When Gerald Alexander modified his training program, he began to

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When Gerald Alexander modified his
training program, he began to focus on
moving the horse’s ribcage to the outside
as he turned it over its hocks.
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Remodeling
a Method
Despite having started many 2-year-olds that went
on to stardom, veteran trainer Gerald Alexander
wasn’t completely satisfied with his program.
After making drastic changes last year, his horses
are now working cattle on a new level.
Article and photos by Ross Hecox
M
ost cutters recognize Gerald
Alexander as one of the best at
starting young horses on cattle.
The 58-year-old trainer works almost exclusively with 2-year-old prospects, and many
top trainers have put the finishing touches on
his horses and have shown them to prestigious titles.
Despite Alexander’s success, last year he
began to reevaluate the program he has used
for more than 20 years. Having studied the
methods of several top cutting horse trainers,
he was no longer satisfied with how his horses
worked cattle.
“I could see some different things other
boys were doing that I liked,” Alexander said.
“It’s about getting your horses in position to
do something, where it’s easier for them.
“It’s not easy to get the concept. I like to
watch these boys and try to pick up stuff. And
they try to tell you what they’re doing, but
there’s a lot to it. It’s not an easy task.
“I kinda knew what I wanted, but I didn’t
know exactly how to get it. I’ve played with it
for a year and a half now, and I’m just now putting some things together where I have a program. I’ve definitely changed it pretty dramatically.”
Alexander may not claim to have it completely figured out, but the results are certainly
more conclusive.
“I’m feeling my way a little bit still, but not
near as much as I was last year,” he said. “It
looks to me like I have as good a set of colts
as I’ve ever had at this time of the year. They
may go south on me, I don’t know—but I don’t
think so. They’re a lot more correct and want
to cut. They’re showing more cow. To me,
they’re a hundred times better.”
Modifying the Method
Watching 2-year-olds work cattle is probably not the most entertaining way to spend a
day. The young horses often move sloppy and
slow and sometimes don’t pay much attention
to the cow. The trainer is teaching the basics of
going where the cow goes, stopping with it,
and turning around when it changes direction.
A lot of time is spent getting the horse to stop
and turn around correctly, and both maneuvers
require it to stay on its hindquarters. Trainers
want the horse to make a 180-degree turnaround with the cow, balancing on its hindend
and turning back through itself, nose first.
All trainers are trying to teach the same general movement to their cutting prospects. But
the methods they use vary. Even trainers with
the same philosophies and techniques will inadvertently school differently. The variation
might simply be in the amount of focus on
stops, or being pickier about the horse’s frame,
or using their hands quicker or softer.
When Alexander decided to modify his program, he didn’t change his overall philosophy
or goals for how his 2-year-olds should work
a cow. However, he changed his approach and
expectations, which translated to adding some
exercises and using his hands and feet differently. These subtle adjustments resulted in a
dramatic improvement in his horses.
Alexander’s biggest adjustment was getting
his horses collected and positioned to maneuver on cattle more efficiently, something he
didn’t strive for in the past.
“They’re shaped up better, ready to turn,” he
said. “It seems like they’re on the right foot.
They’re using the right muscles.”
When turning with the cow, Alexander
wants his horses to plant their outside
hind leg and turn around nose first.
July 2006 PERFORMANCE HORSE
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During the past year, Alexander began working on
getting his horses softer in the face.
Alexander doesn’t engage the horse’s
hindquarters and round its body only when
working a cow; he works on collection at all
times.
“I do all kinds of things before I work every
horse,” Alexander said. “I do some circles, push
them off my leg—just make them think light
and try to do it all with them off the bridle
somewhat.
“It keeps them lighter. They’re not dragging
on you. They’re different horses, even loping
around. They trot a lot smoother, like a pleasure horse almost. They’re different than what
mine normally felt like.”
Getting his horses soft in the face has also
made them more correct on a cow.
“There’s a lot I do with the face,” Alexander
said. “I never got a horse off the bridle much
before. But this year I’ve done a bunch of setting heads. If my colts are not stopping like
they ought to, nine times out of ten they’re
pushing on that bridle too much.
“It’s tough getting them off the bridle and
not getting them over-tucked. You don’t want
them over-tucked. Sometimes I’ll overdo it
with my hands, but I try to associate everything
[I do] with my hands as light.”
In the past, Alexander put plenty of emphasis on training his horses to stop hard. Nevertheless, improving his horses’ frame has made
them stick their hocks in the ground more voluntarily.
“I could have them stopping just as hard,
maybe even harder, the other way,” he said.
“But I’ve noticed these colts will stop quicker,
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PERFORMANCE HORSE July 2006
Alexander often trots circles, encouraging his horses to move in a collected frame.
just as hard, and on their own with the cow. Before, I might have had to help them a little.
“I’ve always taught my horses to stop on a
loose rein, even in dry work. But [stopping
with a cow] was a little bit delayed. I don’t see
that delay in these colts. They know where the
stop is.”
Once his 2-year-olds hit the brakes, Alexander wants them to stand still and wait on the
cow’s next move. But he also wants them to
maintain a posture that positions them for a
quick turnaround. That involves keeping the
ribcage pushed to the outside.
“I probably spend a little more time [training the turnaround] because you got to teach
them to get that ribcage out of the way,”
Alexander said. “And that’s not real easy.”
When at a standstill, Alexander has always
taught the horse to bend its neck and look at
the cow, but he didn’t work on its ribcage at all.
Now he uses his inside leg to arc the horse’s
body while it’s waiting on the cow.
“I didn’t worry about it before,” he said. “I
would try to get my horses coming [through
the turn] with their nose. I’d stop them and
make them look. But I didn’t like it because
they were falling down through the turns unless I held them and backed them up. It was almost like an extra step.”
