The Ultimate Guide To Horse
Training
Leading Your Horse
Eric Bravo
Horse Training Videos
The following is an exerpt from Teach Yourself Natural Horsemanship in 14 Days, available for free download with the purchase of Eric Bravo Natural horsemanship Video Software.
Now we're going to talk about leading your horse. Leading is on of the most important training activities you can utilize. Not only is it something you're going to be doing day in and day out, you can also use leading to establish leadership and respect with your horse. Moreover, we don't want our horses crowding us. One of the most important issues we face for safety on the ground is making sure our horses keep out of our personal space. Leading is a good way to train a horse to maintain a good distance between himself and human handlers. Leading also helps communicate with your horse, and hence forms a vital part of natural horsemanship training.
So, the first item of business when leading your horse is noting how much space there is between you and your horse. If your horse is close enough so that she can nudge you or stick her nose right in your pocket looking for treats, then she is too close for comfort. People often get caught up in the idea that a horse nuzzling up to you is cut or being affectionate, but often what is happening is the horse is being pushy and even trying to dominate you. Don't let that happen. This isn't about dominance per se, its about being safe. Consider that your horse is a thousand pound animal that can run over and seriously injure you in an instant. Also, in the previous lesson we described how we want our horses to respect us and treat us as a leader. So you want your horse to stay at a distance that you choose-not a distance that he chooses.
We aren't saying you can't pet your horse or to never nuzzle up or hug him. What we are saying is that you do this when you want to, not when your horse decides he wants to crowd you and look for treats. Before you can hug your horse safely and without losing respect and leadership, you need to establish that boundary and let him understand that you're going to be the one who decides when to move closer. This is important for safety around horses. We have already seen that the hook-on exercise is a good way to establish leadership. Now we are going to learn that the simple act of leading our horses around with a rope and halter is another way to do this.
Take a moment and go out with your horse for a walk with the rope and halter on. Pay special attention to where she positions herself as you walk along. Is she walking nicely behind you? Or is she pulling? Is she walking ahead of you? If your horse drags on the rope or walks faster than you do, the horse does not respect you. These are signs you need to work on leading.
Now pay attention to stopping. What happens when you are walking along with your horse, and you come to a stop? Does she come to a stop right away? Or does she continue on for a step or two (or more)? Do you find that she is slightly in front of you when you stop? If she is so much as a hair in front of you when you come to a stop, you need to work on your leading.
If your horse is standing with her head past your shoulders, she is not
considering you as a leader.
Leading by walking backwards
To reestablish yourself as a leader if your horse stops with his head slightly in front of you, as shown in the figure above, you can lead by walking backwards away from the horse. The idea here is to position yourself so that you are in front of the horse. Act on this as follows:
To position yourself as the leader, start by dropping some of the line out so you can
establish distance between you and your horse.
Now we're going to talk about leading your horse. Leading is on of the most important training activities you can utilize. Not only is it something you're going to be doing day in and day out, you can also use leading to establish leadership and respect with your horse. Moreover, we don't want our horses crowding us. One of the most important issues we face for safety on the ground is making sure our horses keep out of our personal space. Leading is a good way to train a horse to maintain a good distance between himself and human handlers. Leading also helps communicate with your horse, and hence forms a vital part of natural horsemanship training.
So, the first item of business when leading your horse is noting how much space there is between you and your horse. If your horse is close enough so that she can nudge you or stick her nose right in your pocket looking for treats, then she is too close for comfort. People often get caught up in the idea that a horse nuzzling up to you is cut or being affectionate, but often what is happening is the horse is being pushy and even trying to dominate you. Don't let that happen. This isn't about dominance per se, its about being safe. Consider that your horse is a thousand pound animal that can run over and seriously injure you in an instant. Also, in the previous lesson we described how we want our horses to respect us and treat us as a leader. So you want your horse to stay at a distance that you choose-not a distance that he chooses.
We aren't saying you can't pet your horse or to never nuzzle up or hug him. What we are saying is that you do this when you want to, not when your horse decides he wants to crowd you and look for treats. Before you can hug your horse safely and without losing respect and leadership, you need to establish that boundary and let him understand that you're going to be the one who decides when to move closer. This is important for safety around horses. We have already seen that the hook-on exercise is a good way to establish leadership. Now we are going to learn that the simple act of leading our horses around with a rope and halter is another way to do this.
