subject: Horse Training Tips: Lead Your Horse [print this page] Author: Jw Shaw Author: Jw Shaw
Before the ultimate goal of saddle training can begin it is necessary to complete some important groundwork with your horse. You will need to take your horse from trailer or barn to the tack area, tack up, and then you'll ride. You can't begin to teach point B if you've not first mastered how to get there from point A. The two of you can only act as a team if your horse cooperates with you. This cooperation begins with your ability to approach, catch, and halter him first. After that you can use a halter and rope to lead your horse. Teaching a horse the boundaries of acceptable behaviour is done with the primary objective of safety in mind. He will need to be taught that his natural tendency to pull against the lead rope, for example, is not allowed. A horse should never be allowed to invade the personal space of whoever is holding the lead rope. Accidents can easily occur if proper consideration to teaching basic safety manners to your horse is not given before moving on to more advanced training. Whilst a good equine insurance policy may cover you for accidents that happen in training, it's obviously far more preferable not to have to find this out! The three Ps of horse training - patience, persistence and positive reinforcement - come into play when leading your horse. You have probably already discovered the 3Ps to be effective if you have accomplished haltering. Ideally you need to begin lead training with your horse when he is still a foal. Basic ground manners should be taught from an early age, before the horse is old enough to worry about saddles and riding. Cooperation will still be required from the young horse during vet or farrier visits, as well as for the various other people he may come into contact with. If you happen to have the dam - the foal's mother - present, lead training will be easier as he will naturally copy her behaviours. If not, any horse with which the foal spends time will also work. Young horses naturally learn from the older ones in the herd. For example, you don't need to teach a horse in the pasture how to graze or go to the water and drink. They watch the other horses to learn these things. If your student is older, you can still use another horse's example by haltering and leading the other horse first. As you do this you will notice your student watching and paying attention to these events occurring around him. Start off by leading two horses - the foal and either it's dam or a more experienced horse - side by side with you in the middle. The safest place for you to stand is to the left of your student's shoulder, with the older horse to your left. A young horse could suddenly decide to bolt or to kick his heels, so make sure that you don't wrap the lead rope around your hand or anywhere else that makes you vunerable. The last thing you need at this stage is complicating the process with an injury for which you may need to claim on your horse insurance. You could also use the pony method if you have a calm horse which the foal will be comfortable following. This is done by simply towing the student horse behind using a longer lead rope. It makes sense in fact to teach the lead in this way, as it's natural for a young horse to follow an elders lead. If you don't have the luxury of having other horses close by from which your student can learn, you will need to rely heavily on your skills of patience, persistence and positive reinforcement. Don't be discouraged if it takes longer than you would like for your horse to understand what it is that's expected of him. After satisfactory progress, it's time to try it alone. Again, standing to the left of your young horse's shoulder and with both of you looking straight ahead, gently walk forward and as you step out, tug very gently forward, then release any pressure on the rope as soon as the horse makes any motion to go forward. Understanding that release is a reward to your horse is a valuable tip used by professional trainers. It tells your horse he's doing something right. When he can successfully walk with you in straight lines, try a slight left turn whist maintaining the space bubble. If he crowds you, use your right hand to push him out away from you and hold your arm out to the appropriate distance. Then try turning to the right with the same safety distance between the two of you, still using your right hand to guide him into the correct zone. You will need to reward him by releasing the pressure on the lead rope each time he steps in the right direction. A large amount of patience is required to successfully complete lead training with your horse. Big improvements will soon be made if you can just stick with it. Work every day if possible for short periods and you'll be pleased with the results; then you will be moving closer to the time when you can saddle up and begin riding.About the Author:
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