Rather than having to back his horses to set
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up a clean turnaround, Alexander now finds
that his horses can make correct turns from a
standstill. Instead of rocking backward as the
cow leaves, and then swinging on their
hindquarters like a door on a hinge, it’s more
common for his horses to coil their body, snake
through the turn and then push out of it with
their outside hind leg.
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about the cow.
When Alexander began to focus more on the
technical aspects, one might have guessed it
would be detrimental to his horses’ cow smarts.
“You would think that would take the cow
out of a horse,” Alexander said. “For me, it has
put cow in them. They take ahold of a cow
better.”
Alexander continues to alternate the focus of his training sessions from correctness
to cow smarts. Sometimes
you have to forgive a little
trashy movement and let the
horse hunt the cow. Other
times you can’t let the horse’s
cow instincts compromise quality movement.
“You go back and forth,” Alexander said. “I
get them cowing and wanting to go, then I’ll
straighten up their shoulders a little if they’re
off. I’ll catch them if they get too bold and just
walk them through that turn. You’re mixing
both concepts, trying to get those colts to cutting on their own.”
Alexander admits that he’s not entirely sure
of all the factors that have made his horses
more cow smart. But he points to at least one
reason. He noticed a big difference when, after
coming to a standstill, he began riding toward
“ They’re shaped up better,
ready to turn. It seems like they’re
on the right foot. They’re using
the right muscles.”
Although he finds that backing his horses is
no longer as important for teaching the turnaround, he still backs them often.
“I back them up just as much, or maybe
more,” Alexander said. “But it’s more of a correct, controlled backup. I want them collected,
taking short steps up under themselves.”
Mixing Cows and Collection
Most trainers agree that giving too many
cues distracts a horse from the cow. Training a
cow horse requires a constant balance of showing it how to move and teaching it to think
Collection helps horses become more correct and efficient at turning around,
resulting in shorter training sessions.
the cow instead of waiting for long periods of
time until the cow moved.
“I didn’t do a lot of that before,” he said.
“Now I position them. And if the cow doesn’t
move, I go to the cow.
“It’s amazing to me what little bitty things
do for these horses. It changes stuff tremendously. As soon as I started walking the horses
to the cow, letting the horse move—like I’m
cutting out a cow, almost—these horses
started cowing.
“Why I did that, I’ll never know. I had a mare
that I worked on some sorry cows one time. I
decided to work her a little different. I kind of
set her, then dropped [the reins on] her, trying to get her to take the cow. Her head
dropped—everything dropped. But I was kind
of in a forward motion to the cow. And then I
could stop her flat, get her back in position, and
she’d come through that turn by herself.”
Alexander said that, since he modified his
program, his horses have also advanced
through their training more quickly. Usually
his best 2-year-olds have learned enough by
July and get a two-month break from the training pen. But this year many of his prospects
took an early vacation at the end of May.
Alexander also said that his training sessions
are now shorter.
Alexander’s horses stopped hard in the past, but now they get into the ground
more quickly.
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About Gerald Alexander
Stepping forward during a lull has helped Alexander’s horses pay more attention to the cow.
When backing, Alexander wants his horses to stay in frame and keep their legs underneath.
muscles. You’re not dragging one into the ground
with everything as stiff as a
board, then asking him to
turn around.
“If you got him collected
and he stops, he’s in his stop
mode. You’re gonna have fewer sore horses.”
Alexander doesn’t regard his new methods as
anything particularly innovative or better than
the techniques of other trainers, but he does
recognize that they’ve taken his program to a
whole new level.
“You spend a lot of time teaching them how
to do this,” he said. “[Now], they’re more re-
“ I’ve noticed these colts will stop
quicker, just as hard, and on their
own with the cow. Before, I might
have had to help them a little.”
“I might work a colt 10 minutes, where [before] I’d work him 45,” he said. “I don’t know
what it is about it. This stuff makes my work
with a colt a lot easier and simpler.”
And Alexander suspects that their improved
efficiency has improved soundness.
“I think the reason for that is they’re more
collected,” he said. “They’re using the right
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PERFORMANCE HORSE July 2006
Gerald Alexander grew up in Jonesboro,
Louisiana, and graduated from Louisiana
Tech University. He began training and
showing for all kinds of events, including
halter, pleasure, roping and reining. Alexander says that his reining background continues to influence his methods today.
In the early 1980s, Alexander switched to
training cutting horses, specializing in starting 2-year-olds on cattle. Although he points
out that a horse’s success has much to do with
who finished and showed it, the list of show
pen stars that started in his barn is impressive.
Among Alexander’s greatest prospects
were NCHA Futurity Champions Dainty
Playgirl and San Tule Freckles, Reserve Futurity Champions Mr Beamon and Peptocandy, Derby Champion Sue, and Reserve
Derby Champion Blue Duck Okie.
During the past eight years, 15 horses that
started with him have advanced to the Open Futurity finals, including five that made it in 2001.
Alexander trains out of Silverado on the
Brazos in Weatherford, Texas. He and his
wife, Kaye, moved to Weatherford in 2005.
Alexander noted that Kaye’s knowledge of
training, along with her critical eye, has
helped him succeed and played an important
role in modifying his program.
“She helped me figure this out,” he said.
“She can see a world of stuff that you can’t
feel. She could probably train one better
than me. I’m real fortunate to have her.”
laxed, more comfortable doing it. They want to
get into that position somewhat on their own.
“And they’re not gonna do this great and
perfect every time. And it looks like, ‘Well, he’s
just doing what everybody else does.’ And I am,
really. But I also can put that colt where I
want him.
“It’s just what’s good for me. And to me, my
colts are better.”