Training horse is like trying to solve a puzzle with thousands of pieces. Over time, we slowly put the pieces together, but sometimes there is one particular piece we are searching for to complete the picture. Once we find that piece, everything seems to come together.

The same is true for our training. One piece that solves a lot of puzzles is the concept of slowing your hands down.

Slowing your hands down helps your horse pick up on the feel of your body before you apply pressure on the reins. When you are too quick with your hands, that pressure in your horse’s mouth seemingly comes out of nowhere. This can cause your horse to flip into a reactive state of mind. When your horse anticipates that pressure, it braces on the bit and elevates its head.

The concept of slowing your hands down has proven effective in both the barrel racing and roping events. In the barrels, for example, you are going to the first barrel at 25-30mph. When you are traveling at faster speeds, it is human nature for your adrenaline to increase as your speed increases. When you have an adrenaline rush, your movements are more powerful than you think they are. This is why it is so important to move first with your body and then with your hands. When you give your horses that extra split second to figure out the response you are asking for, they build confidence.

The act of slowing your hands down is often a matter of recreating muscle memory. Overcoming incorrect muscle memory is a constant battle. Once we’ve become comfortable doing things in an incorrect way, it can take a minimum of 60 days to change that muscle memory.

It is foolish to think that a habit can be recreated within 5-10 repetitions—whether it is a horse’s habit or our own. Retraining your own muscle memory to send consistent signals is the first step to helping your horse create better habits. Correct repetitions create good habits.