Leading in from field

I have one like this. He is 17 hands and a Friesian and I have to go across two open fields when bringing him in (not fun in the wind!) 🙈 He tends to be worse if he’s already got anxious and ready to come in before I have decided to fetch him so I always try and get him in before he starts pacing around or waiting at the gate. I do lead him with my boy purely as it’s such a long walk! Consolation is it’s uphill on the way in which does help. I use his ridden bridle with a grackle noseband and when he tried to shoot forward I simply stop. He learns that he actually gets where he wants to get slower so it is better to go at my speed. I also hang back towards his hindquarters if he tries to push and lean on with me with his shoulder so he can’t do this. His is definitely anxiety and it doesn’t take much to blow his brain - especially at the moment as he is out of work. I don’t know the answer completely but some horses are just more like this I think (usually the warm blood type from experience though..!) so you have my sympathy.
 
I have 3 …oldie has to come in on own or she ll go through fences so as not to be left behind so she is first and the other 2 stand back and let her go. Then I have to assess the mind set of the other two plus factor in the weather…if it’s windy..rainy etc and they are dancing at the gate I bring em in singly…with a bit in the mouth of the youngster. Last winter was challenging. This year I’m bringing both in together more often but I’ve broken the bringing in into small”chunks” and they get a piece of apple then we set off again…so..caught at the gate, open it stand nicely and wait and treat. Walk nicely along the track to gate..go through gate and stand nicely for me to close it and treat. Walk along tarmac road past scary tree copse and treat if need to focus attention on me. Then onto yard and into stables and treat. Now the youngster rarely has a bit and is better behaved than the mare I’ve had ten years!
 
Tiddlypom said:
I always bring mine in one at a time, even when I’ve had up to four.

Something major is going awry with his general respect and handling if you can’t even lead him safely in on his own. It might manifest itself in being difficult to lead in, but it goes down to getting the basics of handling throughly installed. He must learn to respect you.

Horses are too bleddy dangerous if they push you around on the ground. Don’t tolerate the little disobediences or they soon escalate.
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I also lead them in individually. It obviously takes more time, but you can deal with any misbehaviour as it happens. Work out which order is best/who will tolerate being left behind on their own. Maybe get someone to help with the others - they could headcollar and hold them in the field while you deal with the misbehaving one.

I have a Richard Maxwell pressure halter which I use if one is playing up and this gives me more control. If you buy one it comes with a DVD on how to use it.

I had a natural horsemanship trainer out a couple of months ago (just because I wanted to learn more) and she introduced me to a different way of leading. I had always been taught lead at the shoulder as this will keep you safe, but she leads from in front but to the side. In this way, the horse gets confidence from following you rather than feeling it is in the lead itself. It's a small change but it has made quite a difference to leading my two yearlings who can get a bit "stuck" when leading in.
 
Bobthecob15 said:
Is he hungry? My TB could be difficult leading in at the end of the day particularly in winter, they had little grass and no hay…so when I brought him in at dinner time he would kick off half way back to the stable, basically anticipating feed and hay!

So I stopped leaving him out all day and would bring in after 3 or 4 hours max…and his bad behaviour stopped. In his case I think the prospect of the full haynet and his feed bucket got a bit much for him!

Have you tried bringing in after just a few hours or putting some hay in the field etc? Just to see if the behaviour is different?
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He is only out until lunchtime. He has breakfast before he goes out, he has grass but obviously not very tasty this time of year! If I put hay out he won't eat it! I don't feed him at lunchtime as I didn't want him rushing in for food! He has ad lib hay in stable. If I turn out for an hour then bring in to ride I have no issues!
 
Midlifecrisis said:
I have 3 …oldie has to come in on own or she ll go through fences so as not to be left behind so she is first and the other 2 stand back and let her go. Then I have to assess the mind set of the other two plus factor in the weather…if it’s windy..rainy etc and they are dancing at the gate I bring em in singly…with a bit in the mouth of the youngster. Last winter was challenging. This year I’m bringing both in together more often but I’ve broken the bringing in into small”chunks” and they get a piece of apple then we set off again…so..caught at the gate, open it stand nicely and wait and treat. Walk nicely along the track to gate..go through gate and stand nicely for me to close it and treat. Walk along tarmac road past scary tree copse and treat if need to focus attention on me. Then onto yard and into stables and treat. Now the youngster rarely has a bit and is better behaved than the mare I’ve had ten years!
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He is quite carrot focused so I will try this. Thank you.
 
Flowerofthefen said:
He is only out until lunchtime. He has breakfast before he goes out, he has grass but obviously not very tasty this time of year! If I put hay out he won't eat it! I don't feed him at lunchtime as I didn't want him rushing in for food! He has ad lib hay in stable. If I turn out for an hour then bring in to ride I have no issues!
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Ah he’s a horse that likes being in then, would imagine once the grass comes through he’ll be better!

Agree try a Richard Maxwell halter, I’ve got one and it definitely helped with mine when he messed about x
 
Bobthecob15 said:
Ah he’s a horse that likes being in then, would imagine once the grass comes through he’ll be better!

Agree try a Richard Maxwell halter, I’ve got one and it definitely helped with mine when he messed about x
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When the grass starts he will stand out in any weather and is very rarely a problem to lead in!
 
