Horse IQ

When you were a kid, you played “follow the leader” with you little friends, I’m sure. But did you know that horses play the same game in the wild? They had to in order to survive; it is part of their God-given instincts. You can use this to your advantage when training your horse to obey you…if you understand a few basic principles. Let me illustrate…

Horses in the wild travel in herds. Because of this, most horses are natural-born followers. Every wild horse herd has only one leader - usually a lead mare. As long as the rest of the herd feels that the leader is strong and just, they’re very content to follow her wherever she goes.

If the horse feels like the leader won’t let any harm come to him, he’ll follow. It’s just a horse’s nature.

Your domesticated horse is no different. As a matter of fact, your horse sees you as part of the herd. You just happen to look, act, and sound different than his other horse friends do. So if you can take control and show strong leadership that your horse trusts, you’ll be the herd leader. And your horse will gladly follow you.

Let’s say you’re on a trail ride, covering ground your horse has never seen before. You come to creek you need to cross. If you’re fortunate enough to have an experienced friend on the trail with you, let your friend’s horse cross first. This will show your horse that no harm will come to him when he crosses.

Or, if you’re alone, you may even want to dismount and lead him across the strange creek for the first time. Once he trusts that you won’t lead him into a situation that will hurt him, he’ll consider you to be the lead mare of the herd. Then crossing other strange obstacles will come much easier.

Professional horse trainers use techniques like this to connect and bond with their horses. Some horses trust their trainer’s leadership so much, they follow them around without a haltar or lead rope!

It’s all a matter of trust. If you take control, show strong, safe leadership, your horse will trust you as his leader. And you’ll be able to connect and form a strong bond of trust. And when that happens, horse training will be infinitely easier. Not to mention more fun!