Question: My 14 yr. old T'bred mare gets quick coming off a line of fences. If I stop her or try to back her up, she pitches a fit and gets even quicker the next line. She's also a dedicated corner cutter--usually after a straight line on course. Any suggestions?

Answer: The first thing you need to do is to calm the horse to the point where the animal can concentrate, rather than just run frantically from line to line. This will probably take some preliminary work on your part, such as making sure the horse is turned out for at least an hour every day and maybe even longeing before you ride each day. Having done these things, your chances of a calm horse over fences is greatly increased.

Once you are mounted, let the bulk of your work involve bending and transitions. Don't go around the ring even a single time without performing a bending movement and several transitions. This will set the horse up to be more obedient once the pace is increased.

When you jump, don't ride down a complete line to begin with, but rather jump low, single fences and pull up. (Note: Don't jump anything higher than two feet for this exercise.) Set the fences so that they can be jumped both ways; then work on jumping and pulling up from each direction. If this goes well, you can ride two fences on a line, then pull up at the end of each line. Since the fences are set so low, you may even want to add a stride during this exercise, just to make sure your horse will wait for your command rather than run down the lines.

Find a focal point at the end of the line and ride straight to it, not allowing the horse to cut in at all. You may need a pulley rein at first to keep your horse from turning the corner; but if you practice this over and over, the animal will soon become obedient and not require this emergency rein aid. Be sure your eyes are looking toward your focal point at all times, rather than becoming distracted by the horse's desire to cut in. If you stick to your plan in a calm, deliberate manner, your horse will eventually become more relaxed and obedient.