by Roxanne Sapergia
Last month, Lyn Anderson shared her thoughts on show strategy and the boxing portion of the reined cow horse fence run. This month, we are going to discuss the real deal, the place where the “rubber meets the mat,” sort of speak. Only in our case it is the place where steel plates meet dirt and the only thing between the rider and the dirt is his trusty mount, the ever-loyal cow horse!
After 25 years of teaching non-pro riders how to stay safe in the pen, Anderson has learned that safety of the horse and rider are of the utmost importance. Knowing this can be a very dangerous sport, Anderson reminds us all to remember to always ride smart and safe. With that in mind, she begins our training session.
“When people first start out they are timid and they stay too far away from the cow,” says Anderson. “This has the makings of a pretty ugly fence turn and, from a rider’s point of view, a very hard turn to ride. Then, after a while they get some confidence and start to ride too close to the cow.
“If your boot is touching the cow going down the wall you are definitely too close! It can be a very dangerous situation and it can be very difficult to pull your horse off of a cow if it turns in front of your horse. The cow can easily trip your horse and horse and rider will go end over end and nobody wants to see that happen.”
Experience brings forth aggression in a rider and aggression is fine as long as it is what Anderson refers to as “controlled aggression.”
“Novice riders need to learn to channel their aggression so that they have the ability to realize when they are overdoing it and may need to make the decision to move away from the cow, or stop if suddenly the cow ducks in front of the horse. A person who is just plain aggressive may keep kicking and get in a major wreck.”
While last month we left at the point of leaving the box even if it wasn’t exactly your idea, this month Anderson shows us how to amaze the crowd and “wow” the judge. In order to set your cow up correctly, once again, she stresses that position is the key to success.
“When you are finished boxing, it is important that you start your drive from at least the middle of the boxing wall. Ideally you should drive your cow across the wall, stop it, turn it, and begin to drive it across and around the corner to begin your fencing.
“This is a much more secure position to start from. If you start out in the corner, your horse will be facing the opposite direction from the cow and you will soon lose control of the cow and it now has the advantage over your horse.”
According to Anderson, position is the single, most important thing you can learn. “You can only learn this by hours of galloping and rating a lot of different cattle. That exercise will also help you to learn to read a cow and understand where they are going,” she adds.
As you come out of the corner to start down the fence, Anderson explains her method of focusing on the cow’s hip. “Aim for the hip and drive that cow out of the corner, keep driving that cow along the wall and slowly move to a straight line from the hip to the shoulder position.
“When going down the fence, you want to be far enough away so that your horse can get by, stop, and turn the cow in a safe and controlled manner. In this position you will create a very pretty turn.
“As you turn, you should be close enough to reach out and give the cow a quick rub on the head.” However, at this point, she smiles and reminds us that, “In order to do that you need to have a really good horse and a really good cow!”
One problem that Anderson sees continually is people having not learned how to get by the cow, stop it, and turn it in a controlled manner. Emphasizing the importance of control, she points out that: “The turn should be a very gradual process from when your horse is at the shoulder to when you go by to stop and make your turn.
“People tend to start kicking and spurring in the last 20 to 30 ft. before they get to the end of the arena instead of learning to just ease by. If the cow is going 15 mph, you want to nudge your horse by at 16 mph. Keeping this in mind will create perfect turns, and your horse will be a show horse way longer.”
Anderson explains that if you have been watching the classes before you and you recognize that the cattle don’t seem to have much head, you may want to ease by a little further before you initiate the turn. “Don’t let you horse shoulder in and don’t let him try to turn too soon,” she says. “A cow like this will ignore your horse and just keep right on going. If this happens, you may need to get your horse back off of the cow, go straight in, and make your turn again.”
When setting up her first turn, Anderson says that the first run should be as long as possible. “Set up your second turn about two-thirds of the way back down the arena, then circle from there. If I know I have too much cow to take into the middle after the second turn, I will drive the cow back towards the centre marker and take a third turn here.”
The National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) rules require that the rider make at least one turn each direction, but remember that there is no rule against turning as many times as you want to, or need to, providing you have enough cow left to circle.
Smiling, Anderson says: “Two turns are great if you have the horse and the cow that is going to make it work, but not all horses can circle a fast cow. Some horses can circle really well fast while another may really struggle to circle at a fast pace.
“If the horse is struggling to catch the cow the judge will see that and your run content will go way down. However, a cow that is wild and crazy may need to have some air taken out of it so go ahead and set it up to take four turns if you have to. Five turns is maybe a little too much, but if you really have to, go ahead.”
Ideally, the best fence run is when your cow is on the wall and your horse is right beside it and everything works out just as planned. But, surprise, it doesn’t always work out this way, so be prepared to handle a situation where you begin your run down and suddenly the cow stops one-third of the way down the pen, or you lose control of it in the box and it is now 20 to 30 ft. off of the fence.
Anderson explains that this is where controlled aggression and confidence come into the game.
“You have to have enough confidence in your horse’s ability to ride up there and encourage that cow to return to the fence. Depending on where I am, I will make a line and get up there by the shoulder so that the cow can see me and will move away from my horse.
“However, if I have gotten down to the last 20 ft. of the pen, I will need to make a turn out in the middle of the arena.
“So this is where I will move up almost like I am circling and get to the head, get that cow stopped, and have it move away from me. I will stop my horse and get back over to the outside of the cow and try to hold it back on the fence for a second turn.”
When making this type of a turn, commonly referred to as an “open field turn” Anderson explains that you have to change your mindset. “A turn in the middle of the pen that is 20 to 30 ft. off the wall is really not a fence turn. This is where I will think ‘boxing turn.’
“A true fence turn is when a horse stops and turns simultaneously, while a boxing turn is when a horse comes to a complete stop and then rolls back over its hocks, and if you change your thinking process you can successfully get that cow turned in the middle of the pen.”
Another maneuver that is commonly used in the fence run is “the loop.” Anderson explains that the loop is used when you turn your cow at the far end of the arena for your first turn and the cow pops off the fence.
Quick thinking can easily help your run content stay up in the 70s. In order to execute the loop, the rider will position him/herself at the cow’s hip and drive it back up towards the end wall and set it back up as though you were coming out of the box.
And, of course, Anderson laughs, “You will be in the correct position to keep the cow on the wall to set up your second turn.”
And lastly, one more typical problem that riders come up against is the dreaded fence hangup that happens when your horse goes by a cow and is too close to make the turn or the horse refuses to turn. “A hangup occurs when the horse runs too far by the cow and continues to run down the wall often stopping with their head over the fence,” says Anderson.
“Usually, he has shouldered in, froze up, and refused to turn. Now, as your cow turns and goes the opposite direction, your horse is facing directly away from the cow. Although a three-point penalty, this can be corrected without taking a score “0” when you ‘turn tail.’ ”
Anderson explains that a “turn tail” occurs when the rider gives up or “weenies out” as she calls it, and turns his horse into the arena to continue to go after the cow. Always keep in mind that if you are going left and down the fence and your cow turns and goes right you must turn the same direction as your cow.
“A hangup can be difficult to correct on a bridle horse, but if you soften your hand and use your outside leg to encourage him to turn, you can get it done. “It is, however, much easier to correct on a snaffle bit or hackamore horse because you can encourage the turn by using one hand to “pull” him off of the fence and continue the run down.”
So, now that we have discussed the fence turns and a few of the many challenges you can come up against during the fence run we are ready to finish off the run with a couple of awesome circles!
We will look forward to next month as we finish up part three of our cow horse clinic with world-renowned cow horse trainer Lyn Anderson.
