Solving Problems through Foundation Training

Line Work Reasoning

Case Study: Leo

Leo was a six-year-old, 1400-pound Warmblood gelding that had just arrived from Germany after being purchased by a local dressage trainer. While a beautiful mover, his ground manners were simply non-existent. It seemed that no one had spent any time teaching this horse ground manners and respect. He was big, aggressive, and dangerous.

In the case of Leo (and horses like him), round pen work is my preferred training exercise to get the breakthrough and attitude adjustment needed to continue other work more safely. However, if you don’t have a round pen, line work offers the same principle benefits as round pen work – it’s also about controlling space, and establishing the respect and leadership required to have a desirable relationship with your horse. And with a horse that really needs to learn respect, the lead line actually gives you additional control for more effective use of pressure and release. However, while the principles are the same as round penning, the application is different.

For most horses I typically begin with a twelve-foot lead line and halter. This gives a fairly safe working distance, while allowing for a high level of control. The shorter the line, the more control you have (back to pressure and release 101). However, with a horse that is extremely emotional, out of control or just plain aggressive, I will start out with a twenty-two foot line, and then work back to the twelve-foot line as the training progresses.

My initial goals for the line work with Leo were pretty simple. I wanted him to move forward in the direction I asked, when I asked. I wanted him to stop his feet when asked. I wanted his eyes and his overall focus on me. I wanted him to start seeing me as the center of his life; to be looking for me to give him direction rather than to anticipate. When these were accomplished, I knew I would have gained his respect. Also, this line work exercise is a true cornerstone of foundation training. For example, this training cue sets the stage for trailer loading and crossing objects, just to name two very common issues that can be easily resolved through foundation training.

So step one - I asked him to move out clockwise around me. Depending on the training and emotional level of the horse, you can use whatever “pressure” is required (a verbal cue, rope, lunge whip, etc). The trick is to use as little pressure as possible, but as much as you need to get his feet moving in the direction you ask. And no matter what, stay with it and follow through until the feet are moving. And then the instant the feet are moving release that pressure to reward him. Only reapply it if he stops again before you have asked for a “whoa” or halt.

I had him circle around me several times (anywhere from four to twelve rotations), then I asked for the stop. To teach a horse to stop his feet, you remove the slack from the line and maintain the pressure until he stops. Now of course when you are just beginning to teach this, (especially to a horse with no manners and no regard for pressure like Leo) you will have to do more than just take up the slack. You will likely need to start with twenty, thirty or more pounds of pressure to get that horse to stop his feet. Just like when asking the horse to go forward, the key is to use only as much as you need, and never more than that…along with the immediate release of the pressure as soon as they stop (give). Your eventual goal is to have the horse stop his feet as soon as you simply remove a bit of slack from the line… lighter and lighter. This takes time and lots of practice. We don’t expect success up front, and even this initial lesson could take up to three or four hours.

Once Leo had stopped his feet, I paused for a moment. The pause is very important for several reasons. First, it is a reward in itself – a respite from pressure, and as horses are by nature lazy animals, no movement is a reward in itself. Second, it helps teach them to look to you for what to do next – not to anticipate. Third, you are training another fundamental building block lesson: the “stand.” Your horse needs to learn to stand well to be mounted, at the wash rack, for the farrier, to be groomed, for lots of every day activities, and this is where it begins.

So after a five-second pause or so, I asked Leo to do it all over again. Clockwise go forward several circles, ask for the stop, pause, (praise as needed), and all over it again. Do not go on to something else or change direction until the horse is moving out and stopping his feet well, along with keeping his attention focused on you. Once those are happening consistently and the emotional level has come down, then you can change direction and start all over again, but going counter-clockwise this time.

For correct change-of-direction line work, which is a gymnastic as well as mental exercise, you should be attentive to the following indicators to measure your success.

Now the real beauty of this exercise, once well-established where your horse truly understands the cues, is that you will be able to use this as a fundamental tool to calm him down and get his attention any time and place you have that need. Whether for trailering, shows, anything new or spooky; this will become a reliable way to calm your horse and center his mind back on you.

