A big part of my training program is teaching horses patience.
One of the best ways to teach the horse patience is to require him to stand tied after a workout.

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Tying a horse is a great tool. You don’t even realize how great it is until it can’t be done because the horse freaks out and breaks away from the tie!

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A horse pulling back can be tough to fix because when a horse has the habit of pulling back, the horse usually breaks something to get free, and he does break free.

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What I would suggest if a horse is having a problem with pulling back when tied is:

Get yourself a large eye hook, put it into a real sturdy post at about the height of 6′.
Then, using a lead rope or a longe line (depending on how insecure the horse is). Make sure the rope is nylon and it can run through the eye hook easily.

Practice by moving the horse closer and closer to the hook.
To do this, you will run the lead or line through the hook, but don’t tie it. Just keep practicing getting the horse closer and closer to where he is comfortable.

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This is not a quick fix; I would work on this for an hour at a time. When the horse is getting good at standing there comfortably for an extended period of time, you can tie a safety release knot around the eye hook.

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Tip: Don’t actually tie the horse with the rope through the eye hook tie the rope around it.
By tying the horse this way it won’t turn into an explosive battle. In the future, when the horse is standing consistently, then he can be tied normally. I would however suggest for any horse, using a breakaway halter, or a leather halter for safety’s sake.

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After you and your horse have the eye hook mastered, you can move to the trailer, or any other area.
Just take your time and keep the horse calm. Let him associate being tied with rest, so be sure and work him until he is tired before you tie him. It’s real good for a horses mind to tie them for an hour after a hard workout.

Tags: safety, Tying The Horse

4 Comments to Tying A Horse - Troubleshooting Tips

misha
February 24, 2008

Your blog is really cool It has TONS of useful things to know about horses. I added a link to it on my blog I don’t have a horse yet but I am getting one when I’m a bit older! I hope that when I get a horse you will still have this blog.

Deanna
February 25, 2008

Thanks Misha! I’m glad you like it. I hopefully will be blogging for a long time. What is your blog address, I would like to check it out? I’m always looking for new blogs to read.

Deanna

Cathy
March 6, 2008

HI, Great comment about tying horses up, Deanna. My gelding pulled back, but it’s important that he learn to stand tied–what if he’s at a show, or somewhere where he just has to be tied to a trailer or something?? So… we attached a very heavy duty chain (used for bulls, I believe) to one of the structural beams in the barn. The chain is looked around the pole and then attaches to a clip which also goes to his halter.
He tried pretty hard, but has accepted the fact that some things just can’t be broken.
Good lesson and important for safety!!!

Deanna
March 6, 2008

Thanks Cathy!

So true, what would we do if we couldn’t tie our horse? We wouldn’t want to teach the horse to tie at a show or someplace else that wasn’t at home.

Thanks for the comment.

Deanna

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