Breaking away while leading

Question
I have a 3 year old draft cross filly who has bolted away from me a few times while leading her from her paddock down to where the arena and pasture is.  This last time resulted in me getting a good kick from her hind leg when she tried to get away.  I recently went from using a rope halter to Monty Robert's Dually Halter so I could clip my 12 ft lead on the side to try and get a little more control of her head to turn her into me.  However, she still managed to break away.  I feel like her bolting away is without warning, leaving me with little time to respond.  I practice having her stop, back, yield the hindquarters, forelegs, etc. on the way down to try to keep her mind occupied on me and to work on general ground manners but I notice she is less focused on me and it takes more of an effort to get her to respond.  In her paddock or round pen she is much more focused on me and quick to respond to any of my verbal commands/body language.  I have been using clicker training and Parelli games to further help me with her ground manners as they used to be pretty bad.  I am happy to report that they have improved quite a bit as well as our relationship.  But it's obvious we still have some work ahead of us.  As for why she is doing this, I thought something might be spooking her but I don't see anything and in general she's really not that spooky, however, her breaking away looks like a spooking reaction.  I also thought maybe she was breaking away to get to the pasture faster.  I'm looking for suggestions to help me with this behavior as it certainly is a safety issue and I don't want it to become a habit.

Answer
Hi Shana!

The core of the problem here is that you are not getting to the feet!  When you get to the feet you can get to the mind.

I like a good rope halter with a 12' tree line lead and NO heavy metal snaps.  The metal snap is softness and communication that is lost.  You want to communicate directly with the horse and not THROUGH a metal snap.  Also, when you tell me that you are having to change the position of the snap to gain more leverage on your horse it tells me that the hind quarters are not good, you have no soft feel or bend in the horse and most important, you are not getting to the feet.  The horse has learned how to get an angle and pull away.  Every time this happens, her running away is a release of pressure.  She now has a pretty good brace that you will really have to put some effort into to fix.

You also have a lot of different things going on here.  I going to be blunt with you and I don't mean this wrong...but I am not a fan of clicker training.  Granted, you can do anything and if you are consistent with the behavior, you can get a horse to respond.  Horses are SO smart!  I think clicker training is another fad and someone made a lot of money on books and tapes...sigh...lol...Shana, pick something and be consistent.  You are confusing your horse.  The clicker, Monty Roberts', Pat Parelli have all made it into the mainstream and it is just sad to me.  I meet so many people like you that struggle and in looking for a better way to communicate with their horses are taken in by so many "gimmicks".  I know who Pat Parelli learned from...Ray Hunt.  I know the core of his information is good, it is just that you have to PAY so much for it.  Horses don't learn in levels or steps.  Ray says you have to be aware of the whole horse and one hair all at the same time.  Horses don't play games.  Horses are real.  Horses are honest.  We need to get back to just good horsemanship and respect the horse.

Okay, got that off my chest!  Here is what I want you to do.  First, understand that NOTHING comes without warning.  We get plenty of warning, we just miss it.  Be as aware of your horse as she is of you!  Be hyper aware!  Never allow her to counterbend and hook her head away from you.  Really get down to the feet!  Make sure the inside hind foot is reaching up and under her body with a good deep bend when you are getting hind quarters.  Make sure you are not allowing the inside front shoulder to lock up.  That inside front needs to continue to lift and the foot must continue to step forward for you to properly get the hind quarters to yield.  This is your basis for the one rein, half circles, the turn around and so important to the overall communication with your horse.  

For now I want you to be doing a series of half circles as you are walking your horse out to the round pen.  Keep your feet moving toward your goal, pen or pasture.  Your horse will be in front of you walking in an arc, when her tail head passes you, yield her hind quarters, get her front quarters to come through and send her off in the new direction.  She will be maintaining a good bend toward you.  Imagine that you are standing at the center of the circle and she is having to stay out in front of you walking a half circle to the right and left as you continue to walk toward your goal, her bend will always be to the inside of the circle.  Make sure she is rocking her weight over her hocks in the turn.   Be particular but NOT picky!  Because she is braced you may really have to give her a good bump with the halter to get to the feet.  Watch her feet the whole way.  There should be a clear separation between front quarters and hind quarters.  Do not pull her into the new direction, rather drive her and keep a drape in your lead rope.  Never allow her to counter bend.  Bump her, hard if you need to, to keep the proper bend and to get to the feet.  Do your half circles every time you lead her.  Do not allow her to walk out until you know that you have changed her mind about pulling away.  Let her know that you have a good plan that she can trust and that she can believe in you!  Be consistent and don't keep changing the way you communicate with her.  She just does not understand what you want so she is coming up with her own plan.  Horses know when you know and they know when you don't know!  SHOW her you know!  

I hope this helps.  Buck Brannaman's "Ground Work" DVD will really help you.  It is the whole deal in one DVD.  Buck did it because so many people asked him to.  It is not that he wanted to be a zillionaire, that is clear from the way he lives his life.  He really just wants people to "get it" so they can help their horses.

Let me know how things are going and if I need to clarify!  Keep searching for the good stuff and keep asking questions!

Smiles!  Denise

Hi Shana!  I noticed on my log that this answer has not yet been read...I hope you have at least seen the answer!  Give me a holler and let me know how things are going and if you need any refinement on the answer.  Denise