Become Your Horse’s Herd Leader Today

Becoming your horse’s herd leader means your horse will learn to respect and trust you. Being a leader means you’ll never have a problem horse. Being your horse’s leader doesn’t mean beating your horse into submission, on the contrary, if you observe horses in a field you can usually see who is the dominant one, not because that horse is savagely attacking all the other horses, but in the way other horses approach him or her. In fact treating your horse harshly will only make him fearful of you.

Horses are herd animals by nature and this makes it easy to become your horse’s leader. Problem horses always respect the pecking order of the herd, so if your horse is a problem horse, becoming his leader will make him respect you. Horses look to their leaders for guidance and protection and if your horse trusts you, you are already one step ahead in the game. Establishing leadership is relatively easy; you should never allow your horse to head-butt you or invade your space. The horse should never be allowed to crowd you, lean on you, step on your feet, kick or bite you.

If your horse tries to nip or bite you, give him a light tap on the nose to let him know this is unacceptable. All too often horses become unmanageable because they have been handled incorrectly. Horses aren’t born with problems, bad management creates problem horses. If he leans against you or invades your space uninvited, push him away. Any time you feel the horse is leaning too close, give him a small push to move him away from you. If your horse charges out of the stable as you’re leading him out, use a bit to give you more control over him.

At feeding time don’t allow your horse to begin eating until you give him the go ahead, if you observe a herd of horses at feeding time you’ll notice that the dominant horse gets first choice and the others give him or her space, only when the dominant horse eats do the others begin to eat.

Teach your horse to stand still when you’re mounting or dismounting, if your horse moves around while you’re mounting it means he doesn’t respect you. The horse should also allow you to groom him without any fuss. You should be able to handle and lift his feet. If your horse is reluctant to being handled, keep at it, it takes on average 60 repetitions for a horse to learn what is required of him. Use a lot of positive reinforcement and always end your training session on a positive note.

Horses respond to calm, assertive leadership. You can’t expect your horse to respect you if you’re nervous and fearful, the horse will sense these negative emotions and become anxious. Be consistent in establishing your leadership over your horse as the horse will constantly challenge you.

If you’re dealing with a problem horse, force isn’t going to work, your horse is much stronger than you and if you engage in a show of strength with him you’re invariably going to lose. Focus on being consistent and make sure your horse always understands what is required of him. Confusing your horse will only result in the horse being unsure and nervous and can result in your horse becoming what is commonly referred to as a problem horse (remember, there are no problem horses, just horses that have been handled incorrectly). Establishing leadership over your horse will result in a horse that trusts you and is responsive to your cues.

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