Master
The Circles-Dell Hendricks Shows You How
Keeping things simple is what top trainer Dell Hendricks does with his
reining horses. He believes that less is more. The less you confuse the
horse, the more he'll learn. Dell keeps his training program simple and
to the point so any horse can understand, and by the way, any rider can
too.
The first thing Dell teaches his horses, young or old, is how to circle
correctly. Nothing in his training program is as important to him as the
circle. So why should you care if your horse can perform a round or "excellent"
circle, as defined by the National Reining Association?
Simple. It's often been said that the circle is the basis for everything
in reining, and since reining is the perfection of riding basics, knowing
how to achieve an excellent circle improves your horsemanship skills,
no matter what sport or style of riding your involved in.
To put it simply, in a circle, the horse should be between the rider's
reins, not leaning on one rein or the other. A horse who leans on the
rein isn't guiding well, and the whole point of reining is that the horse
be "willingly guided", according to the NRHA rule book.
When the horse is between the reins, it shows he's under complete control
of the rider. And isn't what we want in our horses?
Dell's program for circles is an uncomplicated one: He simply insists
that the horse stay in the circle. Here's how he does it.
FROM DAY ONE
It all begins with neck reining.
"From day one, I teach my horses (Those two years and older) to guide
off a neck rein, not to direct a rein," says the multiple NRHA Futurity
finalist.
Many traditional training programs for Western horses begin with teaching
the direct rein, in which the horse learns to follow the direction of
the pull on the reins. After a year or so, the horse then graduates to
the neck rein. A period of confusion usually results when the horse is
expected to forget and adopt a new system; one in which he's supposed
to turn when he feels the weight of the rein across his neck.
"I do that," Dell says emphatically. "From the first day, I lay a neck
rein on the horse until he turns. It's real important that my horse understands
that my hand is the steering wheel. Whenever I tell my horse to turn,
it's always with my hand," he adds.
Dell doesn't use leg pressure to ask a horse to turn, either. He says
his legs are the accelerator, and mixing up hands and legs only confuse
the horse.
Also, leg pressure might cause the horse to lean into your leg, rather
than move away, because it's natural for horses to move into pressure.
They have to be taught to move away from it.
So what does Dell do when the horse doesn't respond to the rein pressure?
He just keeps it up until the horse does turn, then he immediately releases
the pressure. He uses only as much pressure as necessary to get the horse
to move away from the rein.
A common response to neck reining, at least in the beginning, is for the
horse to tip his nose or head to the outside, rather than the inside.
This has nothing to do with the horse's face, Dell says. The horse is
actually blocking the rider with is shoulders.
So Dell works to get control of the shoulders. He holds both reins, fairly
low and about the same width as the horses shoulders. With equal pressure
(as much pres- sure on the outside rein as on the inside rein), he holds
the horse's head straight and applies pressure on the neck until the horse
turns in the direction he wants.
For example, to get a horse to turn to the left, he holds both reins to
straighten the horse's head and neck, and moves both of his hands simultaneously
to the left. The neck rein (or right rein ) comes across the right side
of the horse's neck, while Dell's left hand with the left rein moves the
same distance to the left.
"Pretend there's a bar connecting your hands," ex plains Dell. "They shouldn't
get closer or farther apart."
What the horse learns is that the release from the pressure, not the pressure
itself, Dell contends. That's why it's so important that when the horse
gives to the pressure, the rider releases immediately. Over time, the
horse's response will get lighter and lighter, and he'll truly neck rein.
LET HIM MAKE A MISTAKE
To begin the guiding program, Dell puts the horse into a circle and turns
him loose, meaning he give slack in the rein. It doesn't matter what gait
they're in; it can be walk, trot, or lope. Most horses want to leave the
circle, he says. They just move away out of it.
"When my horse leaves the circle," Dell says, "I let him make the mistake,
then I steer him back to the center point of the circle, not back to the
path I want him to be on, but all the way back to the epic enter of the
circle. Then I put my hand down on his neck and give him a chance to find
the perimeter again, and then stay in the circle. I do this to get the
horse to respond to my hand more. I call the center of the circle my focal
point, and that's where I want my horse's mind to be, so I keep steering
him to that point."
Before long, Dell says, the horse starts "hunting" the circle, as reiners
are fond of saying. When the horse locks into that point, his mind is
on the center of the circle and he'll physically go around that point
just as if he were on a string tied to the center of the circle.
"After we find the center of the circle I'll turn the horse loose again
and let him make a mistake," Dell continues. "If he leaves again, I steer
him back to the center.
"I like to think of the horse as a little kid who wants to touch a hot
stove," Dell tells the story. "Little Johnny's mother repeatedly tells
him not to touch it. As long as his mother is around and keeps telling
him that, little Johnny doesn't learn. But one day, when she turns her
back, little Johnny touches that hot stove and burns himself. He had to
learn on his own. And horses are the same way.
