Behavioral Problem to the extreme!

Question
I have worked with horses for almost 10 years and I am 17 years old. I have had my awesome Paint mare, Flit, for nearly 5 years. She is a joy to have and I got her as a pasture pet and intended just to make her my horse. She has exceeded my expectations and has been a awesome show horse. Lately though, for nearly a year, when we take her outside to her field, we take off their halters. When you reach up to take hers off and you get it off one ear she rips away and very hard and fast. She is dangerous when she does this and we have tried putting a lead line around her neck so she knows she is restrained still and I have tried punishing her for it, but nothing anyone has suggested has seemed to work yet. Do you have any suggestions how to stop these behaviors.

Answer
Heather,

Well, she's a mare and this is the sort of dominant behavior mares can pull with you.  She's been doing this for nearly a year so it's going to take a while to modify this behavior.  It didn't get learned overnight so it won't be fixed that fast either.

This is going to be difficult to correct because of the circumstances surrounding the misbehavior since you are taking off the one thing you would generally want to have one to correct this!  I don't know how you exactly handle the horses when taking them out; many people sort of rush it by doing it as soon as the horse is through the gate so the horse gets the idea this is something done fast.  You don't say whether she gets sort of excited at the time when you take her into the field or not but I would take her in then spend a few minutes walking her around in the field until she's quiet and listening to me.  For a while, at least, rather than trying to take the halter off over her ears I would unbuckle it on the side to let it drop off her face.  You'll have a little bit better hold on her if she starts to move with the halter still behind both ears.  Insist that she stand while you unbuckle the halter, some treats work well in a case like this as she'll focus on the goodies rather than taking off.  Drop the halter and reward her if she stands there for you.  This will not happen overnight, trust me, but patience and perseverence will come through.  You should practice this routine in a small paddock first so that she knows to expect the treats when you get the halter off.  Do this until you are sure she understands what is expected then take her to the field and repeat the procedure.  Don't be discouraged if all does not go as planned to start.  That's how training goes, not everything works perfectly everytime.  

Let me know if I can be of further help.  Patience is the key here.

Lyn