How to Halter a Horse

© 2005-08, Keith Hosman - All Rights Reserved

Also covered in this article to a lesser extent: “Catching your horse, stall manners and head shyness.”

I was in a great mood this morning; all was right with the world.  Then I spent twenty minutes trying to get a human on the phone when I called my bank.  After saying my account number for the 27th time to a computer, I was frothing at the mouth and blood vessels were bulging from my neck.  What's this got to do with horses?  Simply this: How many times have we approached our horses smiling – and walked away spitting nails?  Haven't we all wanted to take up a frying pan when our horse refused something simple like picking up his feet, standing for mounting or allowing himself to be haltered?  I write this article, then, in the interest of making your horse world a little less contentious.  I'll talk specifically about haltering problems, but the running theme can be applied to other, similar issues.

Clinton Anderson is fond of saying (something akin to) "frustration begins where knowledge leaves off."  Exactly.  But it also kicks in when we simply let something "get to us."  Do you think my banker would have got my goat this AM had I just won the lottery?  The secret to horse training may be "Get an education, be consistent and spend the necessary time," but simply saying that leaves a lot of room for interpretation.  So, today, we'll add this: "...And don't let the sucker get ya down."

Be advised that training your horse to properly turn and face you and/or training your horse to come to you are beyond the scope of this article.  I will go over a couple of quick fixes – but know that a horse that disrespects you in such a cavalier fashion has larger issues that need to be addressed.  That horse is telling you in no uncertain terms "You ain't the boss, get lost."  (And that attitude will surface when you're out riding.)  Do yourself a favor and get some info (from an article, a book, a video, or a pro) on how to teach your horse to properly stand when you approach.  Better yet, learn to teach your horse to come to you.  There's a huge difference between the attitude of a horse that walks away from you and the horse that comes when asked.

Halter breaking a horse begins like this: If your horse is in a stall and he turns away from you, then you'll want to annoy him until "something" (an ear, a head, a body) turns toward you, however briefly.  Be super careful and stand well away from those kicking feet.  A full "horse length" is a good rule of thumb.  Standing back, you'll rap the wall, clap your hands and basically make a racket till the horse turns and looks at you.  Stop and pause, telling the horse that this is what you were looking for, then continue to build on that.  Noise.  Turn.  Pause.  If he laughs off your attempts, amp it a notch by rapping him with a nice long lunge whip.  Be careful to pause and praise anytime he turns a body part toward you.  Most likely, he's developed this sort of behavior because he's been allowed to slight you in the days preceding.  If that's the case, you'll need to be consistent and let him know that from now on, you'll be a real pain until he complies.  Pitch the lead rope over the horse's neck when you can.

If your horse is in a small pen and turns away, then the only control you have at that point, is "how fast" he moves off.  Remember, a basic tenet of horse training: You can't make a horse stand still and the horse can't choose to stand still.  Capitalize on that "the horse can't choose to stand still" part.  Use your small pen to keep him moving until he realizes that looking at you is a whole lot easier than moving his feet.  If you approach and he moves off, send him away briskly, at a pace faster than he's chosen.  Keep the pressure up, waving and walking, shouting, etc.  Keep staring at him to let him know you mean business.  Don't let him slow even for an instant.  Keep him moving and forget about catching diddly for awhile.  If you've got more than one horse in the pen, simply concentrate on the one horse.  They're very good at knowing "you mean them" if you're careful to keep your focus (read: keep staring at one horse, ignore the others).  Allow the horse to stand only when he's facing you.  Throw the lead around his neck ("catching him") when possible.

(Please note that babies are a whole different ballgame and should be worked at a slower pace or in a different manner than described in that previous paragraph.  Their lungs and young bodies haven't yet developed so you're advised to pick up info dealing specifically with foals.)

If your horse is in a large pasture and keeps running away... don't put your horse in a large pasture.

How long it'll now take to actually get the halter on your horse has everything to do with your horse's level of training and/or which specific "fool trick" he might have picked up recently.

Is he head shy?  Does he have a cow when you touch his ears or chin or block his vision?  Then put the halter down and use your hands to desensitize him to your touch.  (Use a dressage whip at first if you feel he might throw his head about and strike you.  This would be a silly way to lose your front teeth.  Stand at the point of his shoulder if you feel there's any chance he might try to kick or walk into you.)  Begin by finding the spots where he doesn't like to be touched and do what any bratty older sister would do: Keep touching him there.  If you can't touch his ears, rub the area you can rub, edging ever closer to the ears as the horse grows bored, being careful to only remove our rubs when the horse pauses.  There's only one way to screw this up and that is for you to pause when he moves away.  If he moves, you move with him.  Remember, you "sensitize" the horse (that is, make him more likely to move) when you remove your pressure as he moves; you "desensitize" the horse (dull him to something) when you remove your pressure when he stops doing something.

