Horse Training is Feel Timing Balance

Q: What's "feel" in practical terms?

Per Richard Winters: feel is the rider's ability to recognize subtle changes in the horse's body—when he's resisting pressure, when he's softening, when he's about to spook. Riders with feel adjust before the horse explodes; riders without feel react after he does. It's developed through hours of conscious riding, not taught in a single lesson.

Q: Why does timing matter so much in stops?

Per Richard Winters: a horse stops with one hind foot planting first—saying "whoa" at the wrong moment in the stride either misses the stop entirely or invites a hollow stop without true engagement. Correct timing aligns the cue with the horse's natural movement window.

Q: How is rider balance related to horse balance?

Per Richard Winters: an unbalanced rider forces the horse to compensate with his own body, often pulling out of stops or coming up off his hocks. A balanced rider stays out of the horse's way, letting him execute the maneuver as trained. Sloppy seat = hollow stop, every time.

Q: Can feel, timing, and balance be taught?

Per Richard Winters: developed, yes—taught directly, only partly. Riders accelerate progress by riding many horses, watching skilled clinicians, taking instruction, and consciously studying their own work. There's no shortcut, only deliberate accumulation over years.

Q: Did Dorrance and Hunt define these terms?

Per Richard Winters: they brought feel, timing, and balance into mainstream horsemanship language. Their writings, clinics, and students propagated the vocabulary throughout the industry. Many modern trainers stand directly on their shoulders—including Winters himself.

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Horse Training is Feel, Timing and Balance by Richard Winters

Analizing the Sliding Stop

Feel – A rider must use feel to build a run-down that has momentum and drive in preparation for the stop. Feel helps a rider know how much to hold on the reins during the stop.

Timing – When our timing is off, it’s possible to miss the stop. In other words, we may say whoa at the wrong time in a horses stride.

Balance – It requires balance to support the horse through the stop. Without rider balance, a horse may come up out of his stop.

Feel, timing, and balance are three abstract terms often used to describe the qualities that great horsemen and women bring to the horse/human relationship.

The late iconic horsemen, Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt, brought these ideas to the forefront for students and prodigies who were serious about improving their own horsemanship skills. It’s easy to understand a bit, spur, rope, or some other type of horse equipment. However, feel, timing, and balance are intangible and thus harder to grasp. The following are some of my thoughts in regard to these concepts. I will not give you the last word on the subject and I understand that some would add, delete, or differ from my simple explanations. My goal is to remind you to be diligent in regard to your own feel, timing, and balance.

Feel Riders that have “feel” key into and recognize the subtle movements and changes in their horse’s body and demeanor. These riders feel when a horse is resisting pressure and when they are yielding. This feel lets you know that a loping horse will be trotting in the very next stride. Good feel reveals when a horse is adequately warmed up and ready to ride or when more preparation is necessary. This feel allows a rider to flow with a horse’s body throughout transitions and stay in harmony even when a horse moves erratically. A rider with feel is extremely comfortable handling the reins and uses their hands and legs in concert to support and direct their horse. Some riders show a very natural feel for a horse even as a novice. Natural feel along with years of dedicated experience is what set great horsemen apart.

Timing Timing is what we use to help our horses learn. Timing is what brings results to our feel. Horses don’t learn when pressure is applied. They learn when pressure is released. Pulling on a rein is easy. Letting go at the right moment requires good feel and timing. A horse’s main goal is to be comfortable. A great rider can use good timing to put a horse in a bind and then show him a way out. It was said of one trainer, “He can really get into one. But he knows how to get out. ” In other words, the trainer applied feel and timing to firmness and intensity as well as release. Just pulling on the reins or kicking with a spur without good timing won’t train a horse. Applying pressure and release with perfect timing will bring out the best in every horse. When our timing is off, the horse becomes confused and communication breaks down.

Timing means that we know when to do something and when to quit doing what we are doing.

Balance Certainly balance includes the ability to ride with good posture and an independent seat. Balance means we don’t hang on with the reins and we don’t grip with our heels to keep from falling off. Riding with balance brings confidence and clarity to your horse. Young horses especially need a balanced rider that will flow with them despite the horse’s inconsistent movement.

Beyond the physical aspects of balance, our approach to training must include balance as well. Good horsemen know that too much of a good thing is not good. Training regiments must have balance. Riders with balanced training programs learn that there is a time for a horse to frame up and travel collected and a time to allow the horse to relax and move forward freely. When I was younger I worked for a trainer that instructed me to warm my horses up for twenty minutes, train for twenty minutes, and then spend twenty minutes allowing the horse to cool down. This regiment brought balance to every ride and kept the horses attitudes good. My cow arena is a ten minute walk from the barnyard area. Perhaps it’s not always convenient, but it does bring balance to my training program.

As I consider these descriptions it is apparent that feel, timing, and balance are interconnected. If a rider is obviously weak in one of these areas, it’s probable that they are lacking in the other two as well. You can ride quality horses and use all the proper equipment, yet without feel, timing, and balance you’ll be stuck as a mediocre horse-back-rider.

As you continue to invest in yourself and develop these three qualities, you’ll leave the ranks of horse-back-rider and join the elite group entitled “horsemen.” These subtle qualities will allow you to use ordinary equipment to get extra-ordinary results. Feel, timing, and balance will help you make tough horses better and good horses great!

For more information about Richard Winters Horsemanship please go to wintersranch.com.

Key Article Takeaways

Per Richard Winters: feel, timing, and balance are the intangibles that separate good riders from great ones.
Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt brought these concepts into modern horsemanship vocabulary.
Feel: read subtle changes in the horse's body and demeanor, recognize resistance vs. release.
Timing: ask at the right moment in the horse's stride—wrong timing produces wrong response.
Balance: support the horse through stops and turns; rider imbalance forces horse compensation.

Questions readers commonly ask:

What's "feel" in practical terms?

Per Richard Winters: feel is the rider's ability to recognize subtle changes in the horse's body—when he's resisting pressure, when he's softening, when he's about to spook. Riders with feel adjust before the horse explodes; riders without feel react after he does. It's developed through hours of conscious riding, not taught in a single lesson.

Why does timing matter so much in stops?

Per Richard Winters: a horse stops with one hind foot planting first—saying "whoa" at the wrong moment in the stride either misses the stop entirely or invites a hollow stop without true engagement. Correct timing aligns the cue with the horse's natural movement window.

How is rider balance related to horse balance?

Per Richard Winters: an unbalanced rider forces the horse to compensate with his own body, often pulling out of stops or coming up off his hocks. A balanced rider stays out of the horse's way, letting him execute the maneuver as trained. Sloppy seat = hollow stop, every time.

Can feel, timing, and balance be taught?

Per Richard Winters: developed, yes—taught directly, only partly. Riders accelerate progress by riding many horses, watching skilled clinicians, taking instruction, and consciously studying their own work. There's no shortcut, only deliberate accumulation over years.

Did Dorrance and Hunt define these terms?

Per Richard Winters: they brought feel, timing, and balance into mainstream horsemanship language. Their writings, clinics, and students propagated the vocabulary throughout the industry. Many modern trainers stand directly on their shoulders—including Winters himself.