Why Use a 14-Foot Lead Rope

Clinton Anderson from Downunder Horsemanship has developed a way to train horses, regardless of their past problems or traumas. It all begins with training the owners so they can gain their horse’s respect and understand how to properly control them. Join Clinton on his weekly endeavors of tackling some of the most challenging situations with problem horses, and problem owners. This week, we join Clinton as he answers another listener question. 

This week’s question comes from Dan in Idaho. Dan wants to know why you would use a lead rope that’s quite a bit longer than a conventional lead rope—one that you might buy at your local tack store. Clinton explains that he uses the 14-foot lead rope to communicate with his horse. He tells us that he wants a lead rope that’s going to be long enough so that you can go ahead and move your horse’s feet forwards, backwards, left, and right, but not so long that you’re carrying around an extra 50 feet of rope. There is a delicate balance to finding the correct length lead rope. 

Importance of Finding the Correct Length Lead Rope

To help you understand the importance of this, Clinton gives us a few examples. For starters, he has a rope that’s made out of a really high-end yachting material. It has a lot of feel to it. What does Clinton mean by feel? He explains it by saying whatever he does with his hand ends up at the clip. If he wiggles his hand a little, it moves down to the clip. Therefore, it’s a lot easier to teach your horse to back up with a lead rope that has a lot of feel to it because you can better control and understand your movements. You’ll be able to tell when to add more pressure, when to reduce it, and so on. Clinton demonstrates this with Chip—one of his performance horses. Chip is relatively sensitive, but when using this lead rope, it’s easier to move his feet out of Clinton’s personal space.  

Another example that Clinton provides is when he is performing lunging for respect stage one and two. If he points and twirls the end of the lead rope, that’s it. You’re able to really control the exercise and training with your horse. You can use it to do a number of different exercises easier than with an improperly sized lead rope. The 14-foot rope allows you to swing the end to yield the hindquarters than transition into the next exercise. You can effectively perform all of your groundwork with it. If you have a stick for training, that’s great too. However, the lead rope allows you for a more personalized and dynamic training experience that will work on strengthening your horse’s skills and overall demeanor. 

For the past 20 years Clinton Anderson has devoted his life to creating the best horse training tools and videos available to help bring his method to you. But there’s only one problem. You can’t bring your TV into the arena. That’s why he’s been hard at work, developing a new platform to deliver the method to you in a whole new way, a way that brings 20 years of horsemanship and puts it in the palm of your hand. Introducing the mobile method. It’s part of the new Downunder digital experience. And it makes learning the method easier than ever before. 

Now you can always have access to the Downunder method, even when you’re on the go or at the barn. The Downunder Horsemanship app gives you access to your digital training kits and allows you to download videos and training content directly to your mobile device or view them on your computer. The Downunder Horsemanship app also offers over 86 hours of free in-depth training content. No Worries Club members will have full access to Clinton’s ever-growing training library and a massive number of members only features and information. And the best part is that you can view and interact with each lesson on your mobile device or computer, giving you ultimate access to the method anytime and anyplace.

To learn more about the Clinton Anderson training method, become a member of the No Worries Club, or to get information on any of the products seen on our show, head over to our homepage and download the Downunder Horsemanship app today! If you’re interested in getting accelerated results, let a Clinton Anderson Certified Clinician bring the method to you!