Take a moment and go out with your horse for a walk with the rope and halter on. Pay special attention to where she positions herself as you walk along. Is she walking nicely behind you? Or is she pulling? Is she walking ahead of you? If your horse drags on the rope or walks faster than you do, the horse does not respect you. These are signs you need to work on leading.
Now pay attention to stopping. What happens when you are walking along with your horse, and you come to a stop? Does she come to a stop right away? Or does she continue on for a step or two (or more)? Do you find that she is slightly in front of you when you stop? If she is so much as a hair in front of you when you come to a stop, you need to work on your leading.
If your horse is standing with her head past your shoulders, she is not
considering you as a leader.
Leading by walking backwards
To reestablish yourself as a leader if your horse stops with his head slightly in front of you, as shown in the figure above, you can lead by walking backwards away from the horse. The idea here is to position yourself so that you are in front of the horse. Act on this as follows:
- Drop out some of the lead line
- Walk backwards so that you're moving towards the hind end of the horse, pulling the lead line to direct him to follow you.
- The horse should turn and face you. When she does, keep walking backwards.
To position yourself as the leader, start by dropping some of the line out so you can
establish distance between you and your horse.
After dropping the line out, walk backwards away from the horse. This immediately positions you in front of the horse as her leader.
By walking backwards away from the horse, you position yourself so that the horse sees you as her leader.
Now you're leading the horse from an effective position. Of course you don't want to be leading your horse this way on a day to day basis, this is just a training technique. The purpose is to get the horse in a position so that he has to do two things:
In addition, if your horse is blowing past you or you're finding him slightly ahead of you when you stop, this is a good way to put him in a position where he can't do that.
Attention and Focus
One of the most important things we can do when training our horses is to make sure they are paying attention to us. When you are walking backwards, make sure your horse keeps her attention on you. This must be completely undivided attention. How do you know a horse is giving you complete, undivided attention?
If you are leading your horse but her head is off to one side, she does not have all of her attention on you. Looking at you with one eye doesn't count. You want her to be looking right at you at all times. If she isn't, bump the rope once to get her attention back. When bumping the rope you can click, kiss, or say “look at me” if you need to put more energy in to get the horse focusing on you. Most horses will quickly pick up on this and start paying more attention to you in short order.
Now you're leading the horse from an effective position. Of course you don't want to be leading your horse this way on a day to day basis, this is just a training technique. The purpose is to get the horse in a position so that he has to do two things:
- Look at you
- Follow you around
In addition, if your horse is blowing past you or you're finding him slightly ahead of you when you stop, this is a good way to put him in a position where he can't do that.
Attention and Focus
One of the most important things we can do when training our horses is to make sure they are paying attention to us. When you are walking backwards, make sure your horse keeps her attention on you. This must be completely undivided attention. How do you know a horse is giving you complete, undivided attention?
- She is looking straight at you with both eyes.
If you are leading your horse but her head is off to one side, she does not have all of her attention on you. Looking at you with one eye doesn't count. You want her to be looking right at you at all times. If she isn't, bump the rope once to get her attention back. When bumping the rope you can click, kiss, or say “look at me” if you need to put more energy in to get the horse focusing on you. Most horses will quickly pick up on this and start paying more attention to you in short order.
If
your horse isn't paying attention, bump the rope once. You know she is
paying attention when she has both eyes focused on you.
Stopping the Horse
When you can lead the horse around nicely, its time to throw in a stop. This can be done using the following steps:
When you can lead the horse around nicely, its time to throw in a stop. This can be done using the following steps:
- Take in a deep breath through your nose.
- Stop walking.
- Raise both hands so that your open palms are facing the horse.
- Exhale loudly through your mouth.
To stop the horse, stop walking, exhale and raise both hands.
After
the horse has come to a complete stop, walk off again. Keep walking
backwards away from the horse and make sure she is keeping both eyes on
you. If she is not, what do you do? You bump her once. Keep bumping and
kiss or click if that doesn't work.
Note how light the leading is. If you are pulling on the horse to get him to move, the leading isn't good. The horse should be following you with a pace that closely matches the pace you are setting. So good leading can be noted by:
If the horse is attentive, but drags on the line or creeps up on you, mix it up by leading for varying amounts of time and asking for stops. Change things up as you're going through this exercise.
