Safe Horse Handling

Horses are sensitive curious animals that respond to their surroundings. Safety is key!
Understanding Your Horse
As prey animals horses often respond rapidly to disruptions in their surroundings. Horses are sensitive to movements smell touch sounds and sights. They have survived because of their ability to quickly recognize and respond to danger. This ability generates both advantages and disadvantages when handling.  Horses respond to what they recognize as dangerous objects or situations by fleeing fighting the threat andor bunching together. This is called the flight or fight response. The horses most common reaction is to startle and flee often called spooking. To safely work with and handle your horse you need to understand these key points of their behavior.

Haltering
Make sure the halter and lead rope are in good condition and fit properly not too tight or too loose. The nose piece of the halter should lay across the bridge of the nose and roughly two fingers width below the cheekbone and it should not be tight around the nose. Move slowly and be confident when approaching the horse. Stand to the left side between your horses head and shoulder.  Reassure them by talking to them as your put the halter on. Slide the halter over the horses muzzle or nose. If the halter fastens with a crown piece place it behind the right ear and slide across behind the left ear and buckle. Do not flop this piece over the horses neck as it may spook the horse or hit its eye and cause damage.
Adjust if needed. If the halter fastens from the throat latch slide the crown piece over both ears and then fasten. Putting on a rope halter is very similar to flat halters i e.. Nylon halters web halters the main difference is that you tie a rope halter to fasten it instead of

buckling. Bring the crown piece of the rope halter under and through the loop in the cheek piece. Pass the crown piece to the right and under the eye to make the tail point to the left. Pull it back to the right going through the loop you made to tie the knot. Pull snug. When finished the tail end should point away from your horses eye meaning to the right.
Where to Stand
As the handler you must control your horses movement and create a safe environment for you the horse and people nearby. Never stand directly in front of your horse when leading or backing. Horses cannot see directly in front of them or behind them. Stand to the near side left side of the horse between the head and shoulder ideally at the throat latch. Standing behind a horse is also unsafe as they have a blind spot there as well. When standing close to the horse standing next to the horses body is the safest. When standing still with the horse point your feet toward the horses neck or shoulder. This allows the handler to maintain eye contact.  Facing away from the horse is unsafe. The horse may react to movement before you are aware. Standing close allows you to act immediately if you feel your horse become tense or frightened.
Leading
When leading your horse always use a lead rope do not hold onto the halter and never wrap the lead rope around your hand. Wrapping the excess rope around your hand can be dangerous if the horse shys away from you. Your right hand holds the rope under the horses head and the other hand will hold the remaining rope.  Be sure the excess lead doesnt drag on the ground where it may become entangled in your legs or the horses legs. Hold the lead