Hello, I have 3 horses and I have some trouble when I catch one of them and I want to take them out of the paddock. When we go thru the gate the other two horses always want to follow right behind the horse I am leading no matter what horse I want to work with. Right now I don't even try to take one out without my sister there to close the gate before the others can follow me. I wouldn't mind accept that I don't always have someone who is willing to go out with me to give a hand. So How would I go about teaching my horses to stay inside while I take one of them out? Right now I try to take care of everything while they are inside the paddock but that doesn't work for everything especially since I can't tie them up. figuring this out would really help me out, thanks. :)
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Hi Almira24 I can appreciate your problem here but I believe that it is fixable. If you have taught your horses to back up for you and to do join up then it should not be too hard to correct. Have a spare lead with you and as you approach the gate turn so that the horse you are leading is behind you and then look the other two in the eyes shake your lead at them and tell them to "back-up". A bit like the stance you take when commencing join up. You will need to guage the level of aggression that you need as you do not want them to fly off and scare the horse you are leading as that could be dangerous for you. You are just asking them to give you some space. Be mindful of the horse you are leading so that it doesn't react too but as your eyes are away from it hopefully it will stand quietly behind you particularly so if you have practiced the "standing still" lesson with it on the ground. It should only take a few sessions until the two horses left behind will keep their distance from you as you approach the gate. I semi answered your response earlier so I either forgot to click the "add comment" or it may still be in the pipeline somewhere. I forgot to mention the eyes and body language in that response.
Here's a "practical" solution - if all else fails.
A friend who let up her fields for summer grazing - with a number of different horse owners who would get their horses in and out at all times of the day, simply built a smaller field around the gate with a couple of "quick-fix" fence poles.
It was perhaps 18ft across and had a gate in the far end. If another horse followed you through the first gate, you could let go of your own (or tie it up) and release the unwanted company back into the big field, before going out the real gate.
Of course, some ran into trouble anyway, but it was far better than having the horses on the loose outside the field.
That's a great idea maggie, I spent a lot of time trying yo figure out what I should do but going backwards never came to mind. I'll try it out and tell you how it goes. And Kicki, that is also a good idea but my gate is right up next to the driveway, but I may try something like that in the future. Thank you both for the advice.
Oh, I was also wondering if this was a common problem? I have never really been aware of it before I had my own horses but I also can understand why my horses would want to follow along.
Hi again Almira24 - Yes this is a common problem. If allowed most horses will try to follow their companions out of the field. It is up to us to let them know that they need to stay behind. Good luck with the training!