leading

Question
My friend has just bought a 3year old gelding. She is a complete novice and is having problems leading her horse from the field. He gets very strong and she id being dragged around as her horse is pulling to get to the grass. Any ideas on how she could lead him more effectively? She is walking by his shoulder and is using a standard headcollar.

Answer
Hi,
Your friend could try to "avoid" the problem and just get a lead line with a chain to give her more force to stop him.  However, it sounds like she is having dominance issues that could very well show up when she rides him and tries to do other stuff with him.  I suggest she try bonding with him and getting him to listen to her with something like the Parelli Horsemanship Method (http://www.parelli.com/).  With that, she will learn how to effectively establish control over her gelding and it will help them to develop trust.
I would also suggest showmanship training-- lots of stopping and starting when she leads him-- try this an the arena, where grass is not a distraction.  If she gives him the cue to stop and he keeps walking past her, she can try saying "No" firmly, turning her body to face him and REALLY pushing his chest and the lead rope back while walking quickly towards him to back him up FAST.  This acts as sort of a punishment for him not listening to her, and really establishes her dominance.  However, be careful! The horses I worked with were fine with this method and really progressed, but some more flighty horses might get scared and freak out.  If he gets even more out of control, don't do it.  But, it's worth a shot.
Just work on a lot of stopping and starting in the arena while leading him.  Eventually, he should start to accept that she is the "dominant horse".
If you have any more questions, feel free to follow up.
Anne