riding with other horses

Question
I have an older horse who has always been herd leader, and that's the case not only when he's in the field, but when I ride with other people too. If we're just riding around in the pasture he insists on being out in front, or he pulls and wants to speed up all the time. If we go somewhere smaller to work on obstacles one at a time and somebody else rides their horse away from him to jump over barrels or something, my horse does his best to go too, and refuses to stand still at all. I can pull his head around to stop him, but as soon as I release he takes off again. He even steps on things and almost ran into my truck last time. He's very quick on his feet, so we look like a windmill out there. He should have been tired after an hour and a half of fairly hard riding, but no matter how tired he is he can't stand to let another horse steal the spotlight from him. I'm not that good a rider. After a ride like that, it takes a lot for me to get back on him. I trust him, but I'm still scared of some of the things he does. He ignores me if there are other horses around. What should I do?

Answer
Hannah,

You need to find someone knowledgeable to help you with basic training of your horse. I would prefer someone who has a basic knowledge of "classical" horse training who has not fallen into some of the recently made popular methods which are quite often marketing techniques.

Your mention of turning his head to one side sounds as if you have had some misinformation from people. Also training would never include hard riding or tiring your horse out.

It is not his fault that he has these behaviors...he is just a horse and is just being a horse. It is also not your fault that you have been going about schooling him the wrong way....you need to have someone show you.He really has no idea exactly what he is supposed to do.

Read some books that give time-tested methods of training your horse. Linda Tellington Jones, Margaret Cabell Self, and Cherry Hill are all good authors. For now DO NOT read "natural horsemanship" methods. Some are suitable, but many are marketing ploys. This is not what your horse needs now. No round penning, one-rein stops , etc.

Have someone teach you and your horse correct lungeing. I would start from the beginning with your horse. I am sure he is worth it. You can email me at Summersdressage @aol.com or even call me at 518-993-4558 if I can help you more.

Mitzi