I have a new-to-me older (age 15) mare who is obnoxious about being led. Even with a stud chain, she will pull on the way to turnout (or back for dinner), use her shoulder to bulldoze, and generally be a PITA. At most other times, she is respectful.
I have tried the walk / halt/ and stand method, the bribe method. and am about ready for the “Ill rip your face off method”.
Suggestions to improve her leading?
Doesn’t sound like she understands pressure/release.
This is an older video from Warwick Schiller. He probably would not do it this way anymore, nor would he talk about the owner the way he does here but… years ago this one helped me understand how to fix my big Irish horse barging and dragging me around. So in the spirit of take what works for you, leave the rest…
Purchase an “iron halter”. The lead rope comes off the top of the nose like a cavasson. As long as the horse remains soft, your lead rope remains loose. If the horse goes to bolt or bend away from you, or strive to take over, the lead rope turns the metal ring slightly sideways, and automatically tips her head towards you to release the pressure on her nose. Thus, the horse learns to remain soft, and learns that being “pushy” or any attempt to bowl you over simply doesn’t work for her any more. Then you reward her for walking politely beside you.
There is no “jerking” or “punishment” required from the handler. Simply hold the lead rope as normal. The horse figures out how the tool works very quickly, and modifies her behaviour to accommodate the new limitations in her life. If she had been handled more skillfully earlier in life, this problem would not be present today. But once a horse has learned to use her strength, weight and size against the human like this, a special tool gives the human the upper hand.
I’ve got a bunch of questions about her ground work in general, but for a moment let’s assume she knows how to yield her shoulders/hips/ribs/face at a reasonably light touch.
I’d carry a dressage whip. If she tries to bulldoze with her shoulder, I would make myself very important to her, very fast - yield yield yield. Over-do it to really put it in her brain that her shoulders do not belong over there.
For the dragging, my absolute favorite method is to swing the rope directly in front of you both, in a circle like a fan is blowing on you. Should she choose to walk ahead of you, that swinging rope will bop her on the schnoz, reminding her to keep behind you or at your shoulder. It only takes a couple tries, and then she’ll get it. After she gets it, just one swing of the rope will typically remind them to stay back.
I have a confident friendly large young standardbred that was rather unruly when i first got him as a long yearling. We play a game now where i run beside him …no longer needing any leadrope (animated …exaggerating, lifting my knees) and abruptly stop. If he is perfectly ON he gets huge praise and a treat…and he beams. If he lags a second i go Ohhhh 
and he crowds into me, apologizing…we go again until he gets is right. With him, life is a game. He’s probably one of the lightest hearted horses i’ve had, and we do what works for HIM.
One of my geldings is quite vain, the most aggressive of the mustang geldings who has to ‘own’ all the mares all the time. i use a lowvoiced sort nicker-sounding praisetalk telling him how gorgeous and how strong he is when he stops on a dime for me. I try to trick him by doing quick turns. he is pretty darn tight. We back up and we turn right. He still lags to the left… I think he and i could do a dance number.
i have a mare with whom i’m taking dressage lessons…She is amazing on the ground but that’s as a result of our lessons. Seems that the discipline and concentration we do together in the arena has translated over to groundwork.
Except for the three as-yet-ungentled mustangs, i can’t think of one who can’t lead on a string or sweater looped over their neck. I’ve never had success ‘making’ an animal behave, but have had great accomplishments getting them to want to do what i want. It just has to be fun and rewarding. I suggest giving empathetic attention. Given the kind of attention that speaks to them, there is no limit except imagination as to what they can do.
i think i might try, with a mare like that, to walk forward about three steps, stop(praise), go forward, stop(praise) backup (praise/reward). Maybe see if she has a sense of humor? Maybe i’d plant a treat on an object or beside a post, so that when we stopped there would be a good reason that YOU know about but that she does not. Find a way to show her that you know stuff that she does not that benefits her.
Assuming her groundwork and manners are otherwise fine, my favorite trick for these horses, including my lease mare when she forgets herself, is to turn in a quick circle every time they start rushing. I find with most horses they discover it’s more work and takes longer to get where they want if they have to circle if they’re trying to get ahead of me, versus if they were just polite and contained themselves. Occasionally my lease mare needs reminders and now it doesn’t take more than one circle before she remembers her manners.
I’ve been dabbling in R+ for ground manners and I’ve been really impressed how quickly I can shape a behavior using it. Leaves us both feeling happy too. Less war, more fun. 
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