# My horse won't walk on a lead rein down the field!!



## LouiseKA19 (Oct 10, 2014)

I have loaned my mare for the last 10/11 months and she has become increasingly bad with being led in from the field. This problem is progressively getting worse :-(

She doesn’t come to call (at the most may glance or take two steps to face me then think the grass is prettier and go back to eating!) BUT She is willing for me to approach and put her head collar on, but foot plants periodically every two steps on the walk down the field.

Her owner has advised me to just keep walking and when I reach the end of the lead rein pull very hard in the direction I want to go…The pressure will eventually make her move forward, then release the pressure as soon as she moves.

Problem is, as soon as the pressure releases she stops again! 
She lives with another mare that she almost seems to busy pulling faces at to want to leave her, the other horse has a tendency to get close and follow, as soon as my girl spots her, she is even more belligerent with moving forwards and turns with her ears pinned to the other mare.

I have tried her owners method, I have tried taking my time, I have tried coaxing with treats every steps she does take…

I am just hoping someone will have some suggestions!

Thank you very much!


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

She might give the other horse the 'hate face' but she still resents leaving her
You could try leading in a bridle and carrying a long schooling whip and use it to tap her behind the 'girth area' every time she stops
My horses always have a small feed waiting for them in their stables - even if its just a few sliced carrots and a handful of pellets its something for them to look forward too when they get in


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Look into Clinton Anderson's Lunging for Respect. Your horse starts following you instead of leading you bc he waits to see where you want him to put feet. Just using a lunge whip could cause him to rush away from you, pull your arms out at the end of the lead rope and get loose, and thus become harder to catch. Schooling is what is needed here. I do use a lunge whip when I am training for leader Better, but you need to master the groundwork, first. =D


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

dominant horses are quite often the ones that suffer from herd boundness.

stop wasting your time trying to coax her by waiting, treating or petting. 
take a dressage or lounge whip down with you. or, if the leadline is long enough, you can use the tail of it to make her move her feet.

first, when you walk forawrd, if she stops, pull her off to one side and when she takes a step , walk on forward. this is one way , and it's the nicer way. chances are it will work once or twice, at best.

now, hold the line further down the line. in ohter words, give her more like 6 feet of rope. walk forward, facing forward. when you reach the end, and the rope becomes taut, keep a good pull on it. if she resists, take the whip (or the long tail end of the lead rope), and while still facing forward, swing it around behind you (typically off your left side) and let it contact her flank. 

she'll move. maybe sideways, maybe backwards, maybe frwards. but, her feet are not longer planted. if you keep a forward pull on the line, eventually , she will move and follow that forward feel. if she does, let her put a bit of slack in the line before you walk forward. 

the idea is that you put a feel of forward on, then, if she doesn't move, you loosen up her feet. she moves somewhere, and that continuing forward feel on the rope says, "here, move here". and if she does, the pull lessens, so she gets a reward. she finds FREEDOM inmoving forward.


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## BreakableRider (Aug 14, 2013)

Go out to catch her with a rope halter if you have one and a long leadrope ( 12-14ft). After you halter her, move her feet some. Go back to her hindquarters and twirl the end of the rope, making contact with her if you need to so she moves. You want her to be using enough energy that her front feet are also walking a small circle. Normally, i'd suggest just leading her forward but this is such an ingrained habit to lock up and lean on the halter that she needs to be thinking "move" before you ever ask for her to move forward.

After she's moving around, go ahead and walk forward with a quick, confident stride. You want her to have quite a bit of slack, 5-6 feet should work well. As soon as she hits the end of the slack and puts pressure at all, whether it's because she didn't walk fast enough to keep up or because she stopped here is what you'll do. Switch to your left hand, and as you get the lead in that hand, point your hand up and out to direct her ahead of you and out on a circle. Then take the tail of your lead and really go after her shoulder to push it out onto a circle to start her lunging. If she goes backward, walk with her and keep that pressure on until she goes forward. Make her move around you at a brisk trot for almost a complete circle. Then as she is about 3/4 of the way around, face the front again and walk forward. That forward momentum should keep her moving forward for a little while at least. With horses like this, don't get onto them if they go in front of you. At this time, you want all of that forward motion, just pick up a jog to keep up with the trot. If she slows to a walk but keeps moving, go ahead and drop down to a walk as well but make it a brisk walk. 

Any time she takes the slack out of your lead, send her forward, don't pull on her. When you put steady pressure on a horse, they can easily lean on it and they can lock up and turn it into a pulling match that you won't win. Give her that feel, then follow it up with the driving pressure of your lead rope at another part of her body. 

I've used the method where you reach behind yourself with a whip, but I am very uncoordinated. I always miss, like 8/10 times I will miss or if i'm really unlucky I will somehow manage to whack myself. I just can't do anything if I can't see it. I can't even tie a bow on an apron since it's behind me. However, everyone's hand eye coordination is different. It may feel very awkward for you to make that quarter turn to the right and send her forward since you have to switch hands. For this, she does need to know how to lunge however. 

This is an exercise I'll practice all the time as i'm leading to make sure my horse s paying attention. I'll walk forward at a normal pace then suddenly speed up and cluck at my horse to come forward as well. If they hit the end of the slack, I'll send them forward. Then i'll do the same but slow down. I'll walk forward normally and slow to tiny little baby steps. My my horse doesn't slow to my speed and goes in front of me i'll make a big circular swing from the left side to the right and slightly behind me with my right hand. The swing will cause the tail of your lead rope to swing around you. You horse can either respond to your body language and move or they'll get hit in the chest with the lead rope and move back. If the horse responds pretty sluggishly, i'll take a step backward and do the same thing. You want your horse to get behind you and out of range for this correction, not just make a small step back. After that i'll speed up again to see if the horse will respond to that feel on the rope and my body language. 

It's a small thing to do as you go about your daily routine but it will really get your horse broke. If your horse is overly spooky on the lead, they will quit it because all of their attention is on you and not looking around everywhere. It will get your horse really soft to your halter and help if your horse has issues tying up as they are learning to come forward off of that pressure. If your horse is just generally sluggish leading, it will fix that.


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## tnaworld (Oct 7, 2014)

Hi Louise, this obstinance to move forward was part of the issue I've been having lately with my young mare except instead of pulling faces at another mare in the field, she was pulling faces at ME! It's still a work in progress but in the last day or so I have tried leading her from quite a different position than I would normally, standing behind her shoulder line on her left side, holding the lead in my left hand (so the rope witha bit of slack in it comes across my body), opening my left hand and pointing forward and then standing ready with the handle of my whip in my right hand ready to poke her girth area if she doesn't respond to my cluck (or her shoulder if she moves it towards me - which she was naughtily doing). I'm in a sort of herding/lunging position instead of a leading position although my body is still facing more forwards rather than towards her.

This position is working well for me at the moment - it might not work for you but it could be worth just trying to lead from a different position than you would normally. I had another young mare once that once she started to get ornery while leading, I'd switch the side from which I was leading her and she would pay attention again. It re-focuses their attention and sort of re-connects in their brain that they are supposed to be listening to you.


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