A surprisingly simple technique to avoid frustration while haltering

There are some horses out there that know exactly how to avoid putting a halter on. When you put the halter near their face they act like they are trying to kiss the moon. This can be incredibly frustrating! The good news there is a simple technique that will teach your horse to actually want to put its halter on.

Preparation

Have your halter prepared. The first few times you try this you need to be relatively smooth in your application and this will definitely help. The more time you spend fumbling to untangle your halter once your horse is caught the more time your horse has to think about how much he doesn't want your fumbling hands and halter near his sensitive face. Take the time before you catch your horse to untangle the halter and lead rope, properly fold the rope into your hand or draped on your arm (watch my YouTube video to see the proper way to hold a lead rope), and hold the halter in your left hand open by either the buckle or tie loop.

Hand Position

Once your horse is caught (the lead rope around his neck) take your right arm and hand and put it over the poll. While passing the halter under the horses throat latch, grab the tail or strap of the halter with your right hand. At this point you should be holding the halter with both hands on either side of your horses head under the throat latch. This position gives your a bit more control and helps you to be a lot more smooth (which you will need for the ornery ones) when putting the halter on.

The Most Important Part

Before you attempt to put the nose in the nose band, teach your horse to look for and accept the halter. How is this done? Simply take your right hand that is holding the strap or tail and poke your horses cheek into your chest. You want to poke, poke, poke, until the horse turns his head into your chest. Don't jab. This makes not having the halter on and their face turned away, uncomfortable. Then once the horse turns its head into your chest sweep the nose into the nose band, this becomes the reward. Eventually they will want to put their halter on before you are even ready. One of my mares tries to punch her nose through any halter near her face prepared or not.....which is a little obnoxious honestly, but I would rather have it that way then chasing her flailing head all over the place.

To see this technique in action and some safety tips watch my YouTube video! If you find this helpful subscribe to our website and follow us on social media so you do not miss out on any horsemanship tips and tricks.

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Happy trails!