Category Archives: Leading positions

Leading Position 4 – Beside Ribs

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If we have first taught and consolidated and generalized Leading Position 3 (beside neck/shoulder), it’s usually easy to move from LP3 into LP4 (beside ribs).

This leading position encourages the horse to move with us with his shoulder well out in front. The handler is where he or she would be when riding. In fact, riding is Leading Position 4 sitting on the horse rather than walking on the ground with him.

I sometimes use a body extension to clarify the task for the horse from a distance. A light touch signal just behind the withers for ‘walk on’, (as well as all the ‘walk on’ body language – big breath in & raised energy, step off with outside leg, voice cue) helps to make our intent clear – ie. we want to stay beside the horse’s ribs while we walk along together. The other use of a body extension is to indicate, by bringing it forward, that we don’t want the horse to turn toward us, but to walk on straight.

We also ensure walking straight by using a lane (horse in the lane, handler outside the lane) and by walking in straight lines between a series of targets. Once the horse understands the task, a small finger tap behind the withers and our voice signal, are usually all that is needed.

to summarise, if we have taught the horse that a tap behind the withers (with our fingers, eventually phasing out the body extension), the tap, a deep breath in and a voice ‘walk on’ – are all signals to move forward, these will continue to make sense to the horse when we mount up if we intend to ride.

The main concern for the horse when we ride is that most of our body language suddenly becomes invisible to him. Here Boots is intent on targeting the body extension which I’ve left on the ground.

The rider suddenly disappearing from view is a big deal for horses because horses are, by nature, strongly tuned in to visual body language. Body language plays a key role in equine culture. An empathetic trainer will give the horse ample time and opportunity to adjust to the new touch and weight shift signals, plus the many balance adjustments that the horse has to learn.

Riding has us in Leading Position 4, behind the horse’s withers. If we teach moving forward in this position on the ground, we are building the horse’s confidence in having half his body out in front of us. For timid horses, this can be challenging. The cues/signals we teach on the ground will stand us in good stead if we intend to ride. If we are working with a young horse which will be ridden, this training gives him a major head start with the ridden experience.

Training Plan 18

Aim:

To have the horse comfortable walking along with the handler when the handler’s position is behind the horse’s withers, alonside the horse’s ribs.

Environment:

  • Horse in an area where he is usually relaxed and confident.
  • Herd buddies not able to interfere but in view if possible.
  • Horse in a learning frame of mind.
  • A safe stretch of fence or a waist-high lane.
  • Series of destination mats or nose targets for the teaching phase, .
  • Body extension to clarify signal as necessary.
  • Halter and lead.

Slices:

See clips #55 and #56 in my HorseGym with Boots playlist. Clip 55 also looks ahead to when we want to walk alongside the hindquarters, which is the topic of the next blog.

Click here for Clip #55.

Click here for Clip #56

  1. Ensure the horse is comfortable walking between you and a safe fence (or in a lane) in LP3 (beside neck/shoulder).
  2. When the horse is relaxed in LP3, glide back so you are walking just behind his withers. After a step or two, relax (click&treat). Be sure to let the lead rope flow out to keep a float (smile) in it as you drift back, so you don’t give him a ‘slow down’ text message up the rope without realizing it. Move promptly up to the horse’s head to deliver the treat so he is not tempted to turn toward you. Walk on again in LP3 and glide back into LP4. It can be quite difficult for us to remain in LP4. For some reason, most people, including me, have a tendency to creep up toward the horse’s neck and shoulders.
  3. This smooth letting out of the rope is another skill it’s good to practice first with another person standing in as the horse.
  4. Repeat 2, adding a few more steps in LP4 each time before you relax (click&treat).
  5. If we are working along a fence rather than in a lane, using a body extension makes it easier to keep our position behind the withers because we can bring the body extension forward to gently block any tendency to turn toward us. The instant he goes straight, put the body extension back in neutral by your side or lying lightly behind the horse’s withers.
  6. It can help to keep our hand behind lying gently behind the withers as we walk with the horse, as Bridget is doing in the final photo of the blog. This might not be an option if the horse is very small or very tall.
  7. If you use mat or nose targets, set these out and ask the horse to walk between them, stopping for a click&treat as he reaches each one. Return to LP4 after delivering each treat and ask for the ‘walk on’ with a gentle tap behind the withers.
  8. If the horse tends to move his shoulder toward you rather than stay straight along the fence, use your body extension to disturb the air alongside his neck.
  9. If the horse has a habit of moving his shoulders into you, create an Individual Education Program to address just this issue. It would include a release (click&treat) the instant the horse responds to the signal pressure from the body extension swung forward in the air next to his neck, inhibiting his shoulder movement toward you. Once he realizes that the release/click point is when he stays straight, you can begin to gradually add more steps forward before you relax (click&treat).