"I have to let a horse leave the circle; that's his mistake," offers Dell,
"Then I correct him and turn him loose a gain. A horse can learn only
from his mistakes."
Dell's daily training sessions begin with him putting his horses on the
circle. Some times that's the only thing he gets done that day. He won't
move on to the turn- around, lead change, or any other phase of training,
until he has the horse performing proper circles first, because he knows
that if the horse is learning in the circle, he's not between the reins,
and it'll affect everything else he does.
INSIDE EYE
According to Dell, the horse's body in the circle should be almost straight.
He wants to see only the corner of the inside eye since the horse's head
should be turned slightly to the inside of the circle
When locked in a circle, the horse is going to naturally want to look
where he's going, Dell says and the steering drill teaches him to do just
that
From the withers back, however, the horse's body must be absolutely straight,
Dell maintains. His hip shouldn’t be to the inside of the neck bent toward
the inside. Otherwise, he'll be out of balance.
The horse that runs a circle with his head tilted to the outside is probably
leaning on the inside rein. Dell says, and has dropped his inside shoulder
toward the center. He's not moving straight between the reins.
The rider generally causes this problem by trying to hold the horse's
shoulders up in the circle with his inside rein and inside leg Then, when
he releases them, the horse drops his shoulder and leans into the inside
of the circle. It's all a matter of balance.
"I make my horse circle on his own, so he learns to balance himself."
Dell ex- plains. "He's going to find out it's hard to circle with his
head to the outside. It's un- comfortable for him."
An uncomfortable horse won't be relaxed, he says. A relaxed horse will
drop his neck and carry it level with his withers. A fresh or anxious
horse, on the other hand, keeps his neck high and rigid. A tense horse
will also speed up in some parts of the circle and slow down in others.
Where he speeds up is where he'll probably leave the circle.
So you let him leave, Dell says, then steer him back to the center. That
way, you're not pulling on him; you just keep putting his mind back in
one spot. In time, he'll relax and move evenly around the circle.
Once the horse is traveling calmly and correctly, Dell picks up the rein
slightly and brings them back to his body, asking the horse to give at
the poll. He develops collection in the horse this way, which, in turn,
helps with other maneuvers, such as turnarounds, lead changes, stops,
and the back-up.
In working on the horse's head position, Dell often finds that, when he
puts his hand down to allow the horse to find the circle, on his own,
the horse tries to leave the circle before. When that happens, Dell forgets
about the head position, and returns to the circle drill. He goes back
and forth between the two exercises, until the horse carries his head
correctly and maintains his position in the circle.
NO SHORTCUTS IN THE SHOW RING
"If you do your circle homework at home, you won't have trouble with circles
in the show pen. The biggest mistake riders make is using an aspirin for
a brain tumor. Instead of doing surgery on it at home and fixing the problem,
they want a quick fix in the show pen, and there aren't any."
-Dell Hendricks
SIZE DOESN'T MATTER
The size of the circle doesn't matter as much as its shape. It's best
to have the circle balanced to the size of the area you're riding in;
but you can vary the circumference.
"You should be able to put the horse in any size circle you want," exclaims
Dell. "You just keep telling him that size until he stays in it. When
he leaves the path of the size of circle you want , you simply put him
back to the middle of that circle.
"A horse can draw a circle a lot better that I can with a free hand, so
I make him find it," says the trainer.
Dell starts off his circle drills slowly, of course, and doesn't add speed
to the program until a horse is performing correct circles consistently.
"When I can get on a horse, lock him into a circle quickly, and he stays
relaxed and gives in the poll easily, then I start adding speed" reports
Dell. "I usually find at that point that I need to push the horse to run
faster. But that the secret to speed control: having to push. When I quit
pushing, the horse slows down. Now, I have him under total control."
Dell accomplishes speed with leg pressure. He uses only as much as it
takes for the speed he wants. He immediately ceases with his legs as soon
as the horse accelerates.
"Another benefit to the circle program is that it takes the resistance
out of the horse. Once you do that, you have a trained horse, so no matter
what you do, it's going to be easier to do it."
Dell Hendricks
THE REST OF HIS LIFE
With this program, you should see improvement says the seasoned reiner.
You're going to see drastic improvements the first 2 or 3 days.
"But you're going to to have to do the circle drill the rest of the horse's
life," states Dell. It's in the horse's nature to test you every time.
"Just remember to keep things uncomplicated," concludes Dell.
DELL HENDRICKS
Dell Hendricks has been a professional trainer for only the past 8 years,
and in that time has rocketed to show-ring stardom at warp speed. His
major wins have placed him on the NRHA's top-rider lists, and also serves
on the organization's board and as chairman of the Professional Trainers
Committee.
Dell & Terri Hendricks
14974 E. FM 922 Tioga, TX 76271
940-437-5157 - Barn | 940-437-5167 - Fax | 940-372-0259 - Dell's cell
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