Anyone with heavy horse x's - leading issues......

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Supertrooper

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B the shire x has been owned by us for two years. We are his fourth home that we know of and he is now 16.

He came with a fair few handling issues that we've worked very hard on to improve and he is now 98% reliable on the ground BUT we are still having a problem with him breaking away when led.

He doesn't do it all the time, in fact 9/10 he's as good as gold but once he gets away he can become very unpredictable, again he won't do it all the time.

I've tried leading him in a bridle and a control headcollar (be nice) if it's just a half hearted attempt to get away we can stop him but when he really means to go none of us can hold him!

Yesterday he got away from me and galloped up to top of field, I caught him and walked him five steps and he got away again. When I caught him again he reared up and then he came down he pulled away again and kicked out at me. By this time the hunters next door were all kicking off and the pony had got under the electric fencing and was galloping round too :-( not fun!!!

Friend and I managed to get him in with one of us on either side and although he then played up in lesson I'm 100% more confident dealing with him on top so i dealt with it.

I honestly don't think it was work related as he always enjoys being ridden. It's not a new thing and we know he did it in his last two homes so it's an ingrained thing now!!

It was alot cooler yesterday and windy and to be honest he had one on him and was looking for an excuse. I was bliming angry with him, mainly for the rearing and kicking out as he's a bliming big horse to be doing that!

I've attempted ground work with him and he worked really nicely for ten mins and then pi***d off and did the rearing thing then, it's not made me overly keen to try again!

I've thought about trying a chifney, especially as the bridle and be nice havn't 100% worked.

Any tips or experiences would be really helpful. He's a great horse so much of the time, honestly xx
 
Try getting an old fashioned rope halter and a schooling whip. Dig your elbow into his shoulder and hold the whip infront of his nose, if necessary 'drum' it on his chest (vibrating movement). We had a 16.3hh Clydex Shire mare who knew every trick in the book. She used to tow my then OH, a 6'2" 15stone ex rugby player, but novice with horses, in for her tea. We swapped horses to bring them in, I am 5'6" and weigh 9 stones, she tried it once and then gave up, as she discovered that a sharp elbow in your chest, along with pressure on your nose and poll is not nice, if she was good it didn't happen and we were all much happier :)
 
I used to own a 17.3hh Shire x Oldenburg - I got him as an unhandled 2yo, he used to pull away regularly...... my friend suggested a lead-rein with a chain at the clip end threaded thro the left-hand headcollar 'square', over the nose and clipped to the right-hand headcollar 'square' and when horse tries to pull away, use a short, sharp jerk (as you would with a dog's choke chain), this stopped him in his tracks, and he soon learnt to lead mannerly.

Or use a chifney :)
 
Another tip, to use in conjunction with halter and schooling whip is to have treats in your pocket. When leading the horse, stand him up occasionally and give him a treat. Only give him one if he does as you ask. Turn him sometimes, to keep him listening to you. Make sure he knows that you have more treats, it will keep his attention on you.
Good luck!
 
I second the chain over the nose, i know it sounds harsh but hes a big lad and needs to know his boundaries and you need to be safe!!
 
He's big and he knows he can just rip away from you if he feels like it. I'm not a fan of the chifney, they can be difficult to get off if the horse is trying to get away from you. I would get a Richard Maxwell halter, it's a simple and very effective piece of kit. It has been invaluable to me with some of the big oafs I've had. I would never use treats either.
 
My shire x cob is lead everywhere in Dually halter now...he is 20 and we have owned him for 12 years, he has always been a bit of a knob while leading to be honest! I remember chasing him round the farmer's crop field one Christmas day because the bugger had pulled away from me.

He had a few groundwork lessons in the Dually and now he seems to know when he has it on so he doesn't try any tricks. Tried to lead him the other day in a normal headcollar and the idiotic tendencies ensued! x
 
I use the whip often to help. I'll put the whip in front of their chest and hold it there, when they walk to fast into it, I'll give them a bit of a smack (by no means excessive) at the same time. Then the less they try and get 'through' the whip the less of a pressure I apply with the whip. It's calmed down some that have been trying to drag me as it works as a shock tatic for them.

Good luck
 
As DanaHart said, stallion chain or a chiffney, and quickly. He is far to big and strong and needs some manners instilled before he does some serious damage. Plenty will disagree I'm sure but he needs putting in his place by short sharp shock methods.
 
When my lad used to do it (as a youngster) it was elbow in shoulder, right hand close to his headcollar and left hand on the excess (gives you a second chance if you fail to turn his head towards you quick enough to 'disconnect' his front from back end), and turn him sharply into a small circle.. keep circling him with elbow at the ready until he yields.. but he must yield before you give an inch then make a big thing of it with praises, then circle him on the other rein and repeat.. take him in the arena if you can and practice, lunge him close so you have control.
My lad never tanks off, or pulls away for grass, all he needs is a quick tug of the lead rope and he behaves.. he's just in a headcollar and leadrope... make yourself look big, he's less likely to argue with you.
My lad only does this for me, he tries other people out, but I know with correct handling, he won't do it.
Start as you mean to go on :)
 
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Ok, Mines not a heavy but I think CB's have a very similar attitude.

I've had my boy since he was 16 months old and gradually he became worse and worse to lead - ironically a lot of the time, I was having to encourage him forward... then he began dictating where we went and I started using a Dually halter, which was fine for a while then started the setting the neck and just going - didn't trot or canter just set his neck and went, pushing me into hedges as he did... tried treats, tried leading from the off sidewhich did give me a bit more leverage, but then finally resorted to a snaffle... which was fine... again for a while and then he learnt how to evade that... the night before I moved yards was the most horrendous ever!! He got loose up the track along the side of the fields and gallopped flat out up and down for a good 10 minutes, the more he did it, the more he wound the other horses up so the more he did it. I feel your pain.

I am now at a much smaller, quieter and more contained yard and despite him trying it on with me initially, we are now in our 3rd or 4th week of using just a normal headcollar. I'm afraid, in order to achieve this I had to lay into him a bit but I only had to do this once - schooling whip across chest in order to gain his respect... now lead him on a loose rein too and from the field. Sometimes these old fashioned types really do need some good old fashioned horsemanship.
 
I had exact same problem - its the unpredictability of behaviour. The only thing that worked was a Kemp Controller - totally brilliant! Once she realised how it worked I never had another problem.
 
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