LP4 asks the horse to have his eyes, nose and shoulders well out ahead of us. That can be worrying for an anxious type horse who is more comfortable following than being out in front. Bolder, more confident horses will may find it easier. If you are developing a riding horse, it is important to understand this lack of confidence to ‘be out in front’.

By setting up mats or nose targets, we can make this a much more interesting game. The horse will begin to look for the next target so he can earn his next click&treat.

For horses who are anxious about leaving their home area or their herd mates, this is a great exercise to give them a brand new focus for going out and about with their handler.

We can collect plastic drink bottles for nose targets and hang them around our training area. Then we can devise different walking patterns between the various targets, including turns and weaves. A series of rags hung on fences or shrubbery can also make interesting targets (be aware of horses who may try to eat them).

The activity of walking along together with the hand or stick behind the withers needs to become comfortable and ho-hum for the handler and the horse.

If we want to ride out or walk out, setting up a series of nose targets along the way gives the horse something to seek out. His mind will be engaged in the next target rather than the fact that he is moving further away from his friends or barn area.

At first we’d have the targets close together. As the horse gets keen on the game, we can gradually spread them further and further apart. It also works to use something like a Frisbee or a ball as a target. We can throw it out ahead of us, move to target it, throw it again, and so on.

If the horse is very barn or buddy sweet, we can lay out the target destinations in an arc. The arc will first guide the horse away from where he sees his ‘safety’, and then closer again. Over days and weeks, we can gradually set the top of the arc further and further away. One day the horse’s desire to seek out his targets will eclipse his need to get back to the barn or his buddies.

If the horse has developed the habit of rushing home or rushing to the field, we can slow the rushing by having him seek out targets on the way home or on the way to the field.

Summary of LP4

Leading Position 4 became important to me when I was preparing my horse for riding. When I came to teach long-reining, it was an excellent intermediate position to having the horse comfortable with me walking right behind.

Mat or nose destinations enable us to play the nose or mat target game, which gives the horse an incentive to move smoothly from halt into walk (or trot) and back to halt at the next destination. Since ‘go’ and ‘whoa’ signals are the backbone of all of our communication with horses, the targeting games have many positive outcomes.

When we move the horse around us on a long line (lunging), our position usually moves between LP3, LP4 along with LP8 when we face the horse’s side.

Walking out and about on the road in LP4.

Leading Position 8-a

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In the photo above, Bridget is using Leading Position 8 to ask Boots to go through a gate.

Leading Position 8 (LP8) is anytime we are facing the side of the horse. We can be in LP8 facing his ribs, his head/neck or his hindquarters. Still to come in future blogs are notes about LP7 – facing the front of the horse, and then LP6 facing his tail, as when walking behind him (long-reining) or sending toward something away from us, or asking for a back-up from behind the horse.

Remember, when we say ‘leading position’ we mean any position we use to orchestrate the horse’s feet, whether we want them to move or to remain still.

I want to look at LP8 next, because it is the Leading Position we often use for grooming, saddling/unsaddling, mounting and dismounting. For all of these, we need the horse to be comfortable standing still while we move around him.

