Youngster turns into me when leading

Pc2003

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I get my 2yr old in once a week or so just to groom/feet used to coming in etc. Today he had the vet. The vet was late so he was in a super strop by the time she got there. I knew I was in for a challenge putting him back out 😂
He doesn’t read/buck/kick etc but he does this snake neck thing and ends up turning into me. I back him up etc but as soon as I try turn him to face the way we need to go he does it again. So sometimes we just stand and wait but it doesn’t really help. I normally have to switch to leading him form the other side and keep switching to get him to face the right way and not shoulder barge me into the hedge.
A lot of the time he is fine. I lead him in a control head collar.
Any tips?
 

be positive

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If it is one with the rope across the nose then it is encouraging him to turn towards you, I would either use a normal headcollar which sounds as if he will be fine in or possibly try clipping the rope to the outside and then under his chin so you can hold his head away from you more easily, my guess is he is getting mixed signals from it and is confused, they have their place but can be a bit of a blunt instrument and rather clumsy on a sensitive type.
 

Pc2003

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If it is one with the rope across the nose then it is encouraging him to turn towards you, I would either use a normal headcollar which sounds as if he will be fine in or possibly try clipping the rope to the outside and then under his chin so you can hold his head away from you more easily, my guess is he is getting mixed signals from it and is confused, they have their place but can be a bit of a blunt instrument and rather clumsy on a sensitive type.

Ye I did wonder that actually. We would get to where he wants to be 100 x quicker if he just walked forwards rather than sideways 😂
 

paddy555

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I lead in an ordinary headcollar and a longer length of yacht braid lead rope. (bit heavier than headcollar rope) We walk along straight ahead on 2 parallel paths, he doesn't come into my space and if he does then I walk along spinning the rope to protect my space.
 

Pc2003

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That’s exactly what I’m aiming for. What do you do when they get ahead of you though?
That’s where it starts with us, he gets excited and starts prancing about then feels the rope so turns into me?
 

paddy555

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I do lots and lots of stops. I don't use whoa but HO, loud and sharp. I also do lots of backs.
I correct them before they even do it wrong, ie just grab them the instant they are thinking about it and do a HO before they can go wrong so they have got it right. Find a suitable place to practise and do it when you have the time to correct it.
Another thing I do to get their attention and them walking, stopping and backing is with poles on the ground lengthwise. I use a long schooling whip held out to the front. It guides them in a straight line with the pole on the other side. When I want to stop I use HO and bring the whip in front of the horse as if you are closing a door. I use the whip to guide the horse around corners ie open it sideways to do left and bring it across the front of the horse to guide it right. We do this at the rate of about 2 steps forward and one back. One step at a time around the end of the poles so the horse is really concentrating on you.

Everything is done very slowly a couple of steps at a time. No prancing allowed, I also teach the horse to lower his head on command so that when we stop and if he is getting excited he is told to lower his head so he stands and waits calmly.
 

Pc2003

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That’s really helpful thanks. My youngster has done nothing but lead in and out of his field so need to up my game. Thanks
 
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