|
LETTING A HORSE
DRAG A LEAD ROPE
QUESTION: My
father worked with horses all his life. He said
the best way to halter break a weanling or
yearling or any unbroken horse is to put a stout
halter on it and a lariat and just let the horse
drag the rope. After a few days, he would pick
up the end of the rope and the horse was already
1/2 trained to lead and tie. What do you think
about this practice?
ANSWER: I do
not like letting a young, frightened horse drag
a lead rope because stepping on the rope sores
up their faces to much. So what was happening
with your father is that once he eventually
picked up on the lead rope, the horse was so
used to jerking it's own face that indeed it was
partially broke to GIVE IT"S HEAD when pressure
was put on the rope. And it's face,
especially the nose and behind the ears would
have been terribly sore. It had
trained itself basically to give to pressure but
pain was involved which is not fair or the right
way to train a horse. Pain is not what
a person should allow when training any animal.
At the same time I
will say for the record (I do not like
saying it in case a person doing it does not
follow SAFETY and HUMANE CARE tips as written) but
doing so a couple of afternoons AFTER THE HORSE
IS WELL TRAINED TO LEAD AND TIE and under close
supervision (rope should be far longer than a
normal lead shank and made of soft, thick
cotton), a horse does learn to not be frightened
of a dragging rope touching it's legs, etc. The
halter should have a Wide, Padded Nose Band and
also Padded on the neck piece, behind the
ears (I use soft sheepskin on the nose band and
behind the ears) to protect the face and
head when the horse steps on the rope. The
corral must be Small (preferably round, no
corners) and good, high wooden, strong fencing.
Absolutely no wire of any kind or poor fencing
that the horse may crash into or through!!!
Why would I do this
if I don't like it???
You would not
believe how many older horses, well trained,
calm as can be..............one day they get
themselves untied or pull away or something from
the owner..............that quiet old horse has
never had his lead rope brush against his legs,
etc. That calm horse becomes scared to death,
running scared out of his wits, even smashing
through or over fences in his panic. People in
his way can be run down and injured. You see,
he is well trained, a loving soul but no one
thought to get him accustomed to a rope dragging
around his legs, etc. I have seen it happen
once too often at rodeo grounds, at horse sales,
at group gatherings. The people are always in
shock that their horse did that? But then that
horse never had a lead rope dragging off his
head before either!!!
Better than letting
a long lead rope drag off the halter, a person
should touch the horse all over his legs and
body with a rope as part of the horses early
training. Wrapping the rope around the legs and
his barrel (over his back and underneath where
the cinch will someday be) while holding both
ends of it. You need a minimum 20+ feet for
this. The horse should be tied securely and
safely at this time. Talking softly, moving
slowly as to not further frighten the horse, get
him used to the rope. They may panic at first
but once they realize they are not being hurt,
they soon ignore it.
You have the rope
around the horses leg or his barrel. You gently
get the horse used to this thing touching him.
He kicks, he perhaps panics a bit. You can
slack off pressure or even if necessary (preferably
not though) let go of the rope. There
are no loops in the rope tied around the horse's
body, understand. You do not have it tied onto
the horse. Both ends are held in your hands.
This was a hard
question to answer. A horse must be taught to
accept a dragging lead rope and it must be
taught to not panic when ropes touch any part of
its body. But be Fair, Kind and Decent about
causing no pain. |
