Horse Training From The Ground Up

Lead, Lunge, Ground Drive
by Rhett Russell
Natural Horse Supply



"The right tool for the job" you've probably heard this expression -- as far as we are concerned, there is no way to properly train a horse without one of these tools.

We use lead ropes made from the finest quality soft, marine grade double braided nylon kernmantle rope you can buy. There is an inner core of braided rope covered by an outer core of braided rope. This gives the rope a "live" feel which you can use to send energy, direction, and feel to your horse. There is a huge difference between double braid rope and an ordinary rope. This difference also comes into play when training, the heavier feel allows you to send subtle "messages" to your horse which are not possible with lighter rope.

Your lead rope also doubles as a 12' longe line and a set of side pull reins. We trail ride with our rope halter and lead ropes all of the time. This is a good way for the horse to become accustomed to what's coming up next with the bridle and headstall. In addition, it's a good way for inexperienced or "bad hands" to get used to the feel of a bend at the poll without the bit to complicate matters with a young horse.

When we take an inexperienced rider out on one of our "good" horses, we set them up with a rope halter/rein headstall. This keeps them out of the horses mouth and makes for a good experience for all.

Leading

Leading a horse is one of the basic things that you need to do when you move a horse into a stall or to a different pasture. Most people can put a halter on a horse and lead them somewhere, but many of these same people don't pay attention to what's happening on the ground with the horse's attitude. Proper leading of your horse requires that; your horse respects your space, not run past you, and not run over you or step on your feet. Your horse needs to be able to follow on a loose lead. And, your horse needs to be able to move off with a feel when you ask.

Start by having your rope halter and 12' lead rope on your horse. With the lead rope in your hand, ask the horse to move off the pressure of the rope and follow. You are asking the horse to follow a feel, remember to ask with as little pressure as you want to end up with and use whatever it takes to get them to move their feet and follow. Your horse may not want to move it's feet, this is common. When the horse moves off of the pressure of the lead rope, release immediately and reward the horse. It won't take long before the horse figures out that your body is moving off and they should follow.

Your horse should be about 4-5 feet behind you on a loose line. You don't want them too close or they may walk over you if alarmed. The loose line gives you the ability to correct behavior, if it were tight the only thing you could do is pull on the horse's head. You want to teach the horse that the loose line is a good thing. This concept also carries over to riding on a loose rein, if you set this up right from the start your better off.

(Note from Willis in regard to leading horses: I can't tell you how many people have ended up in the hospital doing just that. The horse doesn't consider that the human can't see laterally as he can and won't notice him coming if he startles. The average horseperson isn't going to understand what's going on in this blind spot and probably won't "scritch" at the appropriate moment. Especially with mustangs, a reaction to something can be instantaneous and when you can't see the horse, you will not notice him telegraphing his anxiety.

In the safety program we teach leading the horse within the handler's peripheral vision. This usually amounts to the horse's head being roughly even with the handler's shoulder on a slightly loose lead so he can move his head. If he swings away, the handler can check his head. If he swings in, the handler can simply raise his/her hand by the horse's eye and wave him off. If the horse bolts forward, the handler can simply give the horse a tug on the nose to shift his balance and swing his rear end out, avoiding a stepped on foot or a pop from a kick.

Gates and bottlenecks are particularly dangerous, accounting for many hospital visits as the horse has nowhere to go if spooked forward but over the handler. At narrow gates, the handler can stop the horse, step through and around the gate post, then call the horse through the gate. To cross arroyos or other critically narrow passes, the handler can stop the horse, attach a long lead or lariat, then draw the horse through or across from a safe position.)

Don't let the horse anticipate you moving off. If the horse walks off before you ask, use the lead rope for a correction -- send some energy down the lead rope. Use this technique if the horse walks past you or into your space. Let the horse know right up front that this is not acceptable -- they need to respect your space.

While walking behind you, your horse should be paying attention to you and not looking around at other horses, birds, cars, etc. If this happens, simply bring their head back to center with the lead rope. Don't make a big deal about it, just use a small correction.

When stopping you should expect that your horse is paying attention to your body and posture too. The moment you stop, your horse should stop. This is very simple to teach. When you come to a stop, make yourself "big" by hopping up and lifting your shoulders. This is an extreme example, but it is going to get your horses attention. Do this a couple of times until you're sure you have their full attention and then try stopping with very little energy. Your horse should stop just like it did when you got big. If he takes a step, send some energy down the lead rope. If he continues to walk on, give a correction and make the horse yield backward by sending energy down the lead rope.