If you're saying, "Yeah, but he moves his ears the second I touch them," that's fine.  If you can bring your hand up and over his ears even for a tenth of a second, you would have accomplished your immediate objective of touching his ears.  (Our long term goal is haltering the horse and we never start with our goal, right?)  All you need to do is repeat this over and over and over, slowing your hand above his ears as he begins to grow bored.  The horse has either grown sensitive to having his ears touched because people backed off as he pitched his head ("sensitizing him") – or no one's ever worked with him period (as in the case of a youngster).  Either way, our response is the same.

Keep pushing.  Look for spots where he doesn't want to be touched.  If I gave you $20 for each pocket of resistance, could you find some?  Resistance appears in the form of stiff muscles, four feet that appear to be "planted," and of course "head jerks."  Keep at this, however long it takes – petting, pausing, repeating – until the horse is absolutely bored.  Look for classic signs of a horse that has decided to work with you: They might lick their lips, drop their head, get a lazy look in their eyes, sigh, cock a back leg, etc. before moving on.

Do the same thing for the horse's neck.  You'll never get the horse's head lowered if it won't move in a relaxed fashion from left to right.  Put your arm straight out in front of you and flex your muscles.  Now, try to lower it in a "relaxed" manner.  You can't do it.  Same thing for your horse (now and when you're riding).  Apply pressure to that rope you've got looped around his neck and ask him to bend his neck, releasing your pressure only when you see or feel a relaxation (however slight) in his neck muscles.  Count one thousand one to three before repeating.  Try up, down, left and right.  Try putting one head over his forehead, the other one between his ears and ask him to lower his head by sort of "wobbling" it back and forth.  Use common sense, patience, and anything you can think of to ask your horse to relax his neck and head.  Get faster with your movements as the horse relaxes, asking him to stay calm as you increase your pressure.  You should be able to hop up and down, spin around, scream and push your horse's head about – all with zero resistance – before you move on.  Have fun with this; you're hanging out with your pet and you're making progress.

Okay, there may be another way to mess this up: The second mistake would be to creep around your horse like Tigger.  Remember, you're dealing with a prey animal and tiptoeing around sends a dangerous signal.  Keep everything in a "business-like" (or "fun") manner and you'll be miles ahead.  Also, always allow your horse to decide what you're working on – that is, while you may have had thoughts of riding, maybe your horse won't even accept being haltered.  Your horse has chosen "haltering lessons," over a trail ride.  Maybe I wanted to work on lead changes, but my horse wants to work on developing more hip control.  Accepting the fact that your horse is the one calling the shots is key to you having a good time out there.  Having a good time out there is key to you making progress – which, of course, is what keeps you coming back.

Finally, the halter.  Now you'll just repeat the desensitizing we've covered with our hands, but with the halter.  You'll tackle this by making this simple for your horse and by not forcing things.  If the halter itself causes a stir, then begin by removing it from the lead rope and using just the rope.  If he's fine with the halter two feet away, but not with it draped over him, then break it down and begin your work at one foot, eleven inches.  You might try using the rope to fashion a makeshift halter of sorts, looping it around his head, neck and ears.  Your goal throughout the process is to keep the horse relaxed.  If things flare up, back off and find something "less scary."  If you've desensitized the horse to the point of boredom as previously outlined, if the horse remains relaxed as you drape the lead rope about his nose, if his head is dropped and his neck muscles soft, you should have no problem putting the halter on as you would for any other horse.

This article is part of the "Basic Horse Training" series. To read more, or to find a clinic or Certified John Lyons horse trainer near you, visit horsemanship101.com.

About the author:

Keith Hosman: If your horse won't speed up, slow down, stop or turn, you missed the latest training methods from Josh and John Lyons.  Have you lost your confidence?  Want a horse to brag about?  Invest one weekend to make big changes with John Lyons Certified Trainer Keith Hosman.  Keith is based near San Antonio, TX and is available for clinics, private sessions and training.  He frequently conducts clinics and demonstrations — with an event coming soon to a town near you. For more horse training articles, or to attend a clinic or find a John Lyons trainer living in your area, visit horsemanship101.com now.  

No part of this article may be reproduced without the express written permission of Keith Hosman.  To contact us regarding reprints or syndication of our articles (in print or online), please contact us via www.horsemanship101.com.