This approach creates a light response from your horse every time

Article by Diana Thompson and Harry Whitney

You could call it an equine/human version of tug-of-war. We pull on our horse's heads to lead them somewhere and they pull us back. As they lean to the right, we drag them to the left. Under saddle isn't much better. Many horses brace against the bit when we ask them to turn, actually turning their heads to the direction opposite of where we want to go. Others travel leaning on the forehand so that collection and stopping in a light, coordinated manner are next to impossible.

While our goal is lightness and harmony, most of us are using considerable muscle to pull our horses left and right, forward and back. It almost feels like you're driving a fully loaded semi-truck with the old-style manual steering and bad brakes. It's a vicious cycle which usually escalates over time: the rider uses more and more force which brings on resistance and disobedience from the horse. What is happening here? Is there any way out of the loop?

Teaching Responsiveness To Harry Whitney, clinician and trainer from Ottawa, Kansas, the way out of resistance lies in one simple task: teaching the horse to correctly respond to pressure on his head.

If the horse understands how we want him to respond to light pressure on his halter or bridle, that is, with a specific, organized response which ripples from his nose to his tail, he will follow our direction with lightness and willingness. If, on the other hand, we fail to consistently ask the horse for the correct response and reward it with a release of pressure, the horse will learn to pull on the halter lead rope, lean on the bit, move on the forehand, and respond with annoying and potentially dangerous actions.

In this first article of a two-part series, Whitney will illustrate the incorrect and correct postures horses assume on the lead rope and longe line as they either brace against their handler, or yield correctly, preparing to follow the handler's request. In the next issue of The Journal, Whitney will show the incorrect and correct way a horse can be taught to respond to pressure on the bit and reins while being ridden.

Wait And Be Pleased

Keys to Whitney's teaching are an emphasis on waiting for the correct response from the horse and consistency on the part of the handler. "There is no reason to use a lead rope, longe line or rein on a bridle, UNLESS each and every time you apply pressure, you wait until the horse yields his head at the poll, turns his neck, bends his body, and moves his feet in the direction of the pressure from the rein", Whitney says. "If we release our pressure on the rein before the horse has yielded properly to the headgear (while there is still some resistance or brace in the horse), we have told the horse if he resists long enough we will release the pressure. We have taught him to lean."

Whitney underscores the relationship between a horse pulling the handler on the ground, leaning on the longe line, and bracing against the reins under saddle. Chances are, if the horse has learned to resist against pressure for one piece of equipment on his head, he will be sluggish and slow to respond to another. Whitney teaches horse owners to be consistent in their use of all equipment during leading, longing, or riding, so they can create lightness on all levels.

On The Lead Rope

The key to all the following exercises is to apply pressure and wait for the horse to move himself - don't pull him! There is a big difference between using pressure on the lead rope to pull a braced, resistant horse in the direction you want him to go and using pressure as a cue to direct the horse to move his head and shift his own weight, organizing himself to lightly follow your direction. It's a lot easier to each a 1,000-pound horse to move himself that it is to try and move him physically by pulling him. To teach your horse a correct response, follow these steps:

First, put pressure on the lead rope - enough to meet the horse's resistance but not enough to pull him sideways - and wait.

Once the horse turns his head at the end of his neck (at the poll joint), to turn and look toward you, release the top (don't drop it; just release the tension). Do not reel in the line and keep it tight as he turns. Say "Thank you" for the correct response he gave you and relax. The horse needs slack in the line as relief from pressure so he knows he has gone in the correct direction.

At this stage, don't worry about whether the horse has turned as far as you want him to in that initial moment of release. If he yields at all to the pressure of the line by turning his head on the end of his neck to look where you want him to go, instantly release the pressure on the line to reward him. After a brief pause, you can always take the slack out of the line and apply pressure again to ask him to turn a bit farther.

It's important to get the horse to turn his head himself (rather than you having to pull him sideways). Humans can look straight at you while thinking about something else. Horse's can't. Once you have the horse's head - including his eyes and ears - pointing in the direction you want, he tends to think about moving there. Once he looks where you want him to go, if you ask him to think move, he will bend his neck, organize his body and feet, and go in that direction lightly, without any pull from you. It is crucial to understand that once a horse's attention - his mental focus - goes somewhere, he tends to physically move there as well.

In contrast, if you pull on the horse's head and bend his neck WITHOUT getting him to turn his head so his eyes and ears turn and look where you want him to, he will resist turning because he is "thinking" in the other direction. He will lean on the forehand and he won't turn with lightness or coordination.

Step By Step

In the following sequence of text and photos, Whitney describes the specific response a handler needs to request from the horse each and every time pressure is applied to the lead rope and long line.

Photo 1 shows incorrectness on the lead rope perfectly. Magic, a 5-year-old Selle Francais gelding, has given his attention to something off to his left; he's certainly not focused on me, his handler. He's neither with me mentally, nor with me physically; in fact, he's resisting or bracing against me. You can see th resistance by the tightness in the lead rope and the tension on the halter. Magic is looking left and he has also bent his neck to his left (the opposite of what I am asking). He has put most of his weight onto his right shoulder so he can resist against my pull.

From a safety standpoint, a horse has a great amount of strength in his neck once he gets it locked away from you like this. It is much easier for him to resist an dpull you around than it is for you to direct him.

Also, if Magic became too concerned with what he was looking at over on his left, there is a good chance he would swing his body to line up with his head. This is how your toes get stepped on, your body gets flattened, and your chiropractor gets richer.

If I were to release the pressure right now, while Magic is pulling on me, he would learn that he can ignore my cues and that if he pulls long enough, I will let go. I continue to match Magic's resistance by keeping pressure on the lead rope and waiting for the correct response.

Mental Focus First

In Photo 2, Magic is beginning to yield to the pressure. His mental focus is starting to come to me because he's moved his head and his right ear is tuned into me. His left ear shows that he is still taking in what he was looking at before, although less intensely. Things are changing.

While his head has not turned on the end of his neck yet, his neck has swung toward me and he has shifted his weight from the right shoulder. He is not braced against the lead rope any longer.

In Photo 3, Magic has totally yielded to the pressure on the lead rope and is focused on me. He has turned his head and is now correct in the bend of his body from his nose clear through his poll, neck, and body. He is balanced over both front feet and appears to be ready to follow my direction and move his feet to the right in a light, easy manner.

The total slack in the lead rope shows both Magic and I are relaxed. Magic has a softer expression on his face which further shows his willingness to be with me. He has relaxed the muscles of his topline which allows him to lower his head. He is ready to follow my next direction gracefully, with balance and cooperation.