Leading a young horse

[tangoharvey]

So Olwen is two, semi wild and I've just started bringing her out the stable into the fields, a bigger field every few days. At first she seemed happy to just follow me on the end of the lead rope, I began making her walk by my side, and she kind if got the hang of it. However.....I caught her tonight and led her in, and it was like leading a wild stallion, her head was right up she marched on as if I wasn't there, I talked to her the whole time but had to lead her with my elbow in her neck just to have any kind of control!!! We got to the gate and she leapt through it, and swirled around on the lead rope. I managed to hang on and we made it to the stable! My questions are how do I reprimand a semi wild horse without making her go backwards and become frightened again? What is the best way to teach her to lead like a well mannered horse? Or am I expecting too much for a two year old shire X TB???

 

[L&M]

I found a Dually halter worked well for my young cob - not quite the powerhouse yours may be, but still strong and opinionated!!

 

[Queenbee]

I found sticking a rope through the mouth and leading from that helped me, worked wonders with ben. Who was not semi feral but a seriously bad boy sometimes

 

[be positive]

She needs you to spend time training her, if she has never really been led or anything else for that matter then she requires the training to learn what you want, walking beside you is all very well but once she decides she wants to do something different then she will behave in the way she did today.
Judging by your photo she is very big so a control halter may be necessary, start to put the basics in place before she gets too much confidence and learns she is bigger than you, just 10 mins each day getting her moving around when you ask, tying up, picking up feet etc, baby steps in the right direction while she is still a little insecure will really help her learn to listen and trust you.

 

[tangoharvey]

How do I tell her off though??

 

[Char0901]

I have the opposite problem with my yearling, he doesn't want to go anywhere!
Although when he does get on his toes a bit, I make him stop and back up a couple of steps and then we walk again and if he starts pushing into my space I stop again and do it again. He soon got the hang of it. I found that my boy is best kept out of a routine. If he knows that every time he goes out of his stable, he's going to play in the field, he would start dragging me down to the field. So sometimes we'd go straight to the field, other times we'd go for a walk around the yard first or into the arena. He's better if he doesn't know whats coming next.
My boy is big for 18 months, about 15.2, yours will be big too I bet! Best to try and get them to at least respect your 'area' as soon as possible, helps avoid being trampled!
A sharp 'No' and 'Wait' work well with mine, but he isn't 'semi wild'. Hope you find something useful in this

 

[flirtygerty]

second the dually, my 4yr old cob knows how strong he is, did some ground work in the field with him wearing it, but it needs to fit correctly, another method I use is, I give him one sugar free polo so he knows I have them, he then walks nicely sniffing my hand or pocket, it also reinforces his manners, I don't usually treat for obvious reasons, but it works for him.
Just remembered a tip given by the NH person I brought in, have a small bottle with stones in, any unwanted behaviour gets a rattle, your timing needs to be spot on though

 

[Gloi]

If the horse is semi wild you need to gain its confidence so I wouldn't think about reprimanding her at this point. Praise good behaviour and ignore anything else until she becomes tamer. If you can then find an enclosed area and practise your leading and handling lessons in there. Hopefully what she learns in the enclosed space will start to carry over into when you are leading her to the field.

 

[be positive]

How do I tell her off though??

You cannot tell her off as she has no idea what is really required of her, once she is established then you can expect more but at this stage telling her off will have no benefit as she will probably overreact and be worse.

 

[catroo]

How do I tell her off though??

It doesn't sound like she needs telling off, just training.

Rope halter, time and patience. Lots of walking and standing, rewarding good behaviour and ignoring bad.

 

[tangoharvey]

Ok that's great and I haven't told her off I just felt I needed some way of telling what's wrong but rewarding the good behaviour will do that won't it? Cheers x

 

[Pearlsasinger]

How do I tell her off though??

You won't need to tell her off, if you use a halter to lead her, the halter will tighten up if she pulls. I would make sure that she knows she is doing it right when she is, in other words praise and reward for doing the right thing, rather than telling off for doing the wrong thing - and make it easy for her to do the right thing. Do you lead her anywhere other than to and from the field? Or use different routes to get to the field?

 

[tangoharvey]

No I admit I only lead her to the field and back so I will add variety in, thanks that's a really good tip x

 

[Dry Rot]

It doesn't sound like she needs telling off, just training.

