My friend's horse behaved badly today.
He decided he didn't want to leave the ranch, and took her back to the arena twice. The third time we tried to go out, she dragged him along by the reins. His response was to rip the reins out of her hand and gallop off, leaving her to walk back.
Rusty was angry for two reasons. One, he'd been taken off his lush pasture and put in a new place. (Horses hate that.) Two, his owner had been told by a reputable trainer that he needed to have a bit in his mouth -- the semi-halter she used was not giving her any control over him. Today Rusty decided that he was not going to cooperate with anything. He braced his feet and refused to move.
I don't like to tell people what to do with their horses, because every horse is different, and what works with one may not work with another. However, watching Rusty winning every step of the way irked me enough to say that if he was my horse, I would make use of a stud chain to help him learn who was in charge.
A stud chain is a stout chain about a foot and a half long. You can see them used to keep horses under control when they're being led just before a race. For a really fractious horse, you can put the chain over the horse's nose (in worst cases they put it over the horse's upper gum) and the unpleasant pressure usually keeps the horse paying attention. Rusty had never had a stud chain on him, so we just looped it through the halter he was wearing, under his chin.
I took his lead rope, attached to the stud chain, pulled gently, and told him to come. He braced his feet and refused. I tugged again, told him to come, and again he refused. The third time, when he set his ears back and refused, I flipped the lead rope just enough to give him a little boink! of pressure from the stud chain. He threw his head up in great surprise!
We went through that sequence three times. After his third encounter with the stud chain, he came forward to me willingly, and got much petting for his troubles. Now he understood what the stud chain could do to him. It could jump up and bite him if he didn't do what he was told!
The only other thing we wanted to establish with that first encounter was that Mr. Stud Chain would assist a person leading him if he didn't follow willingly when led, or get out of the person's way if they asked him to move. "Move" means MOVE, every time, not just when Rusty is in a good mood. It's an easy exercise to do, by and large. The person leads the horse by stepping towards his hindquarters while holding the lead rope. The horse must turn his head, and move his big arse away from the person. Manners. "Get out of my way" is one of the most valuable lessons a horse has to learn.
When Rusty was reliably moving out of my friend's way, we ended the session on that upbeat note. Tomorrow morning we'll work with him some more. He's a good horse, and I've seen him do some fantastic work. When he gets over his snit and learns some better manners, he'll be excellent again.
I was a bit reluctant to step in and pick up that lead rope; I had just ridden the smooth and perfectly-behaved Duquesne for 40 minutes, and sure as hell didn't want to end up aggravating my left shoulder, which has finally started to heal. Fortunately Rusty was surprised enough that he wasn't interested in fighting, and then my friend took over. I'm dirty and a little tired, but I feel good. Finally.
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