Discipline & the Trail Horse

and bridle. His stubborn behaviour surprised me and the halter offered little control. As soft in the mouth as he is he was wired with energy had no desire to respond softly and I became an unwilling partner in a tugofwar a battle between a string rein in my hand and a 1200pound horse. We were spinning aggressive circles in a tangle of brush and crossed fallen sticks. Things were getting increasingly out of hand and dangerous. Discipline was needed.
When a horse is acting up on the trail wanting to rush back home pushing the horse in front or aggressively wanting to change pace to a trot or a run it is always a good idea to turn the horse disengage the rear quarters and make him work circles until he stops the nonsense and is willing to walk off at the proper pace. But I had been turning circles and it did not help.  So I dismounted and with the 12foot lead lunged him right there in that brushy mess and continued to lunge him until he calmed down and showed the respect required. He was not invited back into my space until he behaved. It worked and we rode off a much happier couple.
Just like a school principal would discipline students differently based on their personality so it must be with horses. A horse that is acting up may be doing so because he is aggressive afraid confused just being naughty or a combination of the above. You absolutely must understand the nature of the horse before choosing the appropriate discipline. Horses that are calm confident and experienced can handle a little physical reminder while aggressive physical pressure of any type with a fearful insecure horse may quickly increase the confusion and fear. If you are cinching up a girth of an experienced horse and he swings his head around and attempts a little bite then aggressively pushing the nose or face back is a good choice for this naughty behaviour. If you mount the horse and he moves then you need to dismount and repeat mounting until he stands still.
Always say a firm no! when using discipline. In time the word itself will help the horse understand that he needs to behave.
Do not jerk the bridle or bit for any form of discipline.
A horse that kicks out during training may do so for a few different reasons.