We are in LP8 when we saddle the horse as well as for mounting and dismounting.

Clip #49 in my HorseGym with Boots playlist looks at our position when we are grooming, saddling and checking for relaxation.

Boots is not always relaxed about being brushed. It’s not something she experienced early in life before I got her. Giving her something else to think about, like the cloth in the video clip,  seems to act as a ‘soother’.

Some horses love rubbing and cuddles while others are much more aloof. When Smoky and Boots lived together, the difference was very obvious. Smoky adored being groomed and fussed with. When we sat with him Sharing Time and Space, he would nibble and lick and want to be very close.

Boots learned to tolerate being touched all over for grooming, but sometimes finds it hard to relax into being brushed or massaged without a lot of licking, chewing and yawning. In summer, when we groom every day, she is able to settle into it a bit more.

When Smoky and Boots indulged in mutual grooming, Smoky was very tentative because after a few mutual nibbles, Boots would have had enough and give him a nip.

Any time we are along the horse’s side and pointing our belly button toward him, we are in Leading Position 8.

We can use signals behind his withers to ask the horse to move forward, shift his hindquarters or move his whole body sideways.

To get Boots used to the idea of shafts in a cart, I asked her to move sideways to push the gate along. Another LP8 position.

LP8 allows us to use signals in front of withers (the base of the neck) to ask the horse to yield his shoulders to change direction.

LP8 is handy for teaching a horse to become fluid with ‘walk on’, ‘halt’ and ‘back-up’ signals when we are facing him side-on. These skills lead nicely into teaching the horse to work in a circle on a long line or reverse pen.

Teaching circles has us facing the side of the horse.

Slices:

For illustration, please see clip #48 in my HorseGym with Boots series. Please note that I use a body extension only to make my signal clear for the horse and be able to give a clear signal from further away. Once the horse understands the ‘tap behind the withers signal’, a finger tap is all that’s needed. The rope texting at the end of the clip is next month’s theme.

‘Walk On’ Signal

  1. Ensure the horse is comfortable halting in the lane or alongside the fence (on a mat if you like).
  2. Stand facing the horse’s withers, at a distance which allows you to easily tap him gently behind the withers with your fingeers or your body extension.
  3. Move into and out of this position a few times with click&treat for the horse remaining in a relaxed halt.
  4. When 3 is ho-hum, rub the horse all over with your body extension or your hands; click&treat for relaxation. To encourage relaxation, pause and turn your energy away from the horse at every indication of relaxation (lowering head, sighing, softer ears, more relaxed lower lip, cocking a hip).
  5. For this part of the training, it helps a lot to have a mat or cone at which the horse knows he gets a click&treat, just a few feet in front of the horse.
  6. When the horse can stay relaxed as you move into position facing his ribs and you can rub him all over, tap him behind the withers, then ask him to walk forward to the mat or cone, click&treat.
  7. If the horse does not understand at first, just tap, then guide him to the cone or mat. He will quickly pick up that the tap means, move foreward to the cone or mat.
  8. As his confidence increases, stop moving with him to the cone or mat. Wait until he gets there before you click&treat.
  9. When the horse reliably steps forward when you tap gently, gradually increase the number of steps before you click&treat by moving the destination mat or cone further away. Always stop tapping the very instant the horse moves and relax your body language.
  10. Eventually, set out a circle of cones or mats and and ask him to move between them with a click&treat at each one, followed by a wither tap to move to the next one.
  11. If you are using a leadrope, keep a float (smile) in the lead rope. At first you may find yourself changing from LP8 into LP3 (shoulder to shoulder) or LP5 (beside hindquarters) and back to LP8 again.
  12.  Once he understands the tap signal, add in your usual ‘breathe in strongly’ and voice signal (e.g. ‘walk on’) that you will always use. You could include these earlier, but I like to make sure the horse understands the tap signal on its own. (See Number 16 in the Blog Contents link at the top of the page for details about smooth ‘walk on’ and ‘halt’ transitions.)
  13.  When he is smooth on one side, teach it from the beginning on his other side.
  14.  Generalize using this ‘walk on’ signal in other venues and situations.

