BRYAN NEUBERT

By Jan Young

Colt Starting

The first hour, Bryan worked in the round pen with a mustang stud colt that he had started working with the day before. The colt was haltered and a man sitting on the fence held the end of the rope while Bryan worked him back and forth a little from horseback with his flag. Then he dropped a loop from his lass rope and picked up a hind foot. The other man got in the round pen and held the halter rope. Bryan let the rope run loosely on his horn. He never pulled him; he said he was looking for the horse to find the pressure and create his own release by giving to it. (The day before, he had done this on foot.) He wanted the horse to get so that he could have his feet handled, and so that if he ever got in wire, he might stand a chance of not getting himself all cut up. Then he took the halter rope himself, brought the colt close to his horse, and touched him all over with his hand and with the rope. He wanted the colt to also get used to having someone above him. He touched him with his stirrup and moved his leg up and down so that the fringe on his chinks moved and made noise. Then on foot, he got close to the colt and threw the end of the halter rope all over him until he accepted it pretty well. He used a loop of the halter rope to pick up each foot and hold it. He petted the horse all over. He continually stressed that you look for and reward the slightest try, like leaning before moving, rewarding meaning instant and complete release of pressure. He said it's better to err in the direction of rewarding instead of missing a release when the horse makes a slight change. By the time they finished, the colt was pretty satisfied with the human.

The rest of the morning session was a continuation of the colt starting class. Nine saddled colts were turned loose in a small arena, and Bryan flagged them around from on horseback. Then each rider haltered his colt and worked it a little with the rope, putting the rope around the hindquarters and letting the horse come around off the pressure. He had them put a toe in the stirrup and stand up, petting the horse and letting it come to a complete stop if it moved. He frequently said, not to do anything he asks them to do if it doesn't seem safe.

Then they all went to the round pen and mounted. Some of the riders said they had already sat on their colts at home. Almost all seemed quite gentle, and had obviously had a lot of preliminary work done at home before the clinic. First Bryan had them take the colt's head around with the halter rope and pet its face.

Then he asked them to just sit on their horses with a loose rope while he moved them around with his flag from on horseback. Several keep holding the rope tightly and had to be reminded to keep it slack. He suggested that the hand holding the slack rope also hold onto the horn, while the other hand hold onto the cantle. He mentioned how handy a Cheyenne roll is, to hold onto. That way, if the colt squirted, as he said, they would have a firmer seat and not be tempted to pull on the rope and confuse the colt. With that many horses in the round pen, the ones that did squirt couldn't go far.

One actually bucked a little, and the rider semi-fell off and reached for the fence to pull herself off. Bryan got after her for that, and told them NOT to go for the fence if that happened. He said that is a good way to get kicked.

He said it was OK to pull up on the rope a little to support the horse, if they thought it was going to buck, but not to really pull. It was OK because they were riding with only one rein, so to speak. But you would never want to pull on a green colt with two reins.

He had them flip their ropes over the horse's head so that they were hanging to the inside, and they worked that way for a while. Then he had everyone get off and tie the end of the halter rope to the halter to form makeshift reins. He stressed that if the colt jumps or bucks, ONLY PULL ON ONE REIN. When they got back on, first they pulled the colt's heads to each side and petted their faces. A few had some trouble doing that, as some colts resisted or started throwing their heads. Some pulled too hard and upset their colts. Bryan said, don't pull like you're starting a chain saw. Some colts wouldn`t bring their heads very far around, and when the rider tried to reach across with the non-rope hand and pet the face, it was awkward. Bryan said to set the non-rope hand on the horse's neck, and when the head came around, just put the rope into the other hand on the neck, then reach to pet with the hand on the same side.

Here, and all through the day, some of the things Bryan suggested were real obvious and common-sense, and were already being done by some riders, but the greener riders needed lots of reminding and repetition. Bryan was always very tactful and polite. He never put anyone down, even if someone was completely failing to follow directions.

With everyone using the halter rope reins, Bryan used his flag to break the colts into just a few trotting steps. He said, always be ready to shorten the inside rein if things started to get out of hand. He continually stressed only pulling on one rein, but about half the riders continued to pull with both.

Then he had them take the inside rein out to the side to change direction. Again they stopped and practiced taking the head around smoothly and petting. Then he had everyone get off and check their cinches for tightening, or reposition their saddles if necessary. He said when tightening the cinch on a green horse, to lead ahead a couple of steps before getting on, they have a tendency to tighten up and want to buck. Asking them to move a little helps them to relax again. Then it's safer to get on.

Again he had them stop their horses and take one rein to bring the colt`s head around. This time he added lift the rein a little to encourage the hindquarters to step over. Give slack as soon as they move. One colt wouldn't step over. Bryan said to just hold the rein and wait, maybe add a slight pressure with the leg on same side as the rein that was held. The colt still didn't move. Bryan rode over and used his flag to encourage the colt to move, and he finally stepped over.

