Creating A Draw

I would say we all agree when we walk into our horse's pasture, we would rather be greeted with nice pricked forward ears, than the tail end and dirt flying in our faces. Horses that are hard to be caught can be frustrating to deal with, especially when you have an agenda for the day. I have found that if you can get some access to a round pen, spending some extra time working on a "draw" can help.

When I think about a horse with a good draw, I think of a horse that if I take a step backwards, he is going to follow and come towards me. A round pen is a great place to work on your horses' draw because there are no corners for him to get stuck in and you can be free to work him with fewer distractions and without being connected with halter and lead. When I round pen my horse, I like to always have them turning into me for a change of direction. Anytime they turn into me I will give them a reward and let them rest. After a while, you can count that they will be looking into me for a reward, that is when you can really start to build some reliance on those pricked forward ears facing you when out side of the round pen.

It does take a lot of work and practice, and some horses want to be with you more than others. But there can be away around shaking the grain bucket if you want to put some time in. A horse with a good draw is a horse that is most pleasant to be around!