# Horse did something strange today



## Crazy4horses2 (Jul 12, 2017)

Ok my brother in laws 4 year old colt has serious leading issues and every time I need to work with my horse I have to take him and their other horse to a different part of the pasture so they will leave her alone while I work with her.

Anyway today when I went to catch him I had forgot to grab his halter from the fence post and I just had my lead rope so I just wrapped it around his neck and was prepaired for a fight but nope led like an angel! All the way to get his halter stood perfectly while I put it on him BUT as soon as I started to lead him he locked up his legs!?!? 

I was thinking what in the world happened?? I got him to eventually lead like I normally do but then it hit me like a rock his owner likes to try and drag him and their other horse around by their halters and they are wearing well were wearing rope halters until they managed to take them off somehow. 

I'm not talking just leading by where the lead rope clips to she grabs the side of the halter and will pull tug yank anything to get them to move. Could what the owner does be the reason why he led so peacefully with just the lead rope around his neck?


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## Mopy (May 8, 2017)

There is a very good possibility. My horse used to be terrible when led because the trainer had a chain on his nose and would yank really hard if he even looked the wrong way. It's been about 6-7 months now without the chain and he is super calm and follows you like a puppy, with or without a halter or rope. He also likes to fall asleep when you tie him up. Lol Silly horse.


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## Crazy4horses2 (Jul 12, 2017)

This booger likes to try to untie himself if he cant he will just stand there and chew on the lead rope until you come back lol I love how sweet he is but he has major holes in his training which is sad.


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

One of the reasons I moved my gelding from my previous barn was the fact that the B/O would put a stud chain on him and yank his head down to teach him "manners" for leading. It caused him to be horribly head shy and to the point where he refused to be caught when in his stall/run and during turn out by anyone other than myself. I have no idea why the B/O thought he needed a stud chain in the first place; he had never shown any inclinations to being hard to lead by myself or others in the barn and she had never mentioned him being hard to lead until AFTER he had started becoming headshy and hard to catch. After I moved him to the new barn it took a single hour of work with the trainer there for him to overcome his haltering/leading issues (and no stud chain/shank lead was used) and he never had any issues about his head, being led, or being caught after that.

I think there is a possibility that the way the colt is being handled by the halter impacts how he reacts to being led. The lead rope around his neck doesn't have the same mental impact as does the halter so he does not resist it as much. But I suppose if the owners yank him around the neck by the lead rope he will begin to react the same way. It could also be bad manners and disrespect of the halter and being led, as well as associating the halter with work and not wanting to do it aka he's being lazy. Or a combination of all of those. But the problem also has the potential to get worse and he could get to the point where he is head shy and/or you can't catch him at all when he is out in the pasture. If it's a problem the owner is concerned about they should probably figure out what the cause is and then go from there on fixing it before it gets worse, whether that's changing how they lead the horse or by teaching the horse better manners with haltering and leading.

The colt actually sounds very similar in personality to how my gelding was; he used to sit there and mouth at his lead rope until he could untie it. Once I fixed that problem he figured out a way to turn himself around to the other side of the hitching post and into the brush so that I had to untie him and go through the whole process again. It added on about ten minutes every time to our grooming/tacking up phase. He was a smart booger and always tried to look like an angel after he had done it.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

It does sound like the horse could be "leading sour" due to poor handling - but have you ruled out pain? Possibly in the poll area?


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## Mopy (May 8, 2017)

Crazy4horses2 said:


> This booger likes to try to untie himself if he cant he will just stand there and chew on the lead rope until you come back lol I love how sweet he is but he has major holes in his training which is sad.


Tucker is half the time falling asleep and half "I will untie myself". He has successfully untied himself and his buddy many times. But that is usually when it is cooler outside. He also likes to unlatch gates and carry buckets everywhere. He is so funny!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

The more I learn about horses, the more surprised I become at how very sensitive they really are. The first horse people I got to know at all were so rough with their horses that I got the idea horses were thick-skinned creatures who couldn't feel light touch. Nothing could be less true.