Then Bryan moved from the center of the pen a little closer to the fence, holding his flag out and shaking it gently. He asked everyone to try to ride their colts between him and the fence. Some had trouble, and he had them just circle around and try again letting their colt get in right behind another horse to give it confidence. Some colts squirted through; most riders wanted to pull with two reins.

Again they stopped and pulled heads around and moved hindquarters over. Some pulled jerky, many didn't release

soon enough. This would cause the colts to resist, get excited, or throw their heads. Some were getting a receptive reaction and some got a rejectlive reaction, Bryan said another problem some people had was holding the reins improperly. Bryan wanted their hand so the thumb was up, but several had it backwards, with the thumb out and toward the horse's head. I heard one helpful spectator say it's like holding a dagger. Bryan said that when you hold it right, then when you want to turn, you just have to rotate your fist, and you get the rein out there another four inches. It was obvious that some of these techniques were completely new and foreign to some of the riders and with all the other new things they were dealing with, they were having a hard time getting everything to work for them.

The colts had been worked for quite a while by this time, and they just sat and petted their horses for a time and let them soak while Bryan talked. He suggested trying to rub back and forth and up and down on their sides with your feet in the stirrups, to get them so they don't squirt when you do that.

Then Bryan had them go between him and the fence again, with an added distraction. He had a boy outside the pen hold a saddle blanket over one rail of the fence and wiggle it around. Getting the colts to accept these kinds of things would help them to deal with various distractions they would face when these people started riding their colts back home.

He split the group in half, and had each half circle in a different direction, to help the colt start to look more to the rider for support instead of the other horses he had been following. The last thing they did was to put on their snaffles and ride just a little in them. He gave them the choice of still using the halter reins and just letting the horse pack the bit or using the snaffle reins. Again he stressed the importance of never pulling on both reins. Unfortunately, some people continued to pull with both reins whenever their colt made an unexpected move. Few were really able to just go with their horse and use one rein to support him until he slowed back down.

Horsemanship

After the lunch break was the horsemanship class. There were seven riders plus Bryan and his wife Patty. He started by taking questions from the riders. First he demonstrated on his horse by riding without his reins, how to get turns from pressure by using legs and spurs. He said he usually rides with spurs but not to get the horse to move forward or to increase speed. For forward movement he uses the sides of his stirrups or a quirt or tail of rope over the horse's rump. He uses spurs to back up leg pressure to get left and right movements of the front and hind quarters, or to stop one end while moving the other end around it.

The next question was about inside and outside leg pressure. Bryan said that inside leg back works better to bring a horse around into a turn than outside leg forward, although for a long time he had done it the other way. He demonstrated the use of both legs having the horse move on the diagonal, or what may be called a leg yield. The horse is pointed straight ahead, but as he moves ahead, he travels on a diagonal line to one side.

Another question had to do with horses having difficulty leaving a group of other horses. Bryan talked about being aware of magnets; things that strongly attract a horse's attention and make him want to go in that direction, like other horses, cows the barn, etc.

Then they began to work on getting their horses to give to leg pressure. Bryan asked them to try to move the horse's front quarters a step to the right, from a standstill, without going forward. He stressed that when you are asking your horse to do something that is new to him, only ask him to do one step. If you ask for only one step, you will give him slack as soon as he does it, and he finds that relief from the pressure you exerted and he learns from that release that he did the right thing. But if you start by asking for several steps in a row, you don't let up when he takes the first step, and he has no way of knowing that he has done the right thing, so he has no way of knowing if he should try the same thing again or try something different. Facing a fence when you first ask him to step his front quarters over will help him not to go forward. Bryan said you don't push the horse through a door you want him to go through; you just shut all the other doors.

Then they practiced walking on diagonals. They crossed the arena, staying square to the fence, moving on the diagonal then racing straight toward the fence, then on the diagonal, then straight again. They were to slightly bend or arc the horse's body toward the side they were coming from. Bryan's terminology was to keep the horse hollow on that side. He said to make sure you can do it at a walk before you try it at a trot. He said many riders don't understand the value of doing these

kinds of things or don't care so they don't do it. But working on the fine responses of left and right of how you line up the horse, are the building blocks of everything else you want to do with your horse like turning around.

Bryan said that some people question whether pulling on a horse is consistent with natural horsemanship. How much pulling is OK? He said the acceptable amount is somewhere between pulling too much and not pulling enough. Actually, you should not be pulling on him; you let him pull or root on you. When he quits rooting, he will find the reward, which is the release of the pressure.

Then they worked on backing straight and backing in circles. ln backing, he said to slightly draw on the reins and then release at each step. When backing and asking the horse to move his front foot sideways, you need to ask when the foot is not bearing weight. Ask at the peak of the lift. That means you have to get ready just before that point. As it lifts, ask him to reach it to the side. Backing in circles will help you to be able to back straight, because it is developing control over the horse's feet and both quarters.

