| Leading a horse seems like a trivial activity. The | | | | over to all aspects of horsemanship. |
| bottom line for most people is they want to put a | | | | First let's consider a horse that slowly edges past you |
| halter and lead rope on their horse and move her from | | | | as you're walking. Say you walk out about 20 feet. At |
| point A to B. But the truth is, if this is your attitude, you | | | | the start, the horse is right even with your shoulder. But |
| might be making some major mistakes that carry over | | | | by the end of the 20 feet, his head is all the way past |
| to all aspects of the horse-human relationship. The | | | | your shoulder. |
| reason is that when leading a horse, in her mind you're | | | | If this describes your situation, try this. Walk on out and |
| setting the parameters about who is the alpha of the | | | | take note of how far you're walking. Then, when you |
| herd. | | | | get to about 15-16 feet out, turn around and walk in the |
| Fortunately finding out what the horse thinks about the | | | | complete opposite direction. Next time around get a |
| situation is fairly easy. Walk out with your horse with | | | | little more restrictive on your requirements. Observe |
| the intent on doing some simple observations. As | | | | the instant his nose goes past your shoulder-and then |
| you're walking along, where is the horse positioning | | | | reverse direction. The beauty of this simple exercise is |
| herself? We want the horse to be a little to the side | | | | that it not only encourages the horse to maintain his |
| and back, so that her nose is about even with your | | | | position with respect to your shoulder, it keeps |
| shoulder. Is her nose past your shoulder? Maybe the | | | | re-establishing your position in front of the horse, along |
| more you walk the more out front she gets? If so, | | | | with having you making the choice to go a different |
| she's considering herself as the leader. | | | | direction. Both factors will help the horse see you as |
| Another way to investigate this question is by coming | | | | his leader. |
| to a dead stop. Just walk along and then stop | | | | Now here's another exercise for the horse that sees |
| suddenly, without saying "whoa" or giving any other | | | | herself as in charge. Instead of leading in the usual |
| cues indicating your planning on coming to a halt. If the | | | | way, try walking backwards. Drop out the lead line and |
| horse thinks of herself as the leader, she's not going to | | | | walk backwards away from your horse. That way |
| stop with you. She might just go a little bit past you, or | | | | you're definitely in front of her-while directing her to |
| she might take a couple of steps. | | | | move. A great way to move to the top of the herd |
| Other problems with leading a horse that come from | | | | hierarchy in her mind. As you're walking along, throw in |
| the horse thinking of herself as dominant involve | | | | some occasional stops. Again don't say whoa, but try |
| dragging or pulling. Many people with "stubborn" horses | | | | this. Lift up both hands in front of the horse and |
| find that when they walk out, the horse isn't all that | | | | breathe out. Repeat this process several times each |
| enthusiastic about coming with them. In fact the horse | | | | training session until her behavior improves. |
| may not come at all! Or if the horse does walk | | | | These exercises will also help the horse learn to stay |
| forward, he walks a bit slower than you are walking | | | | out of your personal space, improving safety on the |
| so that you feel this constant drag on the lead rope. | | | | ground. Leading may seem trivial, but it turns out it says |
| Fortunately there are a few simple steps that you can | | | | a lot about the relationship you have with your horse. |
| take to remedy the problem, and by doing so, help | | | | Instead of blindly walking along, use this simple activity |
| establish yourself as the herd leader. This will carry | | | | to build a solid training foundation with your horse. |