Changing Lead Positions
When you have mastered leading your horse by walking backwards, its time to lead from the standard position, which is from the left side of the horse walking forward. You should be holding the lead rope with your right hand. Hold the rope so that there is a foot or two between your hand and the nose of the horse. People think that they need to put their hand right up against the halter to control the horse, but that is not a good place to be in. A horse is a thousand pound or more animal, and you cannot hope to control him by holding tightly on the lead. You get control of him by making him see you as his leader and making him understand he can trust you.
To stop when leading from the standard position, you can use your right hand in a similar way to what we did when stopping our horse when leading backwards. Follow these steps:
Note how light the leading is. If you are pulling on the horse to get him to move, the leading isn't good. The horse should be following you with a pace that closely matches the pace you are setting. So good leading can be noted by:
- The lead rope hangs lightly in your hands. The horse isn't dragging and you aren't pulling.
- She is keeping her attention on you. Both eyes are watching you at all times.
- The distance between you and your horse does not change as you walk along. In other words, she isn't creeping up on you.
- She stops nicely and doesn't come in on you when you ask her to stop.
If the horse is attentive, but drags on the line or creeps up on you, mix it up by leading for varying amounts of time and asking for stops. Change things up as you're going through this exercise.
Changing Lead Positions
When you have mastered leading your horse by walking backwards, its time to lead from the standard position, which is from the left side of the horse walking forward. You should be holding the lead rope with your right hand. Hold the rope so that there is a foot or two between your hand and the nose of the horse. People think that they need to put their hand right up against the halter to control the horse, but that is not a good place to be in. A horse is a thousand pound or more animal, and you cannot hope to control him by holding tightly on the lead. You get control of him by making him see you as his leader and making him understand he can trust you.
To stop when leading from the standard position, you can use your right hand in a similar way to what we did when stopping our horse when leading backwards. Follow these steps:
- Breath out and stop moving
- Raise your right hand to signal to the horse to stop
Once you have leading by walking backwards down solid, start working on leading from the standard position, from the left side of the horse with you walking forward.
When leading from the standard position, raise your right hand to ask your horse to stop.
When leading from this position, have an awareness of where the horse is when you ask her to stop. Does she stop right away? Or does she keep moving forward? Leading problems are going to be more apparent from this position. If you have put a good amount of time and effort into leading while walking backwards, you should have an easier time leading from the standard position. On the other hand, if your horse keeps moving and passes you even with a single step when you've asked her to stop, you need to keep doing the exercise. Keep leading and asking her to stop until she stops in the correct position. That is, she should stop slightly behind you.
When leading from this position, have an awareness of where the horse is when you ask her to stop. Does she stop right away? Or does she keep moving forward? Leading problems are going to be more apparent from this position. If you have put a good amount of time and effort into leading while walking backwards, you should have an easier time leading from the standard position. On the other hand, if your horse keeps moving and passes you even with a single step when you've asked her to stop, you need to keep doing the exercise. Keep leading and asking her to stop until she stops in the correct position. That is, she should stop slightly behind you.
When the horse doesn't pass you when you ask her to stop, she is
leading correctly.
Changing Direction
Let's suppose that your horse follows you nicely when you lead from the standard position, but then starts creeping up on you, goes past you, or goes past you when you stop. Or maybe he drags on the lead line. Any of these problems can be dealt with with two simple techniques.
Start leading your horse from the standard position. Keep walking along normally and let your horse walk on past you. When he does so, immediately change directions and walk in the opposite direction. This will put the horse in a position where he will have to follow you. One way that might help you do this effectively is to take your horse in the arena and walk from one side of the arena to the other, then turn right around without stopping and head in the other direction. This will let you re-establish your leadership. This works well whether your horse is coming up on you or if he is dragging. In fact, this is a very good technique to use when working with a horse that drags on the lead line. Try this instead of pulling on the rope trying to fight with your horse.
A point to review: if your horse creeps up on you when you ask him to stop, making him work. Ask him to back up a few steps each time you stop.
Changing Direction
Let's suppose that your horse follows you nicely when you lead from the standard position, but then starts creeping up on you, goes past you, or goes past you when you stop. Or maybe he drags on the lead line. Any of these problems can be dealt with with two simple techniques.
Start leading your horse from the standard position. Keep walking along normally and let your horse walk on past you. When he does so, immediately change directions and walk in the opposite direction. This will put the horse in a position where he will have to follow you. One way that might help you do this effectively is to take your horse in the arena and walk from one side of the arena to the other, then turn right around without stopping and head in the other direction. This will let you re-establish your leadership. This works well whether your horse is coming up on you or if he is dragging. In fact, this is a very good technique to use when working with a horse that drags on the lead line. Try this instead of pulling on the rope trying to fight with your horse.