Most riders were looking down at their horse's heads or feet while working on backing, causing them to lean forward or hunch over. Bryan did not; he was always looking up and out in front of him.

When demonstrating backing or turning and he wanted more life in the three-year-old roan colt he was riding, Bryan would put him into a lively lope for a circle or two, then stop him and try it again with more life. He said it got his heart pumping, and was better on a green colt than ramming and jamming him while trying to get the maneuver.

Bryan said that people think you have to put in a lot of time on a green horse to get him going good. He said it's more a matter of making better use of the time you do put in. For example, while his horse is standing there Bryan is always doing some little thing with him. Without even having to move his horse's feet he might ask for his horse's attention or ask for a soft feel. He also does many small movements like applying pressure to get the front or hind end to move over a step or two, go back, and go forward, back in a circle.

He told a good story about working cattle that illustrated this idea. One day he was helping to hold herd and he took a colt that he had just got on the day before for the first time. Holding herd mostly involved lots of standing around. They started working cattle on the other side of the herd from Bryan and he used all that time to do those very things on this colt. By the time they started working his side of the herd, he had the colt moving pretty good and was able to even help a little. At the end of the day, the cowboys were told that the next day they were just going to drive cattle, so go ahead and bring a green colt if you wanted.

Then they worked a little while on changing speeds within gaits, and changing gaits with a soft feel. This could be regulated by keeping the legs close. Then he directed them to stop, get a soft feel, back, soft feel, forward, soft feel, forward then back without stopping, etc.

Next they worked a few cows, or small calves actually. One calf was let into the arena and they took turns following it around. Once the horse was shown the calf, he was given more rein to see if he'd follow on his own. He was allowed enough rein to even reach out and nip at it, which built interest on the horse's part. If he lost the calf or wanted to return to the other horses, he was made to work back and forth across the arena until he found the calf again. This makes the wrong thing harder and the right thing easier.

Bryan encouraged the riders to be doing little things with their horses while waiting for their turn. Some riders did quite a bit, especially one girl who Bryan really complimented for the big change she was getting in her horse. There was a small log at one side of the arena, and he showed them how they could be using it to practice sidepassing. If they positioned their horse over the log at an angle, they could also practice two-tracking. Instead of starting the horse from the end of the log, he asked them to step the horse over it with just the front feet and make him stop without stepping the hind feet over it too.

Next they worked cows out of the herd. About 10 small calves were let in. Bryan demonstrated on several calves. After he split a calf out of the herd, his horse was to keep the calf from rejoining it. The horse was to stay parallel with the calf. When the calf turned, the horse was to turn toward the calf, never away from it, and he was to turn on his hocks, with a slightly backing turn, never a forward moving turn. The horse was always to stay hollow on the side toward the calf; he said you should be able to see the horse's eye on the side the calf is on. Almost like a banana lying on the table. He said not to worry if the calf got by and returned to the herd, not to push the horse to get it. At this early stage of learning, it's not worth it to sacrifice the horse's frame of mind. Working cows is great for a horse or a green colt because it's interesting and it gives him a reason for the things we ask of him.

Some horses and riders did better than others. Some found it hard to hollow their horse, and to get the backward motion while turning over the hocks. They wanted to run around in little circles to make the turn. This could have been because these horses didn't have a good concept of giving their weight back, yielding left and right, and responding to different aids for the front and hind quarters. Or it could have been because these concepts were new to the riders, who didn't know how to effectively ask their horses for these moves. Or both. Bryan very patiently talked each rider through, coaching every move. He is certainly to be commended for his patient, polite manner, even with those who just weren't getting it. He was also very quick to compliment the slightest try, just as he told everyone to do with their horses. Everyone got to work several calves.

The last thing Bryan did was to work with one girl whose horse wanted to buck whenever it started to lope. He wanted her to lope the horse a bit, so first he asked her it she felt it would be safe. The horse had already exhibited some of this behavior, and the bucking was not serious, more like hippy-hopping. She said she thought it would be OK, ad she was willing to give it a go. He felt that the horse had learned that the bucking would cause the rider to immediately back off on her request for the lope, and the horse had learned to manipulate the rider. She agreed, saying she knew she didn't have the upper hand with her horse. So every time the horse started to hump up, he told her to pull up its head to make it harder to buck, and to put it right back in a lope, so the horse learned that this behavior did not bring release of pressure. After a few circles, the bucking got less, and as soon as she made one good circle, Bryan told her to stop and pet the horse, let him soak. Rest, or release of pressure, followed good behavior, not bad behavior. They did this a few more times, and in 10 minutes, the bucking had ceased. Another related problem was that the rider had trouble keeping the horse in a circle; Bryan told her to be more definite in what she was asking the horse to do. The more definite she got, the softer the horse got. It was great to see the change and the happy rider at the end.

Overall, there were lots of positive changes made in both riders and horses, with a minimum of commotion. Bryan presented himself in a quiet, professional manner.