Lesson 3: Leading, Mounting and Dismounting, and Basic Position
This lesson will teach students how to lead a horse to the riding arena, how to ask the horse to stand, how to mount and dismount the horse and the proper way to hold the reins, put the feet in the stirrups irons, and how to sit.
How to lead a horse
Some lesson barns and riding academies leave halters on their horses virtually all the time. In that case, all you will have to do is hook up the lead rope to the loose ring under the horse’s chin.
However, if you need to halter the horse first, here’s how it’s done:
Halters have a buckle at the top holding the crownpiece—the part that goes over the horse’s head behind the ears—and many also have a snap on the cheekpiece that makes it easier to get the halter on and off than using the buckle. (Not all do, however.) If the halter has a snap, it will be undone. If it doesn’t, the buckle will be undone. If someone has attached them after the halter was taken off the horse, you’ll have to undo them to apply the halter.
Pick the halter up with your right hand at the crownpiece with the front facing the same direction as the horse’s head. How can you tell? Quite frankly, this can be tricky, especially if someone has messed the halter up or flung it around when they took it off. The bottom of the halter will have a noseband that forms a complete circle. In the middle of the bottom of that circle will be another strap that attaches to the strap that goes under the horse’s throat and ends up in either the snap end or an end with holes in it to attach the buckle.
Stand next to the horse’s head. Transfer the halter to your left hand by the crownpiece, and reach your right hand under the horse’s neck. Transfer the crownpiece back to your right hand, position the noseband under the horse’s muzzle, and pull up around the lower part of his face. Slide the halter over his ears so that the crownpiece lies behind the ears and temporarily holds the halter in place until you can get the snap or buckle fastened. Step aside and turn slightly to face the horse, keeping the lower part of the cheekpiece in your left hand, bringing it up to attach to the upper part of the cheekpiece, whether a snap or buckle closure, with your right hand.
If you need to put the horse on crossties, use the rings on the noseband, not the upper ones where the cheekpiece meets the crownpiece. If you are ready to lead the horse, snap the lead rope—as six- or eight-foot nylon, cotton rope or leather ‘leash’—to the loose ring under the chin. If you need to tie the horse to a single ring in the wall, use the loose ring and use a quick release knot positioned so that the horse’s nose is about two feet from the wall.
Mainly, though, you will probably be leading the horse to your lesson, with his bridle already on.
When a horse has been bridled, the reins remain over his neck until you are ready to lead him. At that time, stand next to the horse’s left shoulder or neck and pass the reins back over his head and grasp them with your right hand about eight inches below his chin around both reins at once. Remain on the horse’s left, or near, side. (The left side of the horse is the NEAR side; the right side of the horse is the OFF side. All work with horses begins and ends on the NEAR side, including grooming, leading him, mounting and dismounting.) Take the long, loose end in the left hand about eight inches from the end of the reins, where the buckle is, and grasp both reins. Your right hand may be raised a bit, depending on the height of the horse and your height; your left hand should be comfortably low beside your hips. The reins will pass in front of your body in a bit of a curve.
DO NOT EVER WIND REINS OR LEAD ROPE AROUND YOUR HANDS! Your hands must always be able to simply open the palm and drop the rope or reins when you are leading a horse. If something truly frightened him and he bolted, JUST LET HIM GO, and call out LOOSE HORSE so that others can step aside and/or close gates and/or help you catch him. Remember, if a horse gets loose, you can always catch him again. YOU CAN’T, HOWEVER, IF YOU HAVE BEEN DRAGGED AFTER HIM. And believe me, your one- or two-hundred pounds are no match for his thousand. Even if you think you are a tough guy.
A NOTE ABOUT THE NEAR SIDE AND OFF SIDE. These ‘sides’ were identified centuries ago, and most horses are trained to know that they are mounted always from the near side. Some trainers also make sure a horse is trained to accept mounting and dismounting from the off side; others don’t, and some horses don’t like being mounted from the wrong side. You can’t tell which ones will tolerate it without being told. But simply training yourself to always mount from the near side eliminates the problem. When you have your own horse, it will be useful to train him to accept mounting either way. Why? You may be in a spot in a field when you need to remount and that’s the only convenient side to do it from for some reason or another. Or you may sustain an injury from some activity in your life that makes it painful for you to mount from the near side; if you can ride despite the injury, then mounting from the off side would be a convenience.
When you are ready to lead the horse, step forward, and say, “Walk.” If the horse does not immediately follow and remain with his head or neck approximately at your shoulder, give one sharp tug on the reins as you say, “Walk.” Do not turn to look at him. Horses regard this as a confrontational move, and may even back up. (Aggressive horses, which you should not be dealing with right now anyway, may regard this as an invitation to invade your space, or even to charge.) If he is still reluctant, use you right hand to give him a sharp smack on the shoulder, then quickly regain the reins and give a tug and say, “Walk.” Any horse you are dealing with at this point should comply. If he doesn’t, call your instructor or a more experienced rider for help.
When you arrive at your destination, stop walking, give a small tug on the reins with your right hand, and say, “Whoa.” It is pronounced without the W or A, as a more drawn out version of Santa Claus’s laugh: Hoh.
