The DEAR CINDY Column
Here is your chance to get your training questions answered by Cindy Branham, John Lyons Certified Trainer. Just email your questions to jlrockinrc@juno.com. Your questions and Cindy’s answer could be in the next addition of the Checkerboard Corral.
Dear Cindy,
My horse pulls back when tied. He frantically pulls until he snaps his lead rope. Then he comes and stands next to me like nothing happened. Why does my horse act this way?
This is a great example on how a horse reacts to pressure. Horses pull back because they do not like the pressure of the halter/lead rope when tied. It makes them feel trapped.
The horse quickly learns that if he pulls back just right he can get a release from the pressure. So he resists the pressure, pulls and snaps the lead rope, gets a release, and then relaxes from that release.
So, we have to teach the horse how to give to the pressure and teach him that he can get a release from the pressure a different way.
I teach the horse, not tied, but in hand how to give his body forward when he feels the pressure. I repeatedly jerk the lead rope on the horse’s nose at an angle to the ground. The pull back horse will usually pull up and back with his body. I continue the jerking until the horse takes a step forward. I instantly release the pressure. The horse will learn that the release from the halter/lead rope comes when he steps forward. Repetition is the key to changing the instincts of the horse that pulls into the horse that gives and stands tied.
Horses always want a release from pressure. If we use that idea in our training, then the possibilities are endless in teaching our horses.
