New to the horse world? If so, it’s hard for either you or your horse to take a single step forward unless you’ve halter trained your horse. It’s the very first stage in training your horse because the halter is a basic tool used to tie, lead and instruct with commands.
If you haven’t halter broken him, it’ll be nearly impossible to do anything.
Young horses
Halter training is most easily done on young horses, such as foals who have been handled by people since birth. If you make this a normal practice within the first few days of its life, the foal will get used to the feeling and daily habit of having one. Then as the horse grows, he’ll almost always accept the halter without any fuss. Plus, a smaller horse is a lot easier to handle. You’ll want to make sure the halter is the right size and is not too loose where it could get caught on objects around the barn or pasture.
Adult horses
If you or someone else didn’t have the opportunity to train your adult horse as a foal, it will probably make a little more work for you. It’s simply going to take more time and patience because you’ll need to take it slow. Let him get used to your presence. Offer him treats so that he recognizes you’re a friend who wants to help. Offer positive verbal commands. Then you’ll be able to present the halter in a non-threatening way that will make him more comfortable toward accepting it. You may need to simply let him look at it and let him touch it to his head, but eventually you’ll make progress.
Once it’s on
After you get the halter on, you’ll have to teach him to respond to the pressure that the halter offers. Attach the lead rope to the halter and gently pull on the rope. Once he turns his head, offer some praise, possibly a reward. Have him look in the other direction, too. Then you can start to walk slowly, taking baby steps and encouraging him. Eventually he’ll figure out to follow the pull of the lead rope in order to release the pressure being applied.
Don’t give up
Haltering can be a frustrating process, but don’t lose your cool. That will only make him view the halter as a threatening object and fashion the experience as frightening. Take it easy and give it plenty of time, remembering that slow and steady wins the race.
Haltering will teach you a bit about yourself, because it’s going to take patience and gentleness to make it work. Once he accepts the halter, you’ll both be ready for bigger things to come.
