Grab Hands
“Grab Hands”
It drives me crazy to see people lead a horse by holding onto the halter, instead of using a lead rope. This action is both dangerous and poor horsemanship. Wrapping your fingers around a halter can very quickly and easily turn into a dislocated shoulder, by the horse throwing his head or spooking. Additionally, horses don’t much care for hands in their face and grabbing the horse by the halter positions the handler far too close to the horse’s head and front feet. This close proximity to the horse’s head can lead to claustrophobia on the horse’s part (which may in turn lead to a pull-back problem) and puts the human in a dangerous position which may lead to being butted by the horse’s head or run over. Not to mention how easy it is for the horse to throw his head and get loose. Whenever you handle a horse, use a lead rope and hold the rope 6-8″ below the halter, so as not to crowd the horse’s head and front end.