Holes in the Horse's Education: Lightness vs Softness

It is my job when a horse first comes in to evaluate “where the horse is at,” mentally, physically, emotionally, and experience-wise.

One of the most basic and common initial scenarios is a horse that is “light” on the lead rope (constantly offering slack on the rope, but physically tight), when led in the “normal” position (standing somewhere near his head and drawing him forward with the lead rope.)

The problem appears if a person attempts to stand ahead, or off to the side, about a lead rope length away, and tries to “draw” the horse forward without the human stepping.

“All of a sudden” there is a brace (the horse stands rigid and leaning against the rope). The horse has no concept of how to “follow the feel” of the pressure the lead is creating, and instead, it feels like a game of “tug of war.”

The resistance toward lead rope pressure affects all of the “tools” a person would communicate with both from the ground and while riding.

There's no mental directability, no specificity in the communication, and no adaptability in the horse.

Many horses that have issues with “brakes” while ridden are completely resistant to any direct pressure used with the lead rope.

Another leading “issue” is the horse that is walking at a reasonable pace next to the person, and is asked to increase or decrease his energy, using the lead rope to draw him forward versus the human having to walk faster or slower to get a change.

Often, when drawn forward with increased energy in the rope, the horse just stretches his nose and neck as far forward as he can and gets “heavy” leaning on the lead rope (i.e. fast forward to a Trailer Loading scenario where the horse is standing outside "leaning in" with their head and neck but legs rigid and locked.)

If the horse only has one walk speed while you're leading him, why would there be an assumption that he would be adaptable with various energy levels when you're riding?

I ask the horses to have 10 different energy levels within each gait, helping them learn from the ground first creates adaptability in their movement.

For many folks, because the "goal" is to get the horse to change their movement while being led, if they are missing the tools of having a mentally directable horse, or don't have an understanding of how to physically help the equine let go of the tension (by being able to move his head separate from his neck, shoulder, ribcage, and hindquarters,) the common answer is to "add more pressure." Whether from behind in a driving manner towards the horse, at his hindquarters or shoulder, using the tail end of the rope, or something like a flag.

Though people may get a change in the horse's speed of movement, they are not creating a mental availability in the horse, nor are they creating soft movement. They are not filling in the "hole" in the equine's education nor are they addressing the horse's defensiveness towards pressure.

Because the animal did move faster, the human is under the illusion that they got a change, without realizing how they tried to "fix" the horse's resistance, which actually created more defensiveness in him toward human interaction.