starting the young horse

Question
Dear Amanda,
I am training a three year old horse which i will be buying soon. she hasn't been halter trained yet so thats what I am starting with. she will let me pet her but as soon as she sees a rope or halter she runs off. If you could give me some advice on how i could halter train her that would be very helpful.

Tasha

Answer
hi Tasha,
she runs off not because shes afraid but because she just doesn't want to do it. make her run in a circle a few times then stop her. approach her again and pet her if you can. if she runs off again make her keep going. stop her and repeat your approach.soo she will get the point if shes going to run off she has to do more work then what she intended on doing. she will eventually stand still and let you pet her. rub her neck and walk away. come back alittle later and do the same. soon she wont care if you walk up to her and pet her. gradually work your way up by her head. then let her sniff the halter. if she runs make her work and retry your approach. soon she wont be scared of the halter. with each lesson put the halter closer to her face. then get her used to you putting your arm around her neck. just give her a little hug and praise her. even a treat will make her happy. gradually bring the halter up her face. everytime she does something you don't like make her work around you. soon she will be fine with the halter on her. just do it a few times a day and she will be fine with it.when ever you put the halter on give her a treat or scratch her in her favorite spot.
once you have this down e-mail me back and i can help you with the entire training from leading to riding to tailoring, to basically anything you want to train her to do. this is all natural horsemanship and i have found it to work the best. good luck with your mare and let me know how she is doing.
amanda groff