Getting Started with Leadership Skills:
by Jonelle Reuland
  Building leadership from the ground and riding have much more in common than you may think. If you have ever seen a rider who makes riding look easy, with a horse that is performing willingly with very light contact, what you are seeing is a horse that has accepted its rider as its leader and is willing to yield to pressure. This means riding that appears to be effortless is really the result of a LOT of effort.

The horse's natural instinct is to lean into pressure. For a horse to yield to pressure, it must feel safe. The only way this happens is by developing a relationship with your horse that clearly positions you as its leader because to horses, leaders mean safety. The lighter the pressure you can teach your horse to give to, the easier your horse will be to handle on the ground and the lighter it will be under saddle.

One way to do this is to make certain your horse respects your space. This is easier said than done because it is very likely your horse will challenge your position--and not once but over and over, especially in the beginning. To help you get on track and ensure you provide consistent cues about what is acceptable and what isn't, it is helpful to imagine a bubble of space that surrounds you.

Then you must make certain that your horse stays out of that space at all times. Consistency is very important. For example, allowing your horse to use you as a scratching post, even once, is a very powerful reinforcement that elevates your horse to #1. Then you risk having a horse who steps on you, pulls on you, nips or bites, rushes in and out of his stall, is dangerous to turnout and difficult to groom and tack.

Once your leadership is well-established, you can invite the horse into your space if you choose. The key is to make certain he clearly understands that you control that space, not him. If you are a relatively small person you may think that this is beyond your physical capabilities. But if you observe a herd with a pony, leadership is not about size! Horses communicate with each other in very subtle ways, only rarely resorting to physical attacks. Usually all it takes is a "look" to get the job done once the pecking order is established.

While you may need to use larger, more dramatic movements at first, once the horse understands what you want because you have been consistent in how you ask for it, you will find your moves can become much smaller and quieter. Horsepeople with solid leadership skills can get their horses to move any way they want, including backwards, without so much as a tug on the lead rope!

Handling a horse on the ground speaks volumes about the horse's attitude and past experiences to knowledgeable horsepeople. They know that if the horse hasn't learned respect and to yield to light pressure on the ground, it isn't going to magically happen in the saddle.

Once your horse accepts you as the leader and will yield to pressure on the ground, the next step is to teach your horse to yield under saddle. While you may need to begin with more intense cues, as with your groundwork, your goal is to refine them. Classical riding is a great example of this; the horse perform brilliantly from cues that are invisible to the audience.

Some examples of behaviors that indicate you are not at the top of the list in your horse's pecking order that can lead to an ultimately dangerous situation include:
  • Backing up or planting the feet when leading
  • Leaning on you when you ask the horse to lift its foot
  • Hanging on the bit
  •  

Even horses who are ridden and handled regularly may not see you as number #1. They may lead okay but will they yield easily and willingly to a touch on the shoulder? If not, it is unlikely they will bend in that direction under saddle. That's because horses can move in six different directions: forward, backward, side-to-side, and up and down. A horse who has accepted its position as #2 will yield easily and willingly in all directions with any part of its body. Western training principles refer to this as "freeing up" while dressage and classical principles refer to this as "suppling" the horse's body.

Horses who are very stiff and resistant under saddle, because they have not learned to willingly yield, may even develop long-term physical problems. So you are doing both you and your horse a favor by taking charge. You get a better, more relaxed ride and your horse has a pleasant workout that reinforces your positive relationship.

GETTING STARTED - Testing the Boundaries of Your Bubble.
To begin, walk your horse to an area inside the arena, round pen or paddock. Ask the horse to stand still with its weight equally distributed among all four feet. For this exercise it is very important that the horse does not lean in one direction or another.

Then you begin to build your bubble. If you have a horse who is a "close talker", always wanting to be in your face, you may need to build a very large bubble, standing facing the horse, more than an arm's distance away. Make your body tall and confident as if to say, "do not come forward". You may even want to try leaning a bit forward toward your horse.

When you position yourself at this distance does your horse remain still? Or does he walk towards you, lean towards you or poke his nose in your direction? If he shifts his body in any direction, reposition him.

Then ask your horse to yield to pressure. Holding on to a lead rope that is attached to the ring underneath the chin, soften your stance, lean backwards and apply mild pressure to the halter with the lead rope, asking him to "yield" by taking one step towards you. As soon as you feel the horse shift forward into the first step, drop any remaining pressure. This will teach your horse to seek relief from the pressure by moving in a direction away from it.

After one step, use your body language to ask the horse to stop by standing up tall and leaning your weight toward him. You may even raise your hands to chest level with palms facing your horse for additional, non-physical pressure.

Watch how your horse stops. Is his weight equally distributed between the front and back feet? Or did he lean in towards you or just continue walking? If he did not stop squarely, reposition him and try again. It helps to make sure your horse can notice a clear difference in your body language (both posture and weight shift). A horse who knows his place as #2 will yield to both the physical pressure (created by the halter and lead rope) and the non-physical pressure (the change in body language).

Surprised by the results? Pleasantly, I hope! But if you found this exercise to be more difficult than you expected you're not alone. Many horses learn to cope with the with the environment we put them in by yielding to the physical restrictions and pressures we impose on them such as crossties, and leg and bit pressures. They comply only because some of the yields have unpleasant physical consequences if they don't. But do you really want unpleasant physical consequences to be the basis of your relationship with your horse?

Developing a relationship in which the horse responds and yields to very light physical pressure or even the non-physical pressure of your body language on the ground can lead to a more pleasant riding experience for you both.

For people who want to tackle this as a do-it-yourself project, many books and videos, representing virtually every discipline, are available that teach leadership skills by using groundwork as the foundation. For those who feel they need a little more help, many riding instructors also incorporate work from the ground (whether in hand or in the round pen) in their riding programs. No matter which approach you take, if you are consistent you will begin to develop a relationship that will be more fun for you both-and isn't that what having a horse is all about?

Jonelle Reuland, owner and trainer of Gateway Riding Center, Oswego, Ill., uses an integrated approach to riding that combines leadership skills with classical riding techniques to help the horse develop balance and flexibility while the rider develops timing, feel and a secure seat. You can reach her at 630-554-1446