A point to review: if your horse creeps up on you when you ask him to stop, making him work. Ask him to back up a few steps each time you stop.
Leading from the Side
When your horse leads well from the standard position, you are ready to move to the next exercise, which is leading from the side. That is, we lead the horse by positioning ourselves by the mid-section. A good target is the middle of the back, say where the middle of the saddle would be. Raise the lead rope with your left hand, which should be on the end of the rope which is closer to the horse. Raising the lead rope “opens the door” which tells the horse it is OK to move out. Next, take the other end of the rope in your right hand, holding it very close to the end of the lead rope. Flick it gently on the back of the horse. Do this at about the point where the middle of the saddle would be on the horse's back. This will tell the horse that you are asking her to move. When she walks out, keep pace by walking along at that same midpoint position where you are flicking the rope.
When your horse leads good from the side, start leading by moving behind her
withers so that you're leading from the mid-section.
Leading from the rear
We can use the mid-point leading position to transition directly into a fourth leading position, which is leading from behind the horse. This is more natural than it might seem at first. Remember with natural horsemanship we are learning to think and behave like horses. The dominant horses in the herd will often lead other horses by putting pressure from behind. We call this leading position the driving position. To lead from the driving position:
Leading from the driving position.
Change Sides and Mix it up
You might think you're done if you can lead your horse from all four positions. But you're just getting started! To train your horse well, you want to be able to lead from both sides. Remember a horse has two sides of the brain! So after mastering leading from the left side, move over and start working on leading your horse from the standard position with you standing on his right side. Then move on to leading from the mid-point and driving positions on the right side. If you can do this effectively and easily, you will have a better trained horse than one that only leads on one side.
Tip
If a horse crowds you or creeps up on you when leading, stop and ask him to backup about 3 steps.
Lesson Summary
Leading your horse is one of the most important basic activities you can do with your horse and a vital aspect of natural horsemanship. Make sure you horse leads nice and light from all 4 positions on both sides, and is attentive.
When your horse leads well from the standard position, you are ready to move to the next exercise, which is leading from the side. That is, we lead the horse by positioning ourselves by the mid-section. A good target is the middle of the back, say where the middle of the saddle would be. Raise the lead rope with your left hand, which should be on the end of the rope which is closer to the horse. Raising the lead rope “opens the door” which tells the horse it is OK to move out. Next, take the other end of the rope in your right hand, holding it very close to the end of the lead rope. Flick it gently on the back of the horse. Do this at about the point where the middle of the saddle would be on the horse's back. This will tell the horse that you are asking her to move. When she walks out, keep pace by walking along at that same midpoint position where you are flicking the rope.
When your horse leads good from the side, start leading by moving behind her
withers so that you're leading from the mid-section.
Leading from the rear
We can use the mid-point leading position to transition directly into a fourth leading position, which is leading from behind the horse. This is more natural than it might seem at first. Remember with natural horsemanship we are learning to think and behave like horses. The dominant horses in the herd will often lead other horses by putting pressure from behind. We call this leading position the driving position. To lead from the driving position:
- Start by leading the horse from the middle position.
- Hold the rope with your right hand only.
- Let the rope out so that you are holding the rope from the end.
- Drop back so that you are at the hind end or even behind the horse.
Leading from the driving position.
Change Sides and Mix it up
You might think you're done if you can lead your horse from all four positions. But you're just getting started! To train your horse well, you want to be able to lead from both sides. Remember a horse has two sides of the brain! So after mastering leading from the left side, move over and start working on leading your horse from the standard position with you standing on his right side. Then move on to leading from the mid-point and driving positions on the right side. If you can do this effectively and easily, you will have a better trained horse than one that only leads on one side.
Tip
If a horse crowds you or creeps up on you when leading, stop and ask him to backup about 3 steps.
Lesson Summary
Leading your horse is one of the most important basic activities you can do with your horse and a vital aspect of natural horsemanship. Make sure you horse leads nice and light from all 4 positions on both sides, and is attentive.
This article is an exerpt from Teach Yourself Natural Horsemanship in 14 Days. This book is available free with the purchase of Eric Bravo's Natural Horsemanship Video Training Software, for more info click here.