Here's something to try. Instead of going on a trail ride, take your horse on a trail walk. Use your rope halter and lead rope. Work on the same exercises that are discussed above. Ask the horse to move off with a feel and to follow you. Check your spacing and make sure she's not too close. Ask your horse to stop. Ask the horse to back up. Remember to reward your horse for appropriate behavior.



Longeing is used to teach a horse direction, posture, how to yield, and move off pressure. We have all seen people who won't ride a horse until after they have longed in order to get the extra energy or "stink" out of the horse so that they can ride. Think about how absurd this is - you should be the one who directs the horses energy where you want it. If anything, you should be the one who has the relaxed posture so that you don't send the wrong message to the horse. If you have a horse that isn't safe to ride until it's tired what the heck are you doing getting on? This is called "stealing a ride". Go back to the basics because something is wrong.

Longeing with a 22 or 45 foot line is used to teach a horse to yield from a greater distance than the standard lead rope. You can also work with difficult or scared horses from a safe distance. You will know that you've done your ground work correctly when you get your horse on the end of a 45 foot longe line and can get them to eye yield without "moving a muscle" or sending any energy down the rope. Once you've mastered this it's time to get rid of the training aids and try free longeing.

The most effective way teach a horse to longe is with a 12 foot lead rope. Begin by asking the horse to back up. Ask the horse to move off in a direction by holding out your direction hand and putting pressure on the lead rope. If the horse hesitates or will not move off, raise your power hand. If they still don't move off, direct energy at the horses rear by twirling the rope overhand. When the horse begins to move, take the power hand completely off and down to your side. You want the horse to relate the power hand to movement and if you always keep it up, it loses its impact. After you have used the 12 foot lead, then you can move up to the 22 or 45 foot lead. In some cases you may not want to start with the 12 foot rope, such as the above example of a scared or difficult horse.

When longeing there are two concepts to think about:

1). Direction: Where do you want to the horse to go?

2). Energy: How much energy do you want the horse to use to get there?

You control both of these things.

IMPORTANT: Your power hand has to be held higher than the direction hand. Otherwise you look like a clothes line to the horse and your just going to confuse him.

This is easier than it sounds. For example, if you want to longe your horse counter clockwise (to the left). Use your left hand to ask for direction, hold the lead rope with a little bit of pressure. Did your horse move into the direction that you asked? Twirl the rope overhand directed at the horses rear. Did the horse move off?

You also need to be able to longe from above the horse. This will prepare the horse for the time that you are sitting above him in the saddle. The easiest way to do this is off of a wood fence or arena wall. Make sure that your legs are anchored and you have unobstructed access to the horse. Your goal should be to longe the horse up and down the rail. At first you will find this difficult because the horse will drift out from you because they are not comfortable with your new height. With some time, you will find that you can bring the horse right up to you.

Energy is an interesting concept. It sometimes takes the rope to run into the horse for them to understand this energy concept. Once you have the techniques down with a 12 foot lead rope you are ready to move up to a 22 foot longe line. And once you have these techniques mastered with a 22 foot longe line, you can move up to a 45 foot longe line. And believe it or not, you may eventually be able to "free longe" without a line. After all, that's what round penning basically is when you do it right!



Ground driving is the basis for many things, probably most importantly to you is trailer loading. Before you can effectively teach a horse to ground drive they must be able to work on a 12 foot longe line. If you have an arena wall or fence you can save yourself a lot of time. The fence acts as a barrier which you can use to your advantage.

As with longeing, you have a direction hand and a power hand. With the horse on the wall, ask for direction with one hand and raise your power hand. Your horse should move off in the direction you ask. Ideally, you should be able to drive your horse from either side. You should also be able to work from the shoulder to directly behind the horses rear. It’s easier to start up by the shoulder and gradually work your way back.

To get your horse to stop, all you have to do is ask with the lead rope with an up/down energy motion in the rope. You also need to be able to ask your horse to change direction when driving. You do this the same way that you do longeing. Change hands with the lead rope, you now have new direction and power hands and ask the horse to move. It is important that the horse yield and make adjustments to it’s body to move around you.

A good exercise to practice for ground driving is to be able to drive a horse all of the way around an arena, round pen, or pasture. When you get good at this you can move off the barrier and drive the horse to objects, like a gate. Then your ready to move to trailer loading, this will be simple if you have ground driving working for you.
(c) 1999 Natural Horse Supply, Cloudburst Farm, and Rhett & Marilou Russell. Reposted with permission.


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