Nobody needs to YANK on a stud chain. IMO the entire reason for using a stud chain is so that you don't HAVE to yank. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.


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## Crazy4horses2 (Jul 12, 2017)

horseylover1_1 said:


> It does sound like the horse could be "leading sour" due to poor handling - but have you ruled out pain? Possibly in the poll area?


 I wouldn't know how to tell if he was in pain or not he just locks up and refuses to go forward the owners honestly I don't think they really give a hoot about them I mean they were supposed to move them closer to where they live this spring and still haven't gotten around to it! They come out to check on them maybe once a month I honestly think if they can't put in the effort to properly take care of them then they need to sell them or get on the ball and move them!


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## Hondo (Sep 29, 2014)

Wondering what he would do if the halter was on but with the lead rope around his neck? If he would lead that way ok, might be able to transition the rope to the halter after a while.


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## Crazy4horses2 (Jul 12, 2017)

I will try that thank you for the idea it might just work!


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

Grabbing a horse who "leads poorly" right by the cheek of the halter is a great way to guarantee they'll never learn to lead well! He may just not have leading manners because he's never been given an opportunity to learn them -- not because he's inherently poorly behaved. If they're never given any slack in a lead line, IMHO they'll never learn to handle themselves, never learn to given the person leading them appropriate space, etc. I feel bad for him.

If he's going to learn to lead well at this point, sounds like he needs to be driven forward, not dragged. If he resists on the halter/lead combo, I'd step off to his side and drive his quarters forward with a dressage whip or the end of my line. Reward the movement with a slack lead, walk on, and repeat as necessary.


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## Crazy4horses2 (Jul 12, 2017)

That is how I have been working with him on leading with the rope. He is a lot better then when I first started leading him around but whenever his owner gets out there and yanks him around by his halter he is a complete butt the next time I have to deal with him.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

I believe the owner is the "complete butt."


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## george the mule (Dec 7, 2014)

Hi Crazy!

FWIW, most of the time I "lead" my critters by politely asking them to move and indicating where I want them to go. If this doesn't work out, the next level is a "catch-string" around the neck, and this nearly always serves. I always carry a bit of P-cord in my back pocket for just this purpose. In fact, I have found that a catch-string works fine on most domesticated horses. For mine, the halter and lead-rope are used to signify "on_the_clock", and go on for vet, farrier, or if I will be loading them up to go somewhere.



newtrailriders said:


> The more I learn about horses, the more surprised I become at how very sensitive they really are. The first horse people I got to know at all were so rough with their horses that I got the idea horses were thick-skinned creatures who couldn't feel light touch. Nothing could be less true.


Just this ↑↑↑ IMO, Less is More, particularly with equines. _My_ equines, anyway. If you have to be mean to them to get them to mind you, I'd suggest that you need an ATV or something 

Steve


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## Crazy4horses2 (Jul 12, 2017)

I totally agree there!! Since they aren't my horses they are just pasture mates to my horse that is extremely herd bound and very hard to catch, I have to catch the other 2 in the pasture to catch her but hopefully this issue will be resolved soon and I can catch my horse without the need to catch the others first my horse previously belonged to them and I honestly think they made her catchable issue worse I've never tried to drag a horse by their halter. Using the lead rope only is a very rare thing for me to do and amazingly he responded so much better to it. I've never thought about using paracord I have tons of it at home I might just give that a try.


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## george the mule (Dec 7, 2014)

Here is mine. It is 3mm cord, 4-5ft long, with a knot at each end. Just flip it over their neck, grab the knots, and go.
This is my primary horse handling tool; has been for years.
I carry the rest of the length I cut up to make this in my trail bag as an "upscale" replacement for bailing twine. It's about twice as long with a small loop tied in one end; adequate to make a come-along hitch and short lead. One should always travel with a bit of stout cord, and a Leatherman or Swiss Army knife. The equestrian's repair kit


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