09/04/2024
How we do the small things is how we do all things
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Leading
Kathleen Beckham
I have been helping some more inexperienced horse owners lately, and that’s got me thinking a lot about leading. Because even if we never intend to ride our horse, we are going to lead our horse. If our horse is a riding horse, then how he leads kind of sets up how he’s going to ride.
Decades ago, when I transitioned from riding hunter/jumper show horses to practicing a more discipline-generic type of horsemanship, leading was the first things I re-learned. Actually, we worked a lot on it in the beginning. I think you could argue that I’ve been working on it about every day since.
What I see a lot is that leading, when we’re not very aware about how to “lead with quality” is that a horse that is being lead is kind of mostly under the influence of everything but the handler. The horse is actually bouncing, bouncing off the halter, and maybe bouncing their left shoulder off the handler. Then, they’re being repelled by things that they feel concerned about, and those things can be behind the horse, pushing or bouncing him forward, in front of the horse, pushing him backwards, to the left of the horse, pushing him to the right, or to the right of the horse, pushing him to the left.
Then, there can also be things that are acting on the horse by attracting him. He might be drawn by seeing another horse, or grass, or a person walking by with a flake of hay.
All these things are examples of a horse being lead by a handler, but being influenced by a lot of things that are NOT the handler. A horse who is being influenced by so many things outside of the horse/handler “bubble” is really kind of “lost,” if we think about it. He’s so susceptible to outside forces and influences, that there probably isn’t much of his attention left over for the handler.
Years ago, I was out of town, and a dear friend of mine was farm-sitting for us. While we were gone, a horse was going to arrive to start his training with us. At that time, the only place we could unload an 18-wheeler was in a pasture next to the horse facility at the farm. I told my friend that what she should open every gate between the van and the “new horse” paddock, because it was likely that she was not going to be able to steer or stop that horse on the lead rope once it got down the ramp. When she called me later that day to confirm delivery of the horse, she said she was so glad I’d had her do that, or they may have parted company several times between the van and the paddock.
While that may be “normal” in some environments in the horse world, it sure doesn’t have to be. It’s one of those things we can do something about. How a horse leads is SO fundamentally and profoundly important to him. It’s about safety for both of us, it sets up how the relationship is going to work, and it’s an exercise in being aware of each other and our surroundings. It’s an exercise in leadership, and it sets up how accurate our work is going to be, whether ridden or on the ground. We can’t kind of operate in a “horse shoes and hand grenades” manner on the ground and expect the horse to be very exacting under saddle. I mean, a horse can learn anything, sure, but I don’t know why we’d expect them to absorb such blatant inconsistency.
Any experienced teacher or horseman can tell a lot about a horse and a person by watching them “be” around each other on the ground, and leading is a big part of that.
When we’re really excited about riding our horse, it can be easy to just kind of “gloss over” the leading part, as long as we can get from Point A to Point B without major incident. It’s not “normal” for horses to pull away, it’s not “normal” for a horse to drag people around on the ground. It’s not normal for a horse to knock a person on the ground over, and it’s not “normal” for a horse’s nose to be so dull to the halter that he could pull a wagon with it. It’s not “normal” for a horse to rear or bolt on the lead rope. Or maybe what I’m saying is that it sure doesn’t NEED to be “normal.”
This is how I’d like my horses to lead. I’d like them to be paying attention to me. I’d like them to be aware of my “bubble” of personal space, and if something happens, I’d like them to try like the dickens to preserve that bubble for me. I’d like them to follow me, behind me, about the distance where a horse naturally falls in if they’re “hooked on,” so that’s about five feet away or so. I’d like them to follow me, fast or slow, in left or right turns. I’d like them to not pull on the halter. I’d like them to go when I go and stop when I stop. I’d like them to be as ready to back up as they are to go forward. I’d like them to be able to stop and stand/park at any time in any surroundings I take them in to. I’d like them to be RELAXED while leading. I’d like him to look the same way as he does walking to the water tank out in the pasture, except I get to decide where we go.
And I’d like them to offer to lead the same for anyone who picks up their lead rope.
Leading has to do with everything. It has to do with a horse’s balance. The way we lead a horse can cause him to habitually tip onto his forehand, and particularly onto the left or right front. The way we lead a horse, if we shut down the lateral reach of the left front constantly, can make it hard for him to do a turn on the haunches to the left. The way we lead a horse can cause him to expect us to be unaware and not observant. The way we lead a horse can cause him to see everything we do with him as a war. The way we lead a horse will dictate how good he is to trailer load. The way we lead a horse will influence how he ties. The way we lead a horse will play a role in how he responds to the bridle. The way we lead a horse will have something to do with how much detail he expects us to care about. The way we lead a horse defines our boundaries. The way we lead a horse simply says a lot about us as a horseman, horse owner, or horse lover.
📷 Russ Rogers