My horse panics when the lead rope is dragging on the ground.

We had the shoer out and he was doing quite a few horses.
My horse was caught up out of pasture and turned loose in the round pen, in the open near the end of the barn where the shoer was working.

I had not done very much with him for about 3 weeks. he gets turned out to a ten acre pasture with 6 or 8 other geldings every other day.

He is a 8 or 9 year old gelding Thoroughbred, he was gelded when he was 5.

I first rode him in a loose jawed snaffle curb bit. He didn't seem to have been into a curb yet. So was going to go back to the beginning and start with just a D snaffle.

This incident has to do with me having to take 20 minutes to catch him in the round pen. Then he pulled away and had the 10 ft lead rope dragging and hitting him around the back legs. He just got going faster & faster in one direction and there was no turning him until someone came up and just happened to be able to snag the end of the lead rope and he stopped. I was able to walk him around the pen staying very close and got him back to his stall which has a small outside run and the next day he was still pretty spooked and I had to work quite a while just to get up to him and brush him without trying to halter him.

Just 3 days earlier I took him to the round pen, he gyped both ways and changed direction and worked at a walk, trot, and gallop with no gyp line and came to me to "join-up".



Answer:

I hesitated for 2 days wondering if I would consider answering this because the techniques are in conflict with what we do at Horses by Nature. Reading our website before asking a question of this nature would be beneficial. Then I thought, well maybe for the benefit of those reading this, I would share what I would do. But I know this is going to come across a little harsh, So I apologize in advance..


I don't believe this horse is afraid of the lead rope as much as he fears what's happening at the other end of the rope!

The first thing to recognize here is this horse's fear and panic level. It's huge! Then the environment and keeping methods have me concerned. If the horse is put in with 6 or 8 other gelding every other day, what happens in the interim? Plus these horses would need to re-establish their order every time they get together. This can be very stressful. This horse needs a more consistent arrangement where life doesn't change (herd mates) and routines are established.

The use of bits will not solve relationship or control problems they always make them worse. I would eliminate all bits and start working with this horse on the ground and with clicker training/positive reinforcement methods. And we don't put shoes on our horses for reasons already addressed on our site.

If you can't catch you horse, what does this tell us? Answer: They don't enjoy being with us! Why? Because we haven't addressed their needs and perspective or gained any trust in the relationship. How do we solve this? Answer: Learn more about horse psychology, their natural lives and eliminate personal agendas. Work hard at having a trusting relationship from the ground first.

A horse still appearing spooked the next day tells us a lot more took place over the evening as well as the day. This horse is staying in flight mode way too long and is emotionally unraveling at the seams.

It's time to dispel this thing called "join up". It has been well documented by scientist that this chasing a horse around an enclosed area where they cannot escape from is barbaric and extremely stressful. All it does is put a horse into a "helpless learning" situation which is not at all a way to gain trust and respect. So round pen work that many advocate is really obsolete.

I have put tons of information on this site just for the taking. Please feel free to use it to your advantage.

Elaine