Halt! Altering Your Haltering

Magneto tips his head towards his halter indicating he's ready for me to put it on him.

The most excellent cowboy horseman, Tom Dorrance, used to say that he liked to let the newborn foals approach him and make the first contact rather than walking up to them. He described how first after a few days old they would start to shyly look over at him from the far side of their mother. Then, a day or two later, they would be brave enough to come around the other side of their mother for a better look. Finally, one day, on their own decision, they would walk up to him and make the first contact by reaching out to touch his hand or sniff him on the head if he was bent down. Tom Dorrance said that this subtle difference in allowing the foal to approach first on his own time made for a much better horse, one with more confidence and interest in humans and the human relationship as they grew up to be riding horses.
By letting the foals approach him first instead of going right up to them and touching them, Tom was letting them find their confidence and curiosity enough to want to engage with him. The foals were coming out of their sympathetic nervous system state (flight, freeze, flight) from the novel experience of his presence and entering the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system that is responsible for social engagement as well as rest and digestion.

By waiting for them to build their confidence in his presence, he helped them to want to engage with him. If he had approached them, perhaps they would have tried to get away, or they might have frozen with fear as he made contact. The experience of the first contact would have looked much different for the foals had he not waited for them to approach him first. They would have felt fearful, stiffened by the action of their sympathetic nerve, and they would have remembered this experience and associated it with him.

Done the waiting way, the foals were feeling curious and friendly. They enjoyed the engagement and remembered it as a positive experience with a relaxed muscle tone. When minds are calm, and the sympathetic branch of the nervous system is low enough for social engagement, learning happens. Tom was choosing to start his foals from a place of finding their will instead of just their surrender or tolerance. This is an important concept when working with horses. It always makes a better connection, bond and partnership when you have their will.

We are often in such a rush that we may not be aware how much of our horse’s will we actually have on a daily basis. A good place to test this is when haltering them. Does your horse come to you, or do you go to him? Does he look at you when you approach, or does he look away? Does he tip his head towards the halter, or does he move it away, put it in the air or tip it to the side?

Altering your haltering practice can establish a better relationship with your horse. If he comes to you and tips his head right into the halter, you have his will; if not, you have some work to do. The moment your horse so much as looks away as you approach him with the halter halt, stay still for a moment, make sure that your energy is low and that you are present without a lot of agenda. Wait for the horse to look back at you. When he does, you can take another step towards him. If he looks away again wait. Keep doing this until the horse has either come to you or allowed you to approach all the way by not looking or moving his head away from you.

Open the noseband of the halter and invite him to put his nose in. If he moves his nose away, retreat by moving the open noseband away by the same amount of space. This will cause the horse to draw towards the noseband again. Keep playing this game until the horse puts his nose in the halter. If he starts to pick his head up away as you try to bring the halter up towards his ears, wait and slide the halter back down by the same amount he has moved away from it. Do this until he allows for the haltering without any objection and by actually making it easy for you to halter him.

This method of haltering really helps to build connection, as the horse understands that you are aware of his feelings and are taking them into account. This feeling of security switches on the horse’s social engagement and makes him want to interact with you.



This simple haltering method can change your relationship. Your horse will start to respond to your presence and interactions from a place of will and curiosity rather than just compliance. You can add this way of interacting to all the things you do with him, not just haltering. Let your horse know you see and respect the being inside of them by taking the time to wait for them to be ready to engage with you.

Trayce Doubeck's feral mare, Izzy show the calm eyes and low head of a good haltering experience.