How to lead
A Horse
How To Lead a Horse
Sharing buttons:
hi my name is Emily Bertrand and today
we're gonna talk about how to properly
lead a horse we're gonna use our model
here Rory he's a chestnut thoroughbred
owned by Emma Delano
so Rory has his halter on and the lead
rope is attached to the halter we're
about ready to go but first things first
we have to make sure we're holding the
lead rope properly we take our right
hand and we're gonna place it under the
snap
we never place it on to the snap because
if the worst were to move away or make a
sudden movement we could accidentally
unclip the horse we wouldn't want a
loose horse so just below the snap with
my right hand and then my left hand we
coil up the lead rope this way but we
don't want to do is wrap it around our
hand because one we could break our hand
and two you never know if something
happened we could get dragged by the
worse it's very dangerous
so we take the lead rope we're just
gonna fold it up inside of our hand this
way put my right hand under the snap and
we're good to go
so we're about to take Rory out of the
stall because we're going through a
doorway I'm gonna approach the doorway
make sure I open it nice and wide waits
for me I'm gonna go through the doorway
first you never want to go beside your
horse and get stuck or pushed up against
the wall and you don't want ever to let
your horse go ahead of you
noise control so I'm gonna go first and
then he's gonna follow okay so we saw
that when we lead a horse through a
doorway that the leader always goes
first and then the horse follows behind
otherwise when we're walking around and
leading our horses there's a better
position to be in we don't want to be
walking ahead of them so we're gonna
stand between his head and his shoulder
and we're gonna stand elbow width apart
that way if your horse were to push into
you you could push him off you by using
your elbow horses respond to pressure
and release a pressure if he got too
close I'd give him a little elbow so he
removed out of my space
we also would never want to get our feet
stepped on so I'm gonna leave him and
under the snap I've got my lead rope
he'll properly in my hands I'm gonna
look forward where I want to go I'm
gonna stay between his head and shoulder
and I come on
[Music]
[Music]
so what do you do if your horse starts
dragging you or pulling you or doesn't
want to move we want to apply pressure
and release a pressure this is how
horses respond to us it's how we
communicate with them so if my horse
let's say is trying to drag me that way
Rory wouldn't because he's such a good
boy I don't want to be pulling against
him because if he's over here and I am
pulling and pulling he'll just pull into
me more it turns into a tug-of-war you
never want that to happen so if a horse
pulls you you can't beat him he's 1,200
pounds
you don't want to pull against him what
you're gonna do is you're gonna have a
squeeze release squeeze release this
will get their attention get them paying
attention to you and responding to you
it can be sharper and stronger if you
need to if the situation were to
escalate the horse was really pulling
you that usually doesn't happen but it
can but we want to squeeze release
squeeze release same as if we want to
walk for and he doesn't want to move I
don't want to stand in front of him and
pull him because he'll never follow us
we want to stand with him between his
head and shoulder and I'll be here I can
hook and as this give a little squeeze
release and tug on the lead rope if I
need to
[Music]
