Okay, I think I should re-phrase this!

Exactly! Trail riding should be fun for you and your horsey, so as long as he's behaving himself up front, then let him be a leader! :)

Have fun!!

Hmmm. I didn't consider the two horses wanting to be up front part. Guess we can't really have them fighting it out while we're on them! I guess you and the other bossy horse's rider then have to make an executive decision and put up with the corresponding fits that result. Maybe switch off every so often?

The only other horse that cares where they are wants to be in back, so I think we're covered! Thanks so much guys!

I had a horse that insisted on being in front all the time. It took months of little circles every time he tried to push his way to the front before he finally figured out that I was more stubborn than he was.

He didn't care if another horse was beside him - it was the ones in front that drove him nuts!

To tell you the truth, I'm pretty surprised he wants to be in the front. In his pasture, he is basically bottom on the pecking order. He doesn't get many scratches or anything, but he does not defend himself. He does perfectly fine, but he is just like me; stay clear of trouble, don't ask for trouble, and when in trouble, spin on your heels and RUN! LOL! That is pretty much why I don't mind. Hey, if he wants to play tough guy, oh well, as long as he doesn't cause trouble! I'll just be lax on the trail rides and see how it goes

My view is this - I need to be sure I can be in control and safe at all times, in all situations. Front OR back. In your case, I would work on him until he learns to be calm at the back, and as soon as he is... He can go to the front as much as he likes! I don't care where they like to be - I DO care if where they don't like to be results in behaviour that may escalate to being dangerous.

So, basically, I always ensure my horses can ride anywhere in a group, and ocne I know that, I let them go wherever :] What if another person was riding him but didn't know the way/wasn't confident in front?

In regards to cutting off other horses... Big no-no! Does he move sideways off your leg? If so, simply yeild him back the other way, strongly. If a horse is getting toey at the back, I make it halt. I wait until they stand relaxed, then I let them walk on a loose rein. If they jog, I halt again, but I always let them walk off on a loose rein - Giving them a chance to do the right thing before they are corrected.

Lets say that you get the oppurtunity to do a wonderful horse trek with 70 other horses and riders. Out of that 70 there are probabably 15 horses that want to be in the front. As your horse is now would you consider doing such a ride? Or would you be concerned with how your horse would behave in such a circmstance? For me personnaly it is a no brainer, I want to be able to ride in different situations. What I don't want to be doing is saying "well I would love to do it but my horse won't behave"

My point is that in the comfy situation that you are in now your horse is ok, but what if the situation changes or you want to do something different with other people? As your horse is now, would you trust it?

I agree 100% and on trails, I try to change up where we are on the trail when: front, back, or in the middle, I try to be in all points on the trail ride. It would get boring if I didn't.

Thanks for the input guys! I actually solved the problem, sorry I should have updated this We went out on the trail, and I think it was just a combination of him being excited and his first time out, because the next ones we did were very enjoyable and civilized. Guess we were just having one of those days