Try treats. My lad is the saintly horse on the yard however there is a gateway that if he is in a paddock past it he becomes a troll. No idea why, I think he can maybe smell the pinemartens. Anywho the only way I’ve found to stop him pulling arms off and bolshing through the gate is to offer him a treat every few steps.. he then think every time I move my hand he’s about to get one and he slows and focuses on me. Eventually he forgets to be strong and I can go with a treat at the start and a treat at the end.

It’s not cheating to reward them for focusing on you.
 
Flowerofthefen said:
I don't turn out on really wet or windy days because I know he will be an arse. He's quite happy standing in!
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If you ever solve this let me know, it sound like they are quite similar 😆

Its the worst thing about winter for me... getting him in. I think its trigger stacking for mine. The length if time out, if he wants his food, if anyone else is out, the dark the weather and how much work he has done all can impact, but I cant say it is one thing setting him off.

He can usually deal with crap weather if he is in early & not the last out

He can deal with being last in if the weather is nice and he has plenty of food, even happier if it is still light

He is so good the rest of the time I get comments about how mannerly he is!
 
Harder if you are leading 2, but if you can see him building up to exploding/mis-behaving I would definitely try distracting him with a treat/carrot. Then have another in your hand, that you don't give him immediately and hopefully he will be thinking about the carrot not whatever sets him off.
Probably good to do a bit of bribery on his good days so he associates coming in with carrots.


There is a horse on the yard that some days a toddler could bring in, other days it takes a man and a dually headcollar and there is no way of predicting who you are going to get when catching him.

The best strategy with him is to have a pocketful of carrots and give him one and make sure he knows there are more and then he is focused on the carrots not being a knob. In his case it's his sense of humor, he is a very intelligent horse and if he does get loose he shoots up to the yard, then mooches around knocking stuff over refusing to be caught till he decides he's caused enough chaos then he walks back to you and will follow like a lamb 💁‍♀️🤦‍♀️
He's like it year round with no link to behaviour, work, feed, person.
 
I mean, everything you're saying - fine when the grass is growing, fine if you get in after an hour to ride - suggests he's hungry and that's exacerbating his behaviour. I would give him a small feed in / by the field before leading in, and see if that helps.

I'm a big fan of bribery, and I'm not averse to using treats in training, but I can see it going very wrong if he's actually hungry and stressed, and you start offering him treats as you're leading in.
 
Today I tried treats, it worked fantastically!!

He probably is a bit hungry but he won't currently eat hay in the field.

I don't really want to start feeding him before bringing in as it's taken me years to get him to not react when he sees me and thinks he should be coming in!! I don't really want him galloping over for food. He would literally run round screaming as soon as he saw me. Thankfully we seem to have got over that.
 
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Flowerofthefen said:
Today I tried treats, it worked fantastically!!

He probably is a bit hungry but he won't currently eat hay in the field.

I don't really want to start feeding him before bringing in as it's taken me years to get him to not react when he sees me and thinks he should be coming in!! I don't really want him galloping over for food. He would literally run round screaming as soon as he saw me. Thankfully we seem to have got over that.
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ours all do this, they are happily grazing until they see a human and then they all start going bonkers to come in. They are definitley hungry, hopefully won't be much longer till the grass starts to grow!
 
Flowerofthefen said:
Today I tried treats, it worked fantastically!!

He probably is a bit hungry but he won't currently eat hay in the field.

I don't really want to start feeding him before bringing in as it's taken me years to get him to not react when he sees me and thinks he should be coming in!! I don't really want him galloping over for food. He would literally run round screaming as soon as he saw me. Thankfully we seem to have got over that.
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Could you try a bit of haylage in the field? Maybe someone else could chuck a bit in earlier in the day. It might be more appealing than hay?

Glad treats worked.
 
Flowerofthefen said:
Today he came in like a donkey!! Lovely sunshine and no wind!! Waiting for my richard maxwell halter to arrive, hoping that will help when the weather is no playing ball!
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The friesian is the same - today was the first time I brought him in without a bridle for a long time and today I was actually telling him to keep up 🤣
 
Is your horse the same ridden in windy weather?
I had one that was dangerous to bring in during the winter. The livery yard refused to turn her out after she injured someone. She was happy in.
She then became sharp to ride and I thought this was a result of the lack of turnout, turns out she had neuro issues and the cold and wind was causing her a literal headache.
She was sound as a pound and great in summer. But winter was awful.
 
Ceifer said:
Is your horse the same ridden in windy weather?
I had one that was dangerous to bring in during the winter. The livery yard refused to turn her out after she injured someone. She was happy in.
She then became sharp to ride and I thought this was a result of the lack of turnout, turns out she had neuro issues and the cold and wind was causing her a literal headache.
She was sound as a pound and great in summer. But winter was awful.
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He is fine to ride in windy weather but he is definitely not keen on a cold wind on his face. I've been trying to decide whether or not to get him some sort of full face hood to go out in but I'm worried it will get over his eyes.
 
First day today using the richard maxwell halter!! Any naughtiness was firmly nipped in the bud!! I think tomorrow he will be fine to lead. I think it was a bit of a shock! The only issue I had this morning was getting it off him quickly enough in the field. He is a bugger for flying off when he thinks he has been released. I've tried a carrot but that didn't work. He is fine if I can undo the side of whatever I'm leading him in it's just when I take something over his ears. This behaviour also dissappears in the warmer months!
 
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