Horse Training – Horse that won’t Lead Up

Joyce from Alberta, Canada has a horse named Chief, that won’t lead up properly. She says he walks past her when she stops, and, when she is leading Chief and stops to chat with someone, Chief is fidgety.

First of Joyce, the fact that you are in Alberta caught my eye so I decided to respond to you right off because my Grandfather and Father left Montana to build a ranch north of Edmonton, circa 1910 – 1915, until they lost out and came back to the States. People and Horses in your part of the country are tough and hardy.

Anyway, you did not say how old you horse is, his breed or if he is a stud horse or a gelding. Shouldn’t matter too much. A young horse needs to lead up properly and stand still when you want him to. A stud horse can be a problem if he’s around mares in season. Some horses get lazy in ground manners, mainly because we as horse owners aren't communicating to them effectively or often enough.

If I’m leading a horse who walks past me when I stop, I bump the lead line to make him stop, then back him up to the position I want him to stop at, which is a few feet behind me to my Right. In fact, every time you stop, whether it’s leading on the ground or in the saddle, it’s a good idea to get him to back a few steps immediately. This will translate to better stops at speed. Once he does this at your normal walking speed, then start stopping real sudden like, then progress to stopping at a jog (Trot) then at a lope (Canter). Chief will be a much better horse for it.

If Chief can stand still then you need to teach him that standing still is good. That it’s the easy thing to do. If I have a horse that won’t stand still I move him around on a horse bit on the lead line, one or two circles then give him a chance to stand still again. At first, he probably stand still for 30 seconds or so then get fidgety again. Move him around some more, then give him another chance. They’ll learn soon enough that stand still is easier than getting moved around.

I shot a short video for you, see below. I picked an old horse (Roy) and shot this video right when they were expecting to get fed hoping for him to be more concerned with feed than ground manners. I actually shot this video several times as I hoping Roy would act up enough so it would more evident to you, and Roy just wasn't that cooperative in walking past me or moving around when I wanted him to stand still. I guess I've gotten most of that behavior out of him, none-the-less the techniques I'm telling you and showing you about are still valid.

Horse Training – The Basics Under Halter

In our fast placed world we are often running from one task to the next without really stopping to think on the long term. No where is this more true than with horses.

How many times do you move a horse from the stall to the the paddock or from one corral to another just trying to get it done? We often let our horses get away with bad manners, although it’s our fault if they have bad manners because we have to let them know what we expect of them. Not only is this not doing them or us any favors, we are just simply misusing that available time and opportunity to do a short ground training session.

Anytime you get near your horses it should be a training session. If you are feeding them, train them to step back away until you have the hay in place. If you are trying to get through a gate and they are crowding the gate, make them move back before you enter. Eventually they will know what you expect, act that way and be just that much a better (and safer) horse for it.

Anytime you get a halter and lead on a horse, to move him from the stall to the wash rack or shoers stand, or, to another set of pens or corral, use that time to run through some basics. Horses learn through repetition. You will see how much faster they understand what you are asking once they are exposed to it many time over. Whenever I put a halter and lead on a horse, moving them from one place to another, I always take a few minutes to run through the basics things I need that horse to do under halter when leading.

Those things are: Lead up with me, staying at my back right hand; stopping immediately when I do; backing; standing still; dropping his head when I ask; moving his hind quarter over when asked; and, moving his front end ovr when asked.

You use the same pressure and release concept in all these tasks. Watch the video below and see once I get a halter on this green broke horse, what basic tasks I can run through in a matter of 2 minutes or so. Again, horses learn through repetition, use your time with them wisely – they and you will be much better for it.