Leading a horse that walks much faster than you!

Teaching join-up. A horse which is proficient in this will never walk beyond you or dilly-dally behind you.
 
ditto, its the first thing i did when i brought my bargy baby cob, walk. halt. walk. halt. walk. halt always one step (level head to your shoulder) behind you, if he/she gets in front, he/she goes back and repeat and persevere. its the best feeling in the world, i love it when he stops to cross the bridleway leading to his field every morning and evening.
 
Unfortunately this is for a friend with a new horse, so the relationship isn't exactly established yet. I suggested considering a controller headcollar, altering timings of bringing the horse in so it doesn't automatically connect going in with a nice dinner, and my own favourite rope spinning (oh God, almost Parelli there) but welcome any other bright ideas
smile.gif
 
Sounds like they are absolutely perfect candidates for join-up then, if they are not already bonded. It's a wonderful bonding exercise, done correctly of course.
 
Hi, Yeah I agree join up, re-establishing ground manners etc... I bought a monty roberts Dually headcollar when I bought my hardly -ever-handled youngster (rather expensive at £40) but it was worth every penny, I don't use it any more as don't need it now, maybe worth your friend looking into?
 
Now I am not talking from experience here but one of my very good friends bought a nice little dressage horse which she affliates and she treats him like a little prince and he is thoroughly spoilt, he is good to do in every single way with the exception of going to and from the field where he becomes deranged (apparently). This is so hard for me to imagine as I've only seen him so so well behaved and charming. The YO insisted on a chiffney for everyones safety and apparently it's solved every single problem. I have no experience of these and to be honest no idea what they are but she swears by it although she tells me she doesn't like to tell anyone this as it puts them off but he is honestly an angel in every other respect. xx
 
Everytime ours went to walk past our shoulder we would throw our arms up, which in turn made us bigger, the gesture caused them to almost halt, they would be rewarded (not necessarily with food) & walked on again. They soon learnt to stay with their head at your shoulder. I was also taught to lead from their shoulder for showing, but that gives them the responsiblity of being the leader which should be your job.
 
I'll second the buy a dually, allows you to use pressure in a far less severe way than a chiffney. I also lead Daisy with a lunge rein because the further away you are from the horse the harder it is for them to tow you. Something to do with physics that I don't really understand. The inclination of most of us (including me before I knew better) when faced with a bargy leader is to hold the leadrope closer to the head or to hold the headcollar itself. Holding the leadrope about a foot away from the head and with a loop in it so that it is slack is very effective. If the horse pulls against the slack you are in a much stronger position to stop them. It's not that easy to explain. I'd suggest that your friend buys a dually and books a session with an equine behaviourist. Alot of people are snooty about them but why not spend £40 learning to lead your horse compared to the hundreds of pounds people spend every year on lessons
 
hmmm I think my friend is embarrassed about the chiffney hence why she doesn't advertise the fact. The funny thing is she didn't buy a horse once because it was in a chiffney (oddly enough another dressage horse, am I missing something?). I've never seen one or a horse in one but it sounds severe. I watched Monty roberts at Merrist wood and the dually looked wonderful for control.
 
Oh chifneys definitely have their place in the equine world. I always keep a chifney for absolute emergencies....or complete and utter nutters.....thankfully I tend not to have these sorts of horses any more.
 
A ground work session making sure the horse moves back/away etc from the handler, without to much pressure, establising some respect on the ground.
then being taught that pulling doesnt help, a short yank and stand still for a few seconds then walk on - if that fails i find a rope wacked across the chest works well IMHO.
Or as they start pulling round on them and throw arms up so they back away.

its about whos boss and also if its the last horse to come in, to dinner, it not unexpected that its going to hurry, i would!
 
Top