TrailMeister

Leading for Leadership

by Robert Eversole

Leading jog. Leading walk. Leading turn.

Doing groundwork is not busywork for groundwork’s sake; it is about finding and correcting minor issues before they have a chance to become major problems. Fixing these minor snags sets you up for success in the saddle and on the trail.

All groundwork, and indeed all horsemanship, is about having our horse focus on us and not the myriad of distractions surrounding us. A horse who won’t lead well tends to be less accommodating when ridden. Skills that are rough on the ground don’t get better when you’re in the saddle. Having your horse lead easily beside you rather than lagging or racing ahead sets both you and the horse up for success in all your endeavors.

What I look for when leading is a horse that walks willingly alongside me, whether I’m walking, jogging, or running with no tension on the lead rope. I want the horse to keep pace with me without pulling the lead.

Achieving this requires that we focus on our timing and consistency. We need to release pressure immediately when the horse responds to our cues. Consistency in our cues and expectations is also critical. Even if you don’t mind when your horse creeps forward or occasionally gets too far behind, once the horse learns that you will give an inch, and when it matters, he may take a mile. I used to think that it was OK for my horse to have lousy ground manners because he was fine when under saddle. I was wrong. He wasn’t fine, and I didn’t know better.

Here’s how I work on leading skills with my animals:

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The Preparatory Command

Early in my Marine Corps career, I learned the value of close-order drills, i.e., marching. In the military, one purpose of teaching parade deck skills is instilling discipline by creating habits of precision and automatic response to orders. Although it takes time to get to the point where units move as a fully coordinated element, the results were astounding when we were proficient. The key is practicing and training regularly so that the commands become second nature.

In the military, orders are typically given in two parts: the preparatory command, which gains your attention and readies you for action, and the command of execution which tells you when to act. An example is when a drill instructor wants a group of recruits to move from one place to another: ‘Forward, march!’ In this case, forward is the preparatory command, and march is the command of execution. When these words are spoken, or perhaps yelled, the Marines know what they are supposed to do and when they are supposed to do it. What works with Marines also works with horses.

To begin leading, I stand at the pony’s shoulder. The preparatory command is ‘walk,’ and the execution command is ‘on.’ Initially, the horse won’t know what you’re asking with the cue and will simply stand there. That’s OK at the beginning. When the horse doesn’t move, I’ll tell him to move by applying pressure on the lead rope. As soon as the horse moves, release the tension. If you’re consistent with releasing pressure, your horse will quickly learn that ‘walk-on’ means moving with you without stress. If you’re inconsistent with the release, you’ll teach him to rely on pressure to move, which means you’ll constantly be pulling, which is no fun for anyone.

I use the ‘Ask then Tell’ method with my animals. If the ask doesn’t work, I tell them what will happen. Another way to describe S