Ground Manners for Horses

How are your horse’s ground manners? Are they respectful of your space? Do they back easily? Can you move their body parts independently? Can you easily halter and bridle your horse? These all sound simple and they should be. But often we aren’t picky enough with our horses and we allow them to be pushy or lack of a better term disrespectful. Maybe you’ve brushed off their behaviors for far too long. Or you don’t know where to start to fix these problems. Well, I hope this list of ground manners every horse should have will help!

What’s better is all of this will translate under saddle. Ground work is not just ground work. It’s softness, connection, and understanding.

As you read through this list, consider any areas that your horse may need some improvement in. I know there have to be at least a few if not all for most horses. If not, then you are doing an amazing job. If you’d like some help with one of these areas, then please leave a comment below and I’ll try to help!

Ground Manners for Every Horse

Moving the Hindquarters

This is one of the first things I teach my horse. In fact, it’s also one of the easiest things to teach. But it’s important we can move the hind end independently. Why? I’m glad you asked. When the hind end disengages, the horse stops forward movement. Which is great under saddle especially with a young horse or a horse that has a lot of go. It is even helpful when going through gates. Because when your horse goes through a gate you then need them to turn to face you so that you can latch the gate back. Well, naturally, the hind end must turn away from you. So, when you teach this, you’ll be amazed at how often you are using it.

Releasing the Poll/Lowering their head

Horses need to be able to lower their head so you can easily halter and bridle them. We don’t want to stand on our toes or struggle to get the halter on our horse. I even go as far as being able to lower my horse’s head until their nose touches the ground with the lightest pressure. You can build up to this. It creates softness and relaxation in your horse.

Waiting to be Fed

I have a confession, my horse Poncho was pushy at feeding time. It took him actually pushing me out of the way and hurting my arm for me to realize I’d let this become an issue. Therefore, I started making him stand back and wait. Maybe it was just for a second or two. But I’d have to hold my hand up and block him and say “wait”, but he finally got it and he’s not pushed me ever since. It was something I just wasn’t being a diligent with. This is very important otherwise, feeding time can actually turn dangerous.

If this is an issue for your horse and you have been hurt, consider a protected area that you can stand outside of where your horse is. Perhaps a stall or round pen where you are on the outside, but have your feed bucket close enough to pour the food in once your horse stands back and relaxes.

Backing

Ground manners for horses start with being able to back them up. That is why it is one of my favorite things I have my horse do softly and respectfully. And in my experience once a horse gets this solid, it usually stays that way. But oh so valuable! Start with a step back and then add in two steps, then three. And so on. Then continue to work on this until it is feather light.

Speed Control/controlled leading

When leading your horse, he should walk the speed you are walking. Not dragging behind and not blowing past you, either. Practice transitions walking, then walking faster, and then slowing down or even halting. If your horse is blowing past you, back them up a step or two.

If you want to get really particular, you can make your horse walk beside you, directly behind you, or even at a distance behind. These things can come in handy in tight spaces such as a narrow trail, gate, or passage. Because preparing your horse beforehand will help avoid accidents later.

Here is a nice video on leading. Because it is one of the those things you will do a lot of so they might as well be good at it.

Not Eating Grass

This is another area where I was lacking ground manners for my horses. I have allowed my horse to hand graze many times, but they really shouldn’t stop to eat unless you tell them they can. It just creates unsavory habits. And it’s something I still need to work on with my horses. I want them to have that green delicious grass too. But I also want my kids to be able to lead my horses. And they don’t have the strength to fight them. If you don’t do it for you, do it for someone else who may have to handle your horse.

Obviously this isn’t a comprehensive list, but it’s a really great start and in my opinion touches on some of the most important ground manners your horse needs to be a respectful partner. If you have questions or comments, let me know in the comment section or by email. I always love hearing from you! [email protected]

To find more training ideas, check out other posts.