect your space. Sometimes you have to swat him with your lead rope and no it doesnt hurt, to get him to move away.


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## mlkarel2010 (Jan 27, 2008)

farmpony84 said:


> You walk into him. You walk towards his shoulder from the front... well, not the front, you walk into him at an angel. He should move away from you because he should respect your space. Sometimes you have to swat him with your lead rope and no it doesnt hurt, to get him to move away.


exactly, sometimes use your finger tips to move his shoulder as well


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## irunbarrels (Jun 15, 2008)

I use a slightly different approach. I begin by backing him, then turning towards him. In order for a horse to back, he has to engage his hind end. It's almost the same as teaching a horse to stop on his hind end, spin, or complete rollbacks. I find horses tend to pick up quicker this way.


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## mlkarel2010 (Jan 27, 2008)

irunbarrels said:


> I use a slightly different approach. I begin by backing him, then turning towards him. In order for a horse to back, he has to engage his hind end. It's almost the same as teaching a horse to stop on his hind end, spin, or complete rollbacks. I find horses tend to pick up quicker this way.


i do that too, that way they know not to move forward when spinning


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## Horse_Chick (Mar 27, 2008)

Thanks every one.
I have tried that she does it some times but she pivots on her wrong leg (nearside as for showmanship they need to pivot to the right)(offside hind) how do i stop that???
Other times i try to walk into her and put pressure on her halter and she will just bend her head and not move her feet???

Thanks again
XX


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## sandsarita (Jan 20, 2008)

This is how I train them for pivots, and it has always worked for me.


For a pivot to the right the inside (right) hind foot stays planted and the left front foot crosses over the right. For a pivot to the left (legal to 1/4 turn) the feet are reversed. 

The first thing to remember when pivoting is that it is a forward momentum movement. You don't back into it - you'll put the horse on the wrong hind foot, which is a major fault in the class. 

To start I put the lead in my left hand and use my right hand where the neck ties into the shoulder. I start by asking for 1-2 steps, walking in towards their head and using my right hand to push that shoulder away from me. After that one to two steps I stop and either walk them forward or let them stand. As your horse gets the idea you can gradully add steps on the front end until you are going all the way around. 

Once your horse is crossing over well and staying straight take away your right hand. I often have that hand ready to slap the shoulder if they start to bend or aren't moving away from my body. 

The hardest part for me is learning the correct balance of forward motion and backwards motion. It's tough, but remember it is slightly forward but not enough to walk away. If you're not sure, always aim for forward. 

After a while, all you will have to do is be in the correct position (hands stay normal - right hand near the chain left hand holding the excess) and start walking towards them and you have a pivot! 

Let me know if you have any questions. I know this was probably confusing, and best of luck! Keep us posted on your progress


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## Angel_Leaguer (Jun 13, 2008)

sandsarita said:


> This is how I train them for pivots, and it has always worked for me.
> 
> 
> For a pivot to the right the inside (right) hind foot stays planted and the left front foot crosses over the right. For a pivot to the left (legal to 1/4 turn) the feet are reversed.
> ...


what do you do when your horse just wont move?? I have been trying to get April to do showmanship and have never had a horse this non sensitive. I will walk into her neck holding her head to avoid her bending at the neck and I will slap/poke (used a blunt spur and she didnt even notice, and I wasnt light about it either) the shoulder and nothing. I have even thrown my body into her shoulder thinking that she would get the idea of crosing her front feet and nothing. I have tried slapping with the rope and then she will get jumping on the front (wont full rear but jumps) but wont move over. she walks, trots, backs, sets-up, but wont move her shoulder over for me. 

Not sure if this makes sense but im lost in what to do...Ive never had this many problems with a horse before


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## sandsarita (Jan 20, 2008)

Hmm, I'll have to think about this for a bit. But the first thing that comes to mind is to start out walking her in a large circle, and slowly make that circle smaller. I would use my right hand to try to keep her as straight as I could while I was walking those smaller circles. Try to get her to cross over by a small amount while walking. Maybe that will help get her unstuck. Don't expect much, though, at first. If I got one cross over step, I would immediately go back to a larger circle where she didn't have to cross over. Just small amounts at a time.

Also, can you pull her to you and make her cross over? Just thinking out loud here, but what if you had her set up, stepped away from her and into a spot on the expected track she/you would take, and then slowly take up the slack in the lead, and then give a hard pull to bring her towards you, hopefully getting her to move her front end over. Maybe doing this to the right and left.

Another thing - do you have a place to free lunge her at? If you do, I would get her going nicely to the left, and then make her rollback away from the center (into the rail) and come back out the other side. I'm thinking that if you can get her to stop and get away from your body while doing that, it might help some with the showmanship.

The only other advice is that I would not be afraid to get tough with her (to your ability, and not beating her, of course). It already sounds like you are, and it sounds like you are starting to get her attention some when you are slapping her with the rope. Maybe try a dressage whip, and as long as you can stay safe, get after her and the second you get her to move ONE step away from your body with her front end, even if her back end also moves, or she doesn't really cross over, just moves away, reward her like crazy (lower the whip, walk up to her and talk, rub all over her, and just let her know she was a good girl). 

To me, it sounds like she isn't respecting your personal space. If she stepped on your foot, would you be able to move her off of it?

Sorry for the rambling. Maybe you can get an idea from here.


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## Horse_Chick (Mar 27, 2008)

Angel_Leaguer said:


> sandsarita said:
> 
> 
> > This is how I train them for pivots, and it has always worked for me.
> ...


Thats what my horse is doing too almost exactly even lifting in the front.LOL Is yours a filly/mare??? LOL

XX


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