Question: How do I tell if my horse is on the correct lead? I’m not a “new” rider, but I’ve mostly trail ridden and never really had to learn how to tell what lead my horse was on. Now I’m thinking about showing in some local (county shows) and need some help (preferably without hiring a trainer) figuring out which lead my horse is on. I mostly ride Western, and will probably just do some novice classes.

Question: My husband and I recently took a stallion (6 years), mare (11 years), and a colt (4 months). Well, there are a few questions we have that maybe you can help with. For the past two weeks, my male has been attacking my mare and doing some major damage to her. I’m afraid he will kill her. We’ve only been horse people since February 26, 2007. I’ve never had a horse in my life. The other thing is that the mare is halter broke but when we try to go to her she walks away or turns her rump like she wants to kick. Since the incident my male she will let me rub her face and neck only on the outside of the fence. I don’t want to give up on her because I’m getting attached to her. Thank you for your help.

Question: I recently acquired a 15 year old mare who had been originally used as a broodmare and then a riding mare. I plan to trail ride her. When I bought her, they told me of her fear of 2 horse stall type horse trailers, mostly during unloading. She loads well, but runs backward when getting off, unless you can turn her around. Then she walks off. I brought her home in a 2 horse open stock trailer. She went on well, but kept racing off backwards about 4-5 timesuntil we finally got the door shut.

They said she also does not like cramped places like small aisle ways. Could she be claustrophobic? I have her with another mare in a 3 acre pasture with a 10 foot doorway into a 20 foot by 10 foot area in my barn. She only sticks her head in and won’t go in. This is where I feed them. So I put her hay be the doorway. Is there anything I can do to get her over this trail problem so I can load her beside another horse without her hurting someone?

Question: I have two horses (one for myself, one for my husband) and was considering purchasing a mount for our daughter. She’s only seven and we keep hearing terrible things about ponies versus an older, well broke horse and how she’ll grow out of a pony, but she seems more comfortable with a smaller animal. What would you suggest?

Answer: Ponies are often labeled as “bad”, but so are many horses. In my opinion, ponies can be just as well trained as horses, although finding the right one is sometimes difficult. There are quite a few poorly trained ponies (and horses for that matter) available for sale, and quite a few ponies who behave like angels for adults and appear to be little demons for young riders. Other ponies are babysitters in a sense that they appear to take care of their young riders.