how do you stop a horse with just a halter and lead rope?

[TheHoglet]

i reacently took up bareback riding and in the morning i ride skittles out of his stable and up the feild. any way this morining he was last out he walked out of his stable fine and through the gate and then relised that the other two were alredy out and he just took off :eek: and all he had on was a rug his halter and a lead rope tied to both sides for me to hold on to so all i could do realy was to hold his rug and hope for the best untill he stoped at the fence.

dose anyone know how i could stop him if this happens again??

[Vicki&Milo]

Well, in theory you should be able to control a horses speed with your weight, so the old 'sit on your bum and lean back slightly' trick might work. However, since he took off out of excitement, its probably not ever so likely to work. A horse might also respond to pressure on the leadropes as it would create pressure on the nose, but again, its unlikely to have a huge effect.
Overall, the best advice I can give you if for the sake of 20 sec stick a bridle on and make sure you feel safe.
Vicki xx

[No_Angel]

turning in a circle is very usefull. you might wanna try a bit of groundwork with him so he gets used to the feel of pressure on his nose and knows that you mean stop.

[smaggi]

Teach him a one rein stop. First teach him to give and flex his neck on the ground, then from the saddle standing still, then at the walk, then trot, then canter. It works like magic if you teach him well and practice it a bit during your training sessions. Even if Cisco spooks and takes off, I ask for a one rein stop and he is standing still and relaxed within 2 or 3 steps.

[teabiscuit]

bet you felt good after sticking on skittles cobsrgood

[TheHoglet]

bet you felt good after sticking on skittles cobsrgood

lol!:D yeah in a way cos all the other times he's done it (with tack on) i've came straight off the side and landed flat on my face. i'm realy glad it didnt happen this time cos it wouldnt have been very good going to school with mud all over me:D though realy i was quite angry with him because hes normaly a proper little slug!!
thanks for your advice every1!

[Afellpony]

You could try stopping him with your seat, other aids or leaning forward and putting your hands over his eyes!!!! LOL.:p

[Lotje]

I too ride my horse out to the field in just a headcollar after a ride.
I always just walk and the other horses are always in the field anyway so he doesnt get excited about that.

I can stop him (with just headcollar and leadrope only in my left hand) from walk to halt. To do this I sit up think about what Im going to do, ie stop, breath out calmly and loudly, this is enough to slow tarquin down, then i put pressure on the headcollar by pulling back on the leadrope slightly. He usually stops then, and if he doesnt then i put on slightly more pressure and he responds.

It is probably a good idea to put on a bridle for the time being. You dont have to do up the noseband or put the throatlatch in the keepers (easier to get bridle off in field that way)

But thinking about it, the worst that can happen is that he takes off tho the field, so he will always stop at the gate. We use this principal for riding the RS ponies up to the field. Hold on tight and just steer them towards the gate, they all stop

Well done for staying on, your balance must be improving lots!