Here I am in LP8 getting Boots confident with flapping things moving across her for a Horse Agility course.

Leading Position 2

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Leading Position 2 (LP2) has the handler in front but to one side of the horse; the horse keeps his eye/nose at or behind the handler’s shoulder. We walk in parallel tracks. Note that I use a body extension to make my intent clearer for the horse, but this soon morphs into an arm signal.

In the photo above, I’m about to step forward. In LP2, we want the horse to remain just at or slightly behind our shoulder and walking in his own track beside our track, not right behind us.

Clip #47 in my HorseGym with Boots playlist looks at LP2.

Leading Position 2, in some ways, resembles the position in which a mare often keeps her foal when the herd is moving. She wants it close beside her and keeping its nose behind hers. So in a way it is a position of safety for the horse. He is not out in front.

Training Plan

Aim:

To teach signals that indicate we want the horse to walk, in a relaxed manner, keeping his nose/eye at or behind our shoulder. We want the horse to stay close beside us on his own track, not edging behind us into LP1 or moving forward to bring his neck/shoulder into LP3.

Environment:

  • Horse in an area where he is usually relaxed and confident.
  • Herd buddies not able to interfere but in view if possible.
  • Horse in a learning frame of mind.
  • Safe fence-line (not a wire fence).
  • Body extension can be an aid for initial teaching.
  • Halter and lead.
  • This plan is written for a clicker savvy horse.

Slices:

  1. Begin in LP3 (beside neck/shoulder). Ensure the horse is confident walking with you in LP3 along the fence. The horse is between you and the fence.
  2. Work out a signal that lets the horse know you want him to keep his nose/eye behind your shoulder. It might be the same signal used to teach Leading Position 1 – i.e. stepping in front of the horse and staying in front. For some horses, an arm held out in front of his nose is enough of an indicator. For other horses, a swishy body extension is useful to disturb the air in front of the horse to let him know you want him to remain behind your shoulder. Think of a mare letting her foal know it needs to stay close and keep its nose behind her nose. Once the horse understands the concept, the initial larger signal can morph into a small hand gesture and your body language. It may take a while to sort out your exact signal. It can help to try things out with another person standing in as the horse.
  3. Walk along in LP3, then increase your pace slightly while at the same time giving your signal to let the horse know you want his nose/eye to stay behind your shoulder or elbow. Walk a step or two in the desired position, slow to a halt; click&teat. A clicker savvy horse will stop when he hears the click – turn to deliver the treat. It may be a rough approximation at first, but each time you do the movement, it will get a bit more accurate as the horse learns that staying back earns the click and treat.
  4. Once 3 above is smooth, walk a bit further, repeating your signal to stay in LP2 if necessary, before you click&treat.
  5. Once 4 above is smooth, gradually walk even further each time before you click&treat. Using destinations makes it easier because you can put them a little further apart each session. Destinations allow the horse to know when the next click&treat stop will be, no matter what leading position you are asking for.
  6. Once 5 above is smooth, build in halt duration with the horse remaining in LP2. At first turn toward him as you click&treat to reinforce the idea that staying in LP2 was the right thing to do. Then build up duration at the halt (before turning and the click&treat) one second at a time.
  7. Teach it all from the beginning on the horse’s other side.

Generalization

  1. When it is very good along a fence, use LP2 walking along a track or the road and in open areas.
  2. Play with it doing serpentines or weaves and walking a circle.
  3. Play with it at the trot.

Summary of LP2

LP2 is a nice position to use at times for companionable walking together. The horse can easily read our body language from his position just behind our shoulder.

In some situations we don’t want the horse’s eye and nose ahead of ours, as it is using LP3, and we don’t want him right behind us in LP1.

Using a safe fence. Horse and I in parallel tracks. Building ‘wait time’ in LP2.