How to Correctly Lead Your Horse

Horse riders will of course see saddle training as the ultimate goal, but first it’s necessary to complete the groundwork. Before riding, your horse will need to be led to where you will tack up. You can’t begin to teach point B if you’ve not first mastered how to get there from point A. The two of you can only act as a team if your horse cooperates with you. This cooperation begins with your ability to approach, catch, and halter him first. Then you’ll need to lead your horse about with a halter and a lead rope.

With the primary objective of safety in mind, your horse needs to learn what is acceptable behaviour. You will need to address behaviours which come naturally to him, such as pulling against the lead rope. Your horse should also know that he must not invade the personal space of the human leader on the other end of the rope. Many an accident has occurred as a direct result of inattention to the importance of teaching your horse basic safety manners before attempting anything more advanced. Whilst a good equine insurance policy may cover you for accidents that happen in training, it’s obviously far more preferable not to have to find this out!

Patience, persistence, and positive reinforcement, the essential three P’s of horse training, come into play when leading your horse. If you have already achieved success at haltering, then you probably know all about the three Ps already.

Ideally you need to begin lead training with your horse when he is still a foal. A very young horse will not need to know just yet about saddles and riding, but basic ground manners training should begin early on. The youngster will still need to cooperate for the vet, the farrier, and for various operatives moving about.

Having the dam - the foal’s mother - on site can help dramatically when beginning training as the younger horse will naturally copy her behaviours. If not, any horse with which the foal spends time will also work. Young horses naturally learn from the older ones in the herd. For example, you don’t need to teach a horse in the pasture how to graze or go to the water and drink. They learn to do this by watching the other horses in the herd. If your student is older, you can still use another horse’s example by haltering and leading the other horse first. Horses notice everything that goes on around them - particularly if it involves other horses within the herd - so you can be sure that your student will be paying attention.

Start off by leading two horses - the foal and either it’s dam or a more experienced horse - side by side with you in the middle. Stay to the left of your student’s shoulder area as it is the safest spot for you, with the older horse to the left of you. A young horse could suddenly decide to bolt or to kick his heels, so make sure that you don’t wrap the lead rope around your hand or anywhere else that makes you vunerable. The last thing you need at this stage is complicating the process with an injury for which you may need to claim on your horse insurance.

Another method you could use, if you have a calm horse that you are comfortable riding and that the foal will follow, is the pony method. This is done by simply towing the student horse behind using a longer lead rope. This is actually a logical method for teaching the lead, as it’s natural for the young to follow the elders behaviour.

With no other horses nearby, you will need to rely solely on your patience, persistence, and positive reinforcement skills. Don’t be discouraged if it takes longer than you would like for your horse to understand what it is that’s expected of him.

After satisfactory progress, it’s time to try it alone. Again, standing to the left of your young horse’s shoulder and with both of you looking straight ahead, gently walk forward and as you step out, tug very gently forward, then release any pressure on the rope as soon as the horse makes any motion to go forward. Understanding that release is a reward to your horse is a valuable tip used by professional trainers. This lets your horse know that you are happy with his behaviour.

Once he has mastered walking with you in a straight line you can then attempt a small turn to the left while still maintaining the space between you. If he crowds you, use your right hand to push him out away from you and hold your arm out to the appropriate distance. Then try turning to the right with the same safety distance between the two of you, still using your right hand to guide him into the correct zone. Every time he takes a step in the right direction, remember to release the pressure on the lead rope.

Lead training requires large reserves of patience. Stay with it and you will see great improvement. Do a little work every day if you can and this will put you closer to the day you can finally saddle up for a ride.