by Roxanne Sapergia
In parts one and two of this article series, world-renowned cow horse trainer Lyn Anderson gave us advice on staying safe and thinking throughout our runs in both the boxing and fence portions.
With advice on positioning, speed, correct turns, and control, all of you cow horse enthusiasts out there should now be able to easily pull off marks of 73 or 74!
However, the circling maneuver, is where a great run can start to loose some of its content and quickly lower your score. So, in this month’s final article, Anderson shares her thoughts on circling up and improving that score.
Over the past two issues you may have noticed that the word “position” keeps coming up over and over, and of course, positioning is, again, going to make or break your circling, so that is where Anderson starts. As she explains how to set up your cow to take it off the fence, she takes a moment to review the fence turns.
“After you have made your first turn down the long wall you want to drive your cow two-thirds of the way back down the wall for your second turn. After you have made your second turn, you should, once again, drive your cow back down the wall to approximately the middle of the wall to turn it and begin to make your circles.”
However Anderson quickly points out, “If you have a hard-running, crazy cow, there is no point in taking it to the middle until it is a little more worn down. You have to be sure you don’t waste your horse’s energy trying to catch a hard-running cow. You have to read your cow and know your horse to successfully circle and keep your run content up. If you have too much cow, set it up, and turn it again.”
An important factor when circling is knowing your horse and his limitations. “Some horses can circle really fast and really well, while others struggle to go fast. If your horse is struggling, the judge is going to see that and your run content will go way down and your whole run will suffer.”
Anderson reviews a few important points to keep in mind as you start your circling: “Usually you want your first circle to be the same way as your last turn. As an example, if your last turn was to the right you should try to make your first circle to the right.
“If your cow won’t come off of the fence, you should hesitate just a moment and this will help to encourage it to come off the wall. If it still won’t come off the wall, you may have to go ahead and make another turn to drive it off the wall.
“Sometimes, though, you just get a cow that simply will not come off the wall and there is really not much you can do about it. If you have tried a number of different things and nothing seems to be working, about the only thing you can do is back off and give it some space, and this may encourage it to move off of the wall.
“This type of situation is where your homework really comes in handy. If you work on these types of problems at home, on different types of cattle, you will not only know what works, but you will also have the confidence you need to remedy the problem in a show situation.”
Another problem that may come up is if you are not in the middle of the pen when you begin to circle and your cow decides to make a quick beeline for the out gate. Cattle know where they have come in, and much of the time the rest of the cattle are being held close to this gate. Therefore, it’s important that you position your horse so that he has the advantage and can control the cow and begin the circle. Anderson points out that, “If you don’t get to the head of the cow and turn it away from the fence, you will really struggle circling against the end fence.
“Try to point the cow away from the out gate before you start circling and remember to make sure that the cow is facing away from the out gate or any wall before you switch directions.”
Sometimes it can be very difficult to determine where you began your circle (because your eyes are always on the cow, right?!) and Anderson explains things from a judge’s point of view:
“You may think you circled 360 degrees, but the judge may not agree, so sometimes it doesn’t hurt to go a circle and a half on your first circle and then switch. This way, the judge will whistle you off when he thinks you’re done and you are sure to have completed the maneuver.” Anderson continues, “If you have circled in what you think is both directions and you don’t hear a whistle you may need to go back and circle your original side and circle up that way once more because there are times when the judge may not have thought you made a good enough effort on the first side.”
Position is key in the circling, so much so that if a rider starts to circle and they are too far back it becomes a catch up game that is hard to win. Anderson explains where she likes to position her horse when circling: “The ideal position is to be up close to the shoulder and the head, encouraging the cow to continue to move. On an average type of cow, the horse’s shoulder should basically be between the cow’s shoulder and its ear. If the cow is still moving and you are at its rib cage, that may be as far as you need to go. If the cow is running hard, that might work.” If you are having trouble catching up, Anderson says that she would like to see you keep going and moving up towards the shoulder to show the judge that you have exhibited control of the cow.
