[LRHenneman]

Originally Posted by Blondehorse

Now you've got me curious. Why can Arabians run through it but not other breeds?

I was told by an Arabian breeder that they can run through this kind of stop. I actually used it with an Arabian to rate his speed when he wasn't listening. It worked really well with him. But, I didn't have to stop him. He might have run through it as he's the most balanced horse I've ever ridden.

Actually, come to think of it--Arabians are the only horses I've ever seen who can run with their heads straight up in the air. Don't think I've ever seen it with another breed. I never asked the breeder why she felt the way she did. Just accepted it. Figured she knew.

[Rowdy_Sandi]

Originally Posted by Blondehorse

Now you've got me curious. Why can Arabians run through it but not other breeds?

I think she's referring to the fact that most arabians have naturally high head-sets, amongst other breeds. Arabians were just her example. If you are pulling their head up as she was taught, a horse with a naturally high head-set could keep running, and run through the pull of the rein.
However, if you use the pulley rein correctly and pull back and up, a horse could not run through it very easily, unless of course the horse had a mouth of steel.

[Blondehorse]

Originally Posted by LRHenneman

I was told by an Arabian breeder that they can run through this kind of stop. I actually used it with an Arabian to rate his speed when he wasn't listening. It worked really well with him. But, I didn't have to stop him. He might have run through it as he's the most balanced horse I've ever ridden.

Actually, come to think of it--Arabians are the only horses I've ever seen who can run with their heads straight up in the air. Don't think I've ever seen it with another breed. I never asked the breeder why she felt the way she did. Just accepted it. Figured she knew.

Huh, that's interesting. Maybe it has something to do with how their heads are set onto their necks differently than other horses?

I've never used that kind of a stop on my own Arabian, but then, if she ever ran away I would probably fall off in shock before I could use any kind of stop!

[Bruce Wiley]

Hi MelissaH, its similar to the Cavalry's old technique of stopping a horse and maintainning straightness in the horse's movement.

All of these types of techniques would need an experienced teacher to guide and teach the person on how to apply the stop, for all emergency stops comes with the risk of applying it wrong and could cause a sudden reaction from the horse.

I hope this insight helps.

[MuleyGirl]

This really is not a difficult maneuver to learn- practice it a couple of times at the walk, then trot, then canter, and I bet you will have it down. Just make sure to release immediately when they stop, since this is a bit harsh, and you don't want the horse to think possibly about rearing at that point. I use both this and the one rein stop, depending on the situation. It definitely gets their attention.

[meljean]

Well, guess I am going to be the one wearing the ugly hat, as ex MIL used to say.

I would not feel comfortable using this with a run away, and if you look at where on video horse lurches to a stop, I too feel the potential for horse rearing is very high; you already have head cranked up, the horses momentum is on near front, then rapidly on near hind, and horse appears to bounce from it. At very least, it would appear horse could flip to near side, *#* over teakettle, as grandmother would have said.

And, I have seen horses in the so called "entertainment" of the Wild Horse Races, where the horses are scared anyway, in an arena, and cowboys are trying to catch them to ride, be at full run and suddenly rear and flip to get away, and the horse ended up with a broken neck, and died there in the old American Royal Arena, in KC, MO. And I had a horse that could graze at a gallop, and don't think that wasn't interesting, when horse's head shoots down, and pulls up tall grass to chew on. Never saw another one that could do it, but she sure could.

Anytime with a horse, if you think something could never happen, there is someone who can say "oh yes it does," because it has happened to them.

That said, I also don't like the one rein stop. And the potential for abuse with heavy hands, is great, as bars of horse's mouth can be broken. I have through years, seen so many folks, take decent training techniques, and through their ignorance and stupidity, end up brutalizing the horses they think they are training.

What I have used, is what was taught by father, many many years ago, and this was used on horses bolting both from, "No I don't want to" temper tantrums, thinking they could scare me, or from horse bolting in fear. On none of these occasions, was the horse trained in "emergency stop techniques". And the horses stopped, just fine, did not go down, came under control, and I was not unseated.

I first gave horse opportunity to stop, by give and release of rein pressure, and see-sawing of reins, to keep horse from getting neck set against my hands. When I saw that horse was not listening, then simultaneously shot one hand forward, while taking up on the other rein, and keeping that hand low, and bringing head around to knee. I would keep shortening up on turning rein at the same time. I have done this both in gradual circles, and shorter ones, depending on area in, just depended on circumstances.

Have also urged horse on, if not fear bolt, as horse hates thinking anything is your idea to make them work harder.

Anything that works is fine I guess, the only thing that worries me about these stopping techniques, is the emphasis on "teaching horse" to use them, and that has the potential to make people think that a horse can't be stopped in an emergency situation unless it has been "taught".

Main thing is to get stopped, no one killed or injured

[Gutter_Doll]

I'm with meljean with this. I've also seen all horses - ponies, thoroughbreds, hacks.. run away with their noses straight in the air.
If someone more of an armature used this, they'd be likely to throw their weight back and put a lot of energy (therefore emotion) into the stop, resulting in pulling entirely too hard, not getting the hand position right, not releasing at the right time, getting 'angry' at the horse, and all that bad stuff. Of course, that won't happen to everyone, but I'm sure you have all seen it happen with the basics.
The other thing I didn't like, which you really MUST have (in my mind) is the horse sticks its nose out, IS leaning on her hands and pulling against the rein, and she releases when he's like that. I really didn't like that.
The one rein stop, also as meljean said, on a bolting horse should not be just pulled around. It's a gradual thing to get them thinking over a period of seconds, slowed down a bit and THEN stopped. If you reef, especially on a horse that can't do it at a stand still, walk, jog, lope.. well, that's how they get movie horses to fall.

[SWRerider]

I was taught this over 30 years ago, and it has worked for me (tho I have not een riding all those years), especially with OTTBs. Knowing I have it gave (past tense) me the confidence to field gallop TB's. I have rarely used it, but did last week to control my paint who was terrified by a pig, wanted to lose it. Remember the left rein is short and your haand also has a handful of mane to stabilize it- too short for comfort for the horse. I slide my hand up the right rein by grabbing it in my mane-and-rein hand, to get it so short the horse has to stop. This way the horse is pulling against itself.
If the horse rears, you are not doing it correctly. As with all signals, you release the pressure when he stops.
The reason it looked so bad was that that the horse was not actaully running away- and you do not want to practice more than a couple of times.
I have tried and tried the one rein stop, but it relies on training- and in an emergency the horses brain has disengaged and they are obviously already ignoring their training. The pulley stop is mechanical.
If you do not want to affect your horse with practice- at least remember to keep it in your bag of tricks- and you should not need to use it often. It is not a substitute for training- it is for emergencies only.You should not be riding a horse who needs it often, IMHO.

[Rummymuffin]

It's interesting to me that when I first started riding, this was how you stopped your horse in an emergency. There was no such thing as the one rein stop, or at least, it hadn't become as popular as it is now. Maybe western riders have been doing it a lot longer and english riders only picked up on it in the last ten years, I don't know.

I find cranking my horse's head to the side when I'm galloping cross-country to be a poor idea. If you have ever been truly bolted with by an ex-racehorse, or similarly-built TB type of animal, you know that the head goes down, the body levels out and you are in the next county. Turning is pretty difficult to do if you can't get their heads up first, and see-sawing doesn't have much effect either if they are bearing down. Just my experience.

[Jim_in_PA]

Pulley rein is taught at our barn.