Everybody that attempts to train a cow horse has overdone the flag and made their horse sour or ended up pulling their horse around for an hour to no avail. Why the hell do we do it and for what reason? When was the last time you started your ride with the intent of teaching your horse something specific and important? To remedy this I’ve put together a kick ass training plan template that is adaptable to any kind of cow horse sport. All you’ll need to do is follow the guide and adapt it to your chosen discipline.

For this exercise I’d like to implant in your brain the burger analogy. What the hell does a burger have to do with training a horse you say? Everything, you just don’t know it yet.

A good burger and a good day of training is set out like this:

• The top bun- Warm up
• Lettuce – Fundamentals
• Tomato- Dry work that mimics the main exercise
• Burger – The main exercise for the day
• Special sauce- The quit
• The bottom bun- Cool down

The top Bun / Warm up

“You don’t see a lion warm up before it chases a gazelle”. Correct but a Lion doesn’t have to carry my fat ass around for the next half an hour.

Failing to warm up a horse is one thing that everybody is guilty of at times, but for how expensive and hard to come by these horses are becoming we need to be doing everything we can to ensure that they are looked after adequately. This means a good warm up.

A good warm up for me is a 5 minute jog around the paddock or arena on a loose rain and some flexing and bending work it doesn’t need to be any more complicated then that.

Lettuce/ Fundamentals

There are a few exercises that each cow horse sport has as their fundamentals or every day tasks. This is the chance to get all of those out of the way and continue to solidify them. For a Campdraft horse for instance this might look like some big fast circles into small slow circles or doing some flexion and bending exercises. For a cutting horse it might be some turns or hind end loading exercises.

Tomato / Dry work that mimics the main exercise

Sometimes my girlfriend Kaylee throws out the tomato because she doesn’t think it adds anything to the burger. As such, sometimes this stage isn’t needed as you have already covered the main parts in your fundamentals. However when this is needed is when you are doing wet work or a fast paced exercise that we are trying to perfect. In short there is no point pulling your horse into the ground when working a cow because they aren’t hitting their stops. You should have been a big grown up and ate your tomato, it’s good for you! Address it early if you expect it to be a problem.

Burger / The main exercise

Time for the fun bit. Remember when I said you should always have a goal in mind for each ride? Well this is where we address it.

It doesn’t matter what you’re doing whether it be chasing buffalo, working the flag or cattle, practicing your spins or sliding stops or teaching your horse to lay down. You must have an idea in your mind what you want to achieve for the day. Try and make every ride an educational experience for your horse and be realistic with you’re expectations.

Pro tip: Don’t do the same main exercise more than 3 days in a row, it’s a sure way to get yourself a sour horse.

The special sauce / The Quit

So often people get themselves worked up in the main exercise to the point they have had 10 possible quit moments go by and they’ve been too caught up in the moment to realise it. The most important part of the burger is the special sauce, and thus the most important part of our ride is the quit. If you can consistently train your horse to a pre chosen 1% gain in your main exercise for the day, then quit the instant it happens you will always continue to improve.

The bottom bun / Cool down

Like the top bun, the bottom bun often gets overlooked but without them the whole burger falls apart. A proper cool down looks like: a loose rain walk for 2-5 minutes to bring the heart rate down and chill out.

Pro tip: Don’t start addressing any small problems in this time if you can avoid it, it can spiral out of control very quickly and you’ll end up doing damage or negating the 1% you worked so hard for.

Notes

Structuring a ride is one small thing that we as riders can control 100% of. It would be silly of us to neglect such a strong advantage in a sport that is ruled primarily by a number of brain’s that we have little to no control over. Even without the previously stated advantage it can also bring a sense of purpose and achievement back into our every day rides.

So next time your kicking yourself for fighting with your horse for too long, maybe you’ll have a burger with your next ride.