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Getting Your Horse to Lower Its Head

Whether you're working with a colt, or an experienced horse, getting them to lower their head is important for both your safety and the horse's. Horses communicate mainly through body language. When a horse lowers its head, it's telling you it's relaxed and comfortable. When a horse's head is up high, it's saying "I'm nervous and agitated."

Before you begin teaching your horse to lower its head, it's important to work with it in the round pen to establish leadership, respect and communication—the three critical foundations of all training.

Once you've established these three foundations, I recommend using a reward system to help your horse learn to lower its head.

Start by putting a halter on your horse and attach a lead rope. Then, gently put downward pressure on the lead rope while repeating in a calm voice the words, "Head down." If the horse pulls back, release the pressure. Pull down gently again, and wait for your horse to lower its head a few inches, and then immediately reward it with a small handful of grain.

It's very important to reward the horse properly. You don't want the horse to go after the grain aggressively. If it does, "pop" your hand up against its mouth. It won't hurt the horse, but it will teach it to "ask" nicely for the treat.

You also don't have to reward the horse with grain forever! After a while, you can replace the grain reward with rubs and verbal praise. What the grain reward does is simply help your horse learn the desired behavior more quickly, and associate it with something pleasurable. Whenever you're teaching a horse something for the first time, it's very effective to "over-reward and under-correct."

Continue putting gentle pressure on the lead rope, saying "head down" and giving a treat. Each time, get your horse to lower its head a bit more. After a while, your horse will start to lower its head without any downward pressure on the lead rope. At this point, you can begin rewarding it with rubs on the forehead, etc.

Repeat this technique several days in a row, and soon you'll find your horse willingly lowers its head at your "head down" cue. This makes it easier and safer to halter and bridle. Be patient, keep the sessions to about 15 to 30 minutes, and always end on a good note. If you want to learn more about "head down" techniques, you'll find complete, easy-to-follow instructions and demonstrations on my 5-disc Training DVD set. Stay safe and have fun.