So what's the easiest way to earn that respect? Let the horse learn to respect something that you control.
I acquired a mustang filly not too long ago because the owners did not know how to train a horse. Her mother was adopted by these kind people and Shiane was born not long after they brought the mare to their property. They started the filly off the right way; halter and drag rope. It is an easy, safe way to teach the horse how to respect without you having to work at it.
Now, to be clear, a drag rope is not a 6ft lead line attached to a nylon halter. It is a 3ft soft, slightly stretchy rope that is not abrasive and cannot get wrapped around fragile legs. There are a lot of folks who do not believe in drag ropes. I've found most of those people don't have horses that tie well or respect the halter at all. To each his own; I believe that starting a foal in a breakaway halter with a good drag rope can save you a lot of fighting when it comes time to teach a much older, stronger horse how to respect you.
Why does the drag rope work? Well, basically the foal teaches itself that ropes are something to respect and not work against. They learn that its something they will never win against. A foal will step on the drag rope. They will probably be upset about it the first few times- after all, its holding their head down and running under their hooves. Most will learn quickly that fighting the rope doesn't work - that its an immovable force. So when the human picks up the rope and puts pressure on it the horse already understands that fighting against it is useless - if she moves forward the pressure will be released. An easy way to teach a horse to lead. Apply pressure, wait for the horse to give in.
Now the drag ropes can't teach them everything. This little mustang was sharp as a whip and quite the bulldozer. The girl that stepped her out of the field had some pretty well trained horses that she rode, so a little half-handled 4yo with a lot of brains figured out that she could pull and [literally] push this girl wherever she wanted to go. I honestly saw the horse do this a few times, a couple times a bit aggressively and it had me worried. I took the rope, about 6ft long connected to a pretty well-fitted rope halter.
Within 20 minutes I had the horse stepping sideways, backing out of the 'personal bubble', eating grass with permission only, and lunging at the end of the line. How is this possible you ask? Well, having a drag rope for 2 years taught her 90% of that before I even laid a hand on her. She already knew how to give to rope pressure; ie backing up. The herd taught her to give her haunches and shoulders [what is lunging but moving away from pressure?], the drag rope teaching her to respect the end of the line and not take off to turn away, as well as stop on command.
I did eventually take this filly home. Easiest horse to break I've ever had. Teaching a horse to respect the halter and lead is half the battle. I had the filly under saddle in a week and kid-safe in 6 months. As in, kids brought her in from the field, tacked her up, mounted without assistance, and could walk and trot in a small arena. And I probably can't call them kids, more like children; all under 10. How? I honestly chalk it all up to her start with a drag rope.
