Drop the lead rope or not?

[Rt66Kix]

Another horse owner at my barn and I were having a discussion this afternoon regarding letting your horse graze outside the pasture…

1. Do you drop the lead rope and let them trail it behind them on the ground as they amble along eating grass, providing they can’t get into the road; fall off a cliff, or any other foreseeable disaster? The horses are never let out of sight.

2. Do you hang onto the lead rope and never let go?

The horses in question are seniors with more whoa than go, and pretty bombproof.

[ladyj79]

Never let go. If horse isn’t contained why would you let go on purpose??

On this note, at a European barn full of fei show jumpers, one of barn owner’s grooms knocks on my door.

“One of your horses is loose in the derby field!”

Oh God!

I head out, thinking my giant who had been in the box eight weeks and only recently started being turned out again must have lept his paddock fence.

“Your chestnut horse”.

I don’t have a chestnut horse.

Turns out my horse was still in his paddock and one of the Argentine guys had actually turned his horse loose in the derby field and was sitting in the opening in the fence. He apparently didn’t feel the need to hang on to the horse.

Me? I’m way too paranoid for that.

[wireweiners]

When I hand graze my mare I put her on the lunge line and I sit in the lawn chair holding the lunge line. I move as necessary.

[shakeytails]

Heck, I’ve just let a couple of my old timers loose to eat on the lawn. But usually, if I feel the need to have a lead rope at all, I’m going to hold on to it.

[Alagirl]

I do seem to remember he dropped lead rope as training tool, but seriously, with my upbringing in the area of PC meets Cavalry, no Ma’am, no dropped lead rope, unless the road apple hit the fan!

[dkcbr]

I always hold on to the rope because of the litany of possible bad outcomes otherwise.

[JoZ]

I do both. It’s a matter of weighing pros and cons. Both places where I have lived with horses caring for them myself have been blessed with protective “layers” of fencing or space or both. So I have let horses graze without being held, usually not dragging their lead – if I felt I had to keep the lead on, I would probably insist on holding onto it. But I have put a halter on a horse, opened the gate, gone to get another horse, and picked up horse #1 on the way back. My senior horse used to have the run of the yard. And yes, sometimes I have just let one follow. There are some management benefits to their being herd animals.

If I ever were on a busy road, or close to any road, busy or not, or cursed with horses that would actually move away from grass to do something naughty – well that would be another story!

Re-reading – if you were asking specifically about hand grazing, so the lead is a necessity and you’re probably at a boarding stable, then I would probably hold onto the lead, more because I don’t like anything dragging around their legs.

[csaper58]

I hold the rope and try to move with the horse so that the lead is straight in front of him between 10 and 2 o’clock.

But my horse is younger than yours, and there are more opportunities for disaster near by.

[clanter]

ours would just stand in place if the lead was dropped, we taught them to ground tie

[Xanthoria]

Old git: lead rope flipped over his wither. Will graze like that for hours.

Young’in: hold on. Anything could happen.

[Foxtail]

I’ll flip it over their withers if they’re fairly predictable, but I don’t just drop it unless I’m leaving them ground tied. Don’t want to confuse them.

[myleetlepony]

I first saw grazing with lead attached but dropped when I polo groomed…after games and being poulticed, grooms would let the horses graze while they sat and had beer with the players. No matter where we played, this was common.

I would do it from time to time with my mare as she was more interested in eating than anything else. No way in the world would I do it with my new guy…once he stepped on the lead (split second accident) and it pulled out of my hand…I’ve never seen a draft cross run so fast…I was thinking that day I may try him as a race horse

[Garnet_Z]

The whole property where my horse lives is fenced off. The big pasture area where the horses live is fenced, and then outside of that there are cabins and other out buildings, an outhouse, and a parking area (yes, it’s rustic). That entire area is enclosed and if I close the gate to the parking area, my horse cannot get away. He has been loose outside the paddock and is fine, although I prefer to keep him under control with a lead rope.

If he does get out of the paddock and isn’t on a lead, he immediately heads to the place where I serve his pellets. If there are no pellets, he goes to grass or a hay pile.

When he was at a regular boarding stable and I wanted to hand graze him, he would always be on a lead, with me paying attention to him (i.e. not texting on my phone or whatever). I doubt he would go near the road, but I still think having him loose would have been a safety hazard. He did slip out of his paddock when a student was getting another horse and he apparently ran to the best grass patch to graze and was a bit of a pain to catch.

[normandy_shores]

If you’re going to drop the lead rope and essentially leave them loose, why not just… turn them loose?

[maunder]

I’ve seen horses with dropped leads step on the lead, try to lift their head and panic.

I always keep a hand on the lead.

[Palm_Beach]

Unless the horse is a real geriatric that can’t run more than a few steps, I’d not let it loose. They find ways to hurt themselves that you can’t possibly imagine.

[Rt66Kix]

One of the boarders at the barn has carriage horses. He will let the lead rope drag on the ground while they graze. His opinion is that if they start to get away, they will step on the lead rope, slow themselves down, and give him a chance to catch them. They are very docile and sweet, and back up to relieve the pressure if they do step on the rope. They aren’t very interested in running off, especially this time of year when the grass outside their paddock is far superior to what’s inside of it!

Love hearing everyone’s opinions…

[js]

The one horse in my barn most likely to bolt on a lead rope is the 30 yr old. I keep hold of the lead with all the horses. You can’t predict that one time that something happens and they take off. Stepping on a lead while going fast can be dangerous for the horse.

[newhorsemommy]

I used to have to take my gelding out to feed his “lunch” away from my mare. I’d flip the rope over his back and do other chores while he ate (he’s a very slow eater). He was in a fenced area, but I left the lead on so I could catch him if needed. He’s stepped on the lead rope a million times and it doesn’t bother him.

My mare, on the other hand, freaks out if she steps on her own lead, so I hold on to it.

[Nestor]

For 99% of horses, I just hold the lead and be careful they don’t step on it.

That being said. A friend had a Friesian who (a) wouldn’t go anywhere, and (b) would stop immediately if he stepped on his lead and could easily navigate himself to be unstuck without an inkling of anxiety. She would drop his lead rope and leave him to graze, even with no fencing in sight. I trusted that horse completely, because if he got spooked, he only EVER went back to the barn. He didn’t even like turnout. :lol: But you could turn him out in a paddock, with the lead dragging, and he’d happily graze. No lead, and he’d pace. Go figure.