There are basically two spots where people get into trouble when circling. “First of all we see a person who decides to circle when they suddenly realized they have way too much cow and don’t stand a chance of catching it, so they have to take it back to the fence and turn it again,” says Anderson. “Although this will lower your run content it is much better than having your horse try to circle a cow that is not ready to circle, because this will really bring down your run content.
“The other trouble spot is when a rider decides to switch sides and the cow gets back to the wall and sticks there. Knowing where you are in the pen and reading your cow may help to keep you out of these problem areas.”
As always Anderson is concerned with the safety of horse and rider, and through many years of watching cow horse runs, she recognizes that one of the most dangerous spots in the whole run can be when a rider switches sides when circling.
Cringing, she explains, “Someone who is trying to make up points doesn’t always leave enough room for the hind end to clear their horse’s legs.
“When you get in a hurry and you clip the back end of the cow it is a major penalty. It could result in the fall of your horse or could result in knocking down the cow. Neither of these options is very good, so remember that it only takes a very small amount of time to make sure your safe and that your horse will clear that back end of the cow before you switch sides.”
Another problem Anderson faces as a coach is correct leads. Unlike the fence run, when circling, your horse needs to be on the lead in the direction it is going. As an example, if the horse is circling to the right it needs to be on the right lead.
A common problem she sees is a horse dropping a hind lead. “The rider really needs to concentrate on keeping the horse’s hind end driven up underneath them,” she says.
“Many people get up and over the top of their horse’s neck as they are trying to ride really hard to the head and that will just kick that hind lead out. The rider needs to sit back and drive the horse under himself and make his job easier.”
Occasionally you will get a cow that has had enough of the game you are playing and sometimes novice riders make the mistake of having too much enthusiasm. “Once you have circled your first way, often a cow will just stop and stand or move slightly. Novice riders often will gallop around and around the cow and “old bossy” will just stand there with a bewildered look on her face not really knowing what is going on.
“This is where the rider has to calm down, slow down, and regroup. Usually, it’s a case of the rider having too much momentum, and it’s the cow that needs to get moving again.
“Starting at the tail of the cow, drive in and get the cow to show your horse a little respect. As you do, it will begin to move, and then you can move into the correct position at the shoulder.
At this point, if you go and make a big old move again the cow will probably just stop again or will duck back to the inside of your horse and you won’t get your circle.”
Depending how things have gone, as you finish your last circle and hear the sound of the judge’s whistle, you will either be overwhelmed with gratitude to be able to exit the pen with pride and dignity, or just plain glad you survived the wrath of the cow gods!
“Either way, hopefully you will have had fun, learned something new, laughed at yourself with everyone else, and be encouraged to continue to harass your coach and make your horse’s life more interesting.”
I would like to thank Lyn Anderson for taking the time to share her expertise with us and in Anderson’s own words to all of you: “Good luck, be safe, and we’ll see you down the fence!”
Lyn Anderson and her husband Ken live in California where Lyn is a full-time trainer and coach. An NRCHA judge, she operates Lyn Anderson Training Stables where she specializes in training both working cow horses, and Non-pro riders.
A fierce competitor, she has to her credit shown several world champions, a NRCHA stakes champion, a Hackamore Classic champion and has made five NRCHA supreme champions.
A regular fixture in the top ten of the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity standings, the name Lyn Anderson is ranked among the best in the world. A highly respected trainer and clinician, she is a natural-born teacher who makes learning fun, and through hard work and encouragement, produces results in students of which they didn’t realize they were capable.
Anderson’s coaching style employs humour and hard work and all of her clinic participants have enjoyed and advanced after a weekend at her “Boot Camp for Cow Horse Riders!” Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in one of her upcoming clinics.
For more information, please contact Roxanne Sapergia at (403) 995-6508 or email rocky1@telus planet.net. Lyn Anderson also has an excellent series of videos produced by Galloping Video, available by phone at (541) 476-4849 or visit www.gallopingvideo.com.
