Halter Training and Putting a

       Foundation on your horse

 I have found putting a foundation starting at halter training. When done right everything else falls into place. Taking these simple steps will help you to have a better relationship with your horse. Just have to remember the three P's as I call them, it is Patience, Persistence and Purpose.

  This is the first of a series . I will be going thru all the way to the saddle and to the finish horse . So I hope you enjoy and get something out of these.

 Equipment needed- Rope halter ,at  least a twenty -five foot lead or lunge line I prefer a round cotton one. That will if something happens it is less likely to get wrapped around a leg., lunge whip and a flag or a piece of plastic on a stick or on a broken whip.

 You don't need a round pen to get started if you have a small area would work. Should be at least twenty four x twenty four.

  When training a horse to halter no matter if it is a weanling or a two year old I start the same way. Before I put any forward pressure on the the halter I start by driving them  forward.  I start close to the flank area.  I am using the whip to move the horse forward also I am using the flag to keep the horse turning into me. The main thing is to watch your body position and stay at the flank area. The horse at first might react to the flag and move off quickly. Don't worry they will start to relax after a short time.

 When the horse starts to move forward let more line out. At the beginning I said you need a twenty five foot line. A good rule of thumb is to use one longer than the radius you are working in. That way if the horse gets away from you ,you still have plenty of lunge line. I use forty five foot cotton lines since I work in a sixty foot round pen. Also I have different lines on my rope halters.

On the right I am starting close then I moving the horse farther out.

 After the horse is moving forward I will pull on the lead and as soon as the horse gives I will release the pressure. When the horse starts to give I will hold the pressure a little longer. I am getting a few things done here. I am working on the horse learning to give to the halter plus I am teaching the horse how to give laterally. I will keep doing this until he horse will turn and face me if I keep the pressure on the halter. This is where I am starting putting the foundation on the horse. In time I will use this to teach the horse how to disengage the hind end.

On the left I am flexing his neck towards me I also step in front of his shoulder to encourage him to turn .  On the right he is bending real good and I am asking to move his front end towards me.

Here I am starting to teach the horse to disengage his hind end.

   The next step I work on getting the horse lighter on the halter and I will working on teaching the horse how to cross over on the front end. If you notice everything I am doing is going to come to play later down in the training.

 I will take my lead behind the hind quarters as shown. The horse might move off quickly when he feels the lead on his hind quarters.. Just make sure  you keep the line right above the hocks.

I am draping my line on one side  to the back of his hocks.

 I will keep doing this until the horse starts to relax and starts to give to the halter .It doesn't take long until the horse gets real light as shown in the right picture. Notice the slack in the line. At this point all I have to do is just to lightly bring the lead into play and the horse will turn towards me..

   If you notice I haven't put any forward pressure on the horse yet. That is the next step, also remember to work both sides of the horse. I work one side just as much the other. I don't work on the stiff side of a horse longer. If you do that you will have to go back and work on the horse good side because it will end up getting stiff. So work both sides the same, the horse will get light on the stiff side in time.

Here as you see just like on the right side he is soft on the left side also. The most important thing is that I put more pressure on him he will turn towards me and not move away from me. He is telling me he is learning what the pressure from the halter means.

  Since now the horse has a idea what the halter is . I don't have to worry to much about going up in the air when he feels the halter on his poll when I ask him to walk towards me. The next shot you see me pulling on the horses lead. Now as soon as he gives to the pressure I will let him have some slack. I don't care in I get one foot at a time..

 Even thou I am facing the horse I will not look into the horses eyes. If I do that the horse will freeze on me. I will keep this up until I can ask the horse to move forward with a light touch.

  The picture on the right  I am asking him to move forward. Here again look how much slack I have in my line. When the horse to starts to give to the halter and come forward real well I will refine it to the point that  I can ask the horse to move just one foot at a time. When the horse is leading good I will try to get the horse to the point each foot step of theirs with match mine. I want them if I stop in mid-stride they in turn will be stopped in mid-stride. When the horse is leading fine I positions the horse so their jaw line is in line the my shoulder. I don't want the horse to get in front of me. If the horse gets a little head of me . I will put my flag up real fast so I can get a reaction out of them and they back off. If I am using a dressage whip I will tap them above the front leg. When I stop walking I expect the horse to stop right then. You need to realize that when leading a horse in the horses mind you are taking the leadership role. So if you let them get by with something while leading it will show up in other aspects.

 The next step will be to ask the horse to move backwards. At first I will take his halter and push him backwards and with my flag I will move it down low at his legs as shown.

 I want to get the horse to the point if I just walk towards the front part of their shoulder  the horse backs up.

  After a time I shouldn't have to really put any pressure on the halter  when working the horse in hand. To me the halter is just there if I need it.  The key thing is to keep working on each step until the horse does it willingly and relaxed. Also don't over school on the horse on the in hand work. If you do to much the horse will sour and not want to work for you.  I don't work a horse in liberty until the horse works well in hand. I want to control his movement . I don't want to the horse to learn when I first start working him he gets to run around . I don't really do much lunging . I know a lot of people do just for the sake of getting the horse tired. But I want to train a fresh horse , I want them to learn that I can just crawl in the saddle and get to work.

  Also if you do this properly when it comes to teach the horse to tie. You will  be surprise .Most horses will end up just standing there as soon as the feel the halter because they know what pressure from the halter is.

 What the horse learns at this point is going to come to play in the end. Because the horse is going to learn how to move from pressure ,how to cross over on the front and how to disengage his hind quarters.

I hope you got something out of this .

 take care and "Be true to the horse and they will be True to you"