Rope halter, time and patience. Lots of walking and standing, rewarding good behaviour and ignoring bad.

This ^^^^^. A rope halter, properly used, is invaluable.

Edited to say do make sure you fully understand pressure and release as pulling against a rope halter is uncomfortable for the horse. You need to first teach them how to "turn off" the discomfort by not pulling, then they teach themselves.

 

[tangoharvey]

I can't use a rope halter yet, she came with a headcollar on that was too small for her and she has several deep sores that I'm treating so she has to have a padded headcollar x

 

[AdorableAlice]

How do I tell her off though??

You don't, well make that, you do but she doesn't know you have told her off, class it as 'correction'.

With the feral cart horse, known as Ted The Twit, I had similar problems. I could not use a rope halter as it was and remains impossible to get anything over his head and ears. I used a dually, don't need to now as the lessons remained and he is now excellent to lead.

I didn't view the leading as going from A to B, more of a teaching the horse to manoeuvre around me as asked. I did a lot of step back and wait work. The horse should be reading your body language and reacting. The dually must be used with a full understanding of pressure and release. Think of the pressure as being the 'telling off' and the release as the 'well done reward'.

When I had got his attention and full understanding in the yard I progressed to field leading, still doing the stop and step back work until he was totally brain washed that he stays with me, does not go any faster than I want to walk and when I stop he stops. This work had a knock on effect to stable manners, I expect all horses to take a step back when I open a stable door. Ted willingly steps back with just pressure from my looking at him and whispering 'back' when I open the door or if he is loose in the field.

A properly halter broken horse is a joy and pays back the time spent training in spades.

 

[BeingKate]

I found sticking a rope through the mouth and leading from that helped me, worked wonders with ben. Who was not semi feral but a seriously bad boy sometimes

Not a method I would use - on any horse but especially on a young horse, you will just create a bad experience for them and they'll associate being led with a nasty taste and harsh feel. As others say, patience and practice

 

[Queenbee]

Not a method I would use - on any horse but especially on a young horse, you will just create a bad experience for them and they'll associate being led with a nasty taste and harsh feel. As others say, patience and practice

Actually it worked a treat, it created no bad experience for my boy whatsoever. Anyone who knows him, (some of which are on here) will confirm that ben would actually seek out something to chew on, whenever walking around he would walk into you trying to get a hold on the rope. At which point I thought, fine - you want it, you can have it and started leading him with it... He instantly relaxed, no tension, no bad behaviour, no need to reprimand because he was focused on chewing his leadrope... It was like his comfort blanket, without it he was a menace, with it he was a dobbin. Personally, I will always go for the method that works best for the individual horse, this did. However, that is not to say, that I haven't been asked to intervene and lead some right beastly horses in the past and gone for this method, it's safe, gives control, and if a Horse is behaving like a git, very helpful. It takes a very short time for them to realise that they need to walk nicely and calmly. A preference would be a bit, but that depends on the horses behaviour and attitude at the gate. If it's too dangerous to prat around popping a bridle on to lead, it's a safe and effective method and as always, is only a bad experience in bad hands. Can't be such a bad experience if the horse spent all his time trying to chew the darn thing anyway.

 

[Alyth]

As many people have said he/she needs training....you don't need a headcollar, padded or plain to teach him to yield to a feel, a simple piece of string around the neck will do....you don't need a special pulley system either, just your feel and response....ask, and reward every try.....keep it simple...you need to go back to basics and not rely on opinions When he follows a feel he will go with you anywhere, through any distractions

 

[Tnavas]

I found sticking a rope through the mouth and leading from that helped me, worked wonders with ben. Who was not semi feral but a seriously bad boy sometimes

Absolutely not good thing to do to a young horse!

I've found a rope halter works well with pushy/towey youngsters. She is obviously keen to go in as I guess there will be food in her stable. Don't have feed ready and waiting. Instead when you bring her in groom her for a while before giving her food.

For those that invade your space a friend of mine has a length of Elkathene pipe which she threads onto the rope up to the clip, then secures it in place with a knot. The pipe produces a solid barrier between horse and person making it harder for the horse to swing in to you.

In the past before the rope halters were available I would use a lunge cavesson so that I had more control leading.