The earliest steps in teaching head yielding involves helping the horse to understand pressure and release to drop the head. This head-lowering lesson serves two main preliminary purposes: 1) a lowered head is a relaxed horse (whereas a high head is a tenser "on alert" horse) and therefore you can help to facilitate horse relaxation, allowing you to take the lead; and 2) it begins to teach the horse to respond softly and eventually quickly, to rope cues, later translating into rein cues. Start by squatting (which helps to encourage the head to come down) and apply slow, steady pressure downward (not jerking, just steady pressure). The second the horse gives an inch, release the pressure. The horse learns the desired behavior through the release, not the pressure.

 

 Once the horse's head reaches the ground, reward by rubbing her favorite spots. This encourages repeat behavior and also communicates that a lowered head is a safe, happy spot to be in always.

 

After doing this exercise a number of times, take a break. Always give the horse time to digest the success of learning a new behavior before moving on to something new. Note how "soft" and relaxed Belle is getting as we go along. That is why starting with head dropping yielding exercises is so important. It gets them in a more relaxed, and yielding state to build a further foundation upon.

 If the horse has trouble initially yielding her neck to the side, stand beside her, back to her, as I'm doing here, and use gentle pressure and release of pressure (when she yields) as you draw her head into you.  Often it is easier for a horse to yield into your body like this for a foundational beginning to build upon.

As she "gets it" apply fewer and fewer ounces of pressure to bring her head over to the side, until it takes only a gentle hand pressure. Don't force; simply apply pressure and release when she gives. Baby steps.

After she has mastered yielding into you, like above, and understands what is wanted there, begin to work with teaching her to yield her head while you face her side. You'll note that Belle's head shoots up high again suddenly, showing she is tense and even confused. This is not at all unusual at this stage. She simple doesn't understand yet what is expected of her. If the horse resists at this point, and holds her neck stiff, fighting it, do NOT release your hold of her "nose handle." Keep your body and eyes soft, not looking directly into her eyes as you wait for the "give." The horse learns through the release what is expected of her. If you release when they are "hard" (fighting/resisting it), then that is what they learned: that resisting it works. If you only release when they are "soft," when they yield, relaxing their neck muscles, then that is what they learned and what you want them to learn. If you have to circle with the resisting-it horse at first, then circle along with them, only releasing when they stop moving and give you a yield. But remember to take the smallest try, the slightest change for your release, and you'll get there faster!

Usually it's only the first time you do this exercise that they tense up and resist it, if your timing is quick and accurate for the release that first time. Keep repeating the exercise until the horse gets that she will receive the release when she gives a soft neck turn. But take baby steps to get there.

 Quickly the horse understands what is being requested of her. Softly stroke the girth area, where you want her head to come into, and lower your own head and stature, as you apply the pressure on her "nose handle," and she'll know more clearly where it is you want her head to go.

Belle gets it here.  It's taking very little ounce of pressure now to get her head to come over. If your timing is split-second accurate with your releases, every time she gives, the horse will get there quicker and with less resistance; timing of releases is crucial in all Natural Horsemanship training.

 Time to work on the other side!  The way a horse's brain is designed, they do NOT translate over to opposite sides of their body what they have learned on the other. You have to teach both sides of their body separately. And there will inevitably be a more difficult/offside, though what that more difficult side is, varies from horse to horse. Usually the left side is easier for the majority of horses, mainly because that is the side they've become most accustomed to being approached by the human, but that is not, by any means, always the case. With Belle, her right side is actually her easier side; her left more difficult side, was something to file away to remember. It's important to spend 70%-80% of your time working on the horse's more difficult side than the easy side, so that the off side catches up.

Here Belle had no trouble with yielding her neck on the right side once she grasped what the pressure/release was about over there. While working her as we progressed, I noted that this was indeed usually the case with her: her left side took longer to learn new things; her right was a "piece of cake" for the most part. Sometimes it can switch around on you when working with them, however, so this isn't a set-in-cement rule. Flow with the horse's rhythm softly and patiently, and she will get there on both sides equally. If it takes a little while, repeating the exercise, that's okay. In NH we like to say, "The long way is the short way." Meaning: if we are patient enough, persistent enough, consistent enough, nurturing enough in our pressure/release lessons, they all do get there, and when they get there, they STAY THERE. Forever. Hence, the long way indeed is the short way.

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