Coke Bottle Turns

Judy

Hey Judy,

In your description of the problem, I see one red flag right away. My guess is that you are using too much rein in the turn. When we make a turn using the rein, two things will generally happen:

1. Watch a horse turn around in the pasture, he will nearly always keep his body pretty straight as he makes the turn. When we pull the horse's head around to make a turn, we place him in an unnatural position so we cause unnatural things to happen. If we over bend the horse, his natural desire will be to get into a straighter and more natural position. Therefore he will step with the hind legs to straighten his body and this results in a Coke Bottle turn, or a turn in the middle.

2. Too much rein in a turn or at any time will cause a horse to lift their head and pull on the rein to relieve the pressure. As he lifts his head and stretches his neck, his back will drop. This hollow back is the opposite of collection. When collection is lost, the hocks tend to move behind the horse instead of under him. If you want to turn your horse on the hocks, there must be collection.

So, here is my suggestion. You must learn to turn your horse without the rein or with very little rein. I try to think of the rein as a tool to establish and maintain shape in my horse's body. I do not use them to move my horse. Let me make this clear, except for cases of emergency of discipline, I do not use the reins to move my horse... Ever.

I teach turnarounds by taking the following steps:

1. I lift the rein just enough to get a nice collected arch in the neck and pole. Collection established here will tend to continue through the back to the hocks.

2. I will then bump the inside rein just enough so that I can see the corner of the inside eye, then I will release the rein.

3. I will then bring spur pressure in a press release, press release fashion until the until the horse plants his hind legs and steps in the direction I desire with the front legs. Until the horse does what I am asking for, the pressure will continue. While I am waiting for the correct response, I will carefully watch the head. If, at any time, I loose sight of the inside eye, I will bump his mouth with the inside rein to reestablish the shape I desire.

Lets look at this approach from the horse's point of view. He is not being forced to do a thing. Because I am not forcing and bending him, unnatural and ugly turnarounds are generally not a problem. At first, the horse will not know what I am asking for so he may walk, back, or push into my leg. I just continue the press release, press release with my spur and the bump bump with the rein when necessary and let him search for the answer.

Eventually, he will plant his hind feet and move away from my spur. When he does, I will exhale, drop my hands, and let my legs hang softly at his sides. For a minimum of thirty seconds, I will sit there quietly and rub his neck while he soaks in the lesson.

Once he understands, simply bumping the nose to the inside and applying a little outside leg will result in a clean and correct turnaround. These turnarounds are generally correct because the rider is out of the horse's way and never forcing a bad body position.

Good luck.

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