I have been working with horses now for quite a few years, 15 exactly.  When I first started trying to control my horses feet and attention span, I was shown a method for creating movement and getting attention called shanking.  For those of you who don't know what shanking is, and I'm sure most of you do, it's the act of snapping downward sharply on the lead rope to get the horse's attention or to get some backward movement out of the horse.  This is typically done when the horse is behaving improperly or just not paying attention.  It's a common thing to see trainiers and somewhat experienced horsemen doing this.  This approach to correcting a horse has been passed down beween horse folks like a hope chest.

I have a dislike for this method for three reasons.  The first is, when you shank the horse it drives the horse's head up.  It's the natural reaction of the horse to react with movement opposite to pressure.  Shanking is pretty abrupt pressure.   

The following video shows a young lady shanking a horse to try to get it to pay attention.

As you can see, the horse's head is being driven upward.  This is counter to one of the goals of trainers and horsemen.  Remember,  a horse with it's head in the air is a horse that's on alert and ready for flight.  The horse's reaction to shanking is abrupt and out-of-control.  Our goal is to create a horse that is relaxed, responsive, comfortable and has as little built-in fear as posssible.  Driving a horse's head up builds fear and apprehension in the horse and shows the horse it is ok to react abruptly and fearfully.

The second reason I dislike shanking is because it is a lazy-man's way of working a horse.  We are all human and we like to do things the easy way.  But, the easy way is not always a good way.  I have known horsemen who used shanking sparingly and only when all else fails.  I can respect that.  However, more often than not, I see people revert to shanking in anger and frustration and using it as punishment.  This is wasted energy and counter-productive. 

Some use shanking as a basis to get backward motion from a horse.  This perplexes me.  When I am training a horse to back, whether it is on the ground or under saddle, I want calmness and collection.  I want a natural, relaxed head position.  The following video shows a horse being backed using a different approach.

You will notice that the horse in this video is backing in a repsonsive manner and is paying attention to the handler.  The horse's head is in a relaxed position and the response is controlled. 

Once the horse has been taught to back in this manner, this technique can be used to correct the horse and get thier attention.   At the same time the horse is kept in a calm and collected state and the head position is not compromised.

The third reason I dislike shanking is that it's an extremely aggressive move on our part.  Communication with a well trained horse is direct yet subtle.  Shanking a horse is very nearly attacking it's head.  We really don't want our horses to think we will attack them.  And, I assure you, the more you shank your horse, the more the horse thinks you mean it harm.

In summary, shanking is an undesirable method for correcting a horse, getting it's attention  or getting backward movement on the ground.  This technique drives the horse's head higher which puts the horse in an alert state.  That's the opposite of what we want.  We want a technique that will correct, calm and get the horse's attention.   There are many techniques for training a horse.  Shanking is not a good approach.  Try using the approach I have outlined here and you will have better results with your horse.