Gentle Leader Easy

Posted by admin in Puppy Products on August 6, 2008 | no responses

Gentle Leader Easy

Who knows a horse that pulls or drags on the lead rope, or goes past the handler one or two steps when the handler comes to a stop?

Chances are if you’ve been around horses any length of time you’ve seen either or both of these things or experienced them yourself a thousand times. But while most of us are inclined to hurry up and get to the barn with our horses-so that we can get to the important work like grooming and riding-ignoring leading signs like these is missing a huge opportunity. That’s because leading is all about getting respect from our horses. A horse that doesn’t respect you is not a horse that is safe to be around or safe to ride-so why not start with teaching proper leading?

Let’s start with a horse that positions himself a little in front of you while leading or after you’ve come to a stop. A horse that does this thinks of himself as the leader-and we need to correct that perception. Fortunately this can be done using gentle and simple methods.

One easy way to do this is to walk backwards when leading your horse. Picture yourself standing still next to your horse, with his nose just past your right shoulder. Let out some lead rope and begin walking backwards toward his hind end, and give a few gentle tugs on the lead rope. This will bring the nose of the horse around towards you. Keep walking backwards, away from your horse. Now you should have several feet of lead rope between you and your horse, and you’re walking backwards while he is following. When you’re positioned like that, the horse will start to see you as a leader and will game some respect for you.

While leading backwards, the horse should be looking at you all the time. With both eyes. If he isn’t, this is another sign of disrespect, because he is focusing some of his attention elsewhere if he isn’t looking at you with both eyes, but its easy to work on. When one eye drifts off, his nose is going to follow it so his nose will either be slightly to the left or slightly to the right. Bump the lead rope gently in such a way that it brings his nose back centered on you, so that the horse will have to look at you with both eyes. When his nose is centered, take the pressure off-stop bumping the lead rope. You can also praise verbally to let the horse know that looking at you with both eyes while working is the right thing to do. Keep repeating until your horse stays focused on you for longer and longer periods.

Now let’s think about leading from a normal position-you’re walking forward and your horse is off by your right shoulder. To ask for a stop, turn completely around, stop, raise both hands in the air-open palms facing the animal and exhale. If your equine takes one or two steps forward after you’ve asked for the stop, then wiggle the lead rope side to side to ask him to backup a couple of steps.

A good way to deal with problems like pulling or gradding while leading is to periodically ask for stops. Plan 10 minute leading sessions where you walk around with your horse following you and ask for a stop once every 30 or 40 seconds. Make sure you vary the time in between asking for stops, and change up your leading position so that sometimes you’re leading normally but at other times you’re walking backwards. When walking backwards you can ask for a stop the same way-just plant both feet, raise both hands in the air open palms facing the animal, and exhale.

Leading is an excellent, easy, and gentle way to train your horse. Improvements in leading will carry over to all your work with your horse including catching, round pen work, and riding.

David McMahon is a freelance author who writes about horse ownership. For more information please visit Gentle Horse Training.