Most people use a 6 or 8-foot lead rope for tying or leading horses, but a longer lead rope can give more flexibility, leverage and cushion for teaching a horse to work without a line attached.
I like using hand-tied halters with a 12-foot lead rope attached with no metal hardware. The lack of any kind of metal keeps the halter and lead rope light. My lead rope is the heaviest part, because it is 1/2-inch double-braided yacht rope. The halter is light because it is quarter inch diameter rope.
A long line is so much more flexible than a shorter lead rope, because we can adjust it to be any length we want. Generally I will fold it in half when I am leading a horse in close, or riding it with just a lead rope.
When I am leading a horse, there are basically three parts to the lead rope: The end, the loop, and the part going to the halter. On the ground, the loop is the bank account we draw on to get more length if we need it. We use the end to help persuade horses to move better. On their back, we can have the loop on one side of the neck and the end on the other. These can both be used to help turn the horse away from the side each is on in a rhythmic motion.
A longer rope always gives more leverage if a horse is leaning on the rope, or trying to pull away. Mules can be especially overpowering if we don’t have a long rope for leverage. If a horse or mule is being disrespectful to the rope, then a minimum of a 20-22 foot rope will help give more leverage and make it easier to control them.
One of the most important things about a long lead rope is its ability to cushion, or give time for a horse to respond without pulling on it.
I like to emphasize that one of the major differences between good and bad is the ability to warn. Besides being a good history book, the Bible is full of warning and prophecy ahead of time. If we want to teach, learn or improve ourselves and help others, we need crystal clear communication with plenty of time to respond.
It’s no different with horses. A long lead rope allows us to keep slack in the rope so we can practice getting a horse responding to body language before we pull on it for correction. It also allows us to practice teaching the horse to work on its own or at liberty.
A long rope allows us to act as though horses are at liberty, but gives us a safety net to fall back on when we have to correct them. I like to call the extra slack – or cushion – we can give horses here the mercy side of things. When we have to pull on the rope or correct them, that becomes the justice aspect.
I believe – since God is love and love has both mercy and justice in it – we are able to practice what God grows us with to help grow our horses.
Mike Daniels is a horsemanship trainer and barefoot trimming specialist from Raymondville, Mo.
Email: rlhorse58@yahoo.com.
