During the missions period in old Spanish California, the Vaqueros taught their horses to slide. Because of the ground, rocks, etc, horses could not simply be taken out and learn how to slide from a gallop without high risk of injury.
One old method of refining the slide was to find a grassy hill. This was an ideal place to work on stops because of the slick footing and gravity pulling the horse downwards. The vaquero would take his horse to a high point on the hill, go (trot, lope, or gallop) down it, and cue a stop. This stop would not be balanced, the horse may have learned to sit too deep or to brace the shoulders. After 1 or 2 more tries, the horse would learn how to adjust their slide on their hocks and keep their front end loose, pedaling.
This exercise took place typically after the horse already understood how to stop. It was more to balance the stop and keep the horse less tense. The Vaquero slide worked more like a skate rather than a deep dig, commonly seen in the show pen today.
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