Once you feel your horse understands the change of direction exercise, you can then move on to Landings. This is what I did with Leo. Landings are a fantastic exercise to teach the stop cue, teach giving to the halter and bit; encourage a horse to be soft and responsive, and also greatly promotes self-carriage.

Landings are asking the horse to move out to the end of the lead line (about 10 feet only). You start by having him do a full circle before asking for the stop. Once he has mastered that, you then send him out for just a three-quarter circle before asking for the stop. Again, once that is being done well, you work down to a half circle and finally just a quarter circle. You work the horse on one side repeatedly, and you keep at it until he is doing three things: keeping his eyes on you the whole time, stopping when asked, and NOT walking back into you. The goal is to have him stop and stand at the end of the line when asked. If he comes in to you, send him out right away and then immediately pick up the line to ask for the stop. It is critical that you make certain he understands the lesson and landings at each stage before moving on to the next.

I should mention also, when you first start working with a horse and bonding with it – it is fine to have him walk in to you for praise, affirmation, a bit of loving. However, please stay focused on the need for the horse to respect and listen to you! So once the bond is established – you need to be able to begin asking for (and expecting) your horse to stand away from you and not be jumping into your back pocket. You have to keep raising the standards as you progress with your training.

You may have to practice Landings over and over again until the horse really “gets” it. I probably did three hundred repetitions with Leo before moving on to the next side with him. Seriously. And the tricky thing with Landings (this is handler training), it is easy when you start doing these to apply too much pressure when you pick up the line to ask for the stop, and then accidentally pull the horse into you. It also takes a lot of practice to release at the right time. Like all of us, horses start a stop before actually coming to the halt. Reward for the behavior not the mechanics. When they start to stop, that’s the time to release.

Landings are also a beautiful foundation exercise for doing figure-eight line work on a thirty-foot lead line – which is really elegant training work. It teaches your horse to engage, really builds the topline, and promotes giving to (lighter and lighter) pressure.

So back to Leo, the horse that had no concept whatsoever of giving to pressure, dangerously invaded space, and was well known for taking his handlers dirt-skiing! Leo, a fairly valuable second level dressage horse that had competed well in Europe, but was such a nightmare to work with that few trainers wanted to deal with him.

After about three hours of these line work exercises (with breaks in-between)¾exercises I performed consistently and with a lot of assertiveness¾Leo was significantly lighter and more responsive. His owner remarked that there was at least a forty-percent improvement in his riding performance. He was much lighter, more attentive, and looking for guidance. He had begun to respect humans and to accept us as leaders.

Since line work is a bit more complicated, let’s review two common problems that can arise.

When doing Landings…

If when you send the horse out he is still pulling rather than coming to a stop, continue on that same side until he does not make contact on the rope at all and is giving you his eyes. When both start to happen give yourself a big pat on the back because you are doing great.

Backing up rather than going forward

Horses will often back up in confusion. Maintain asking them to go forward (with the end of the line, a whip, whatever you need). Do NOT release the pressure until they take at least one step forward, and then you immediately release. If they keep backing and you release while they are still backing… well, guess what you just taught your horse to do? Also ensure you are standing behind the withers, but in front of the hip when asking for a go forward. Standing behind the withers drives them forward (in general), but too close to the hip and you in a dangerous position.

Every one of you can get fantastic results from line work. It can be harder for the handler to learn than round pen work because in addition to having to focus on the critical timing of the pressure and release, you are also handling more equipment (usually a lead line and whip of some type). It feels very clumsy at first for everyone. No matter how awkward it feels, though – do not give up! Just keep working on the basics until the equipment feels more natural in your hands. If you continue to feel especially awkward, I have videos that show the proper positioning of hands and equipment during these exercises.

So why have we spent two issues talking so much about ways to make sure your horse respects you? Because respect equals love in the horse world! Your horse will not love you because you bring carrots, brush him all day and board him at the nicest barn in town. We have to understand the horses’ world and, most importantly, how to communicate in their language. Learning to do this is one hundred percent the responsibility of every horseperson. Once you are fluent in equine communications, you can really begin to enjoy the training process and discover how truly fun horses are. The lasting relationship you build by earning your horse’s respect will bring all the love and laughter you had ever hoped to find!

Until next month,

Charles Wilhelm