# tying my horse



## Ahsisi (Apr 13, 2009)

If you are tacking her up, I would do it in her stall. If you have a wash rack or cross ties with a wall behind her, that would be best. I would maybe try to teach her to ground tie...just throw the lead rope over whatever you are tying her to but don't actually tie it. Just lots of reassurance and praise while she is being good. Good luck!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I hope I don't get any flack for this :? :wink: 
I suggest a Blocker tie ring. I know they look like a gimmick, but they work wonders on a horse that pulls back. Its best to teach them not to do it rather then find a way to tie them so they can't fight. 
We just had a thread about this, it got snarky though so I'll post the video here too


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## Barrelracer Up (May 22, 2009)

Clinton Anderson has a good method that I like. Get the long rope (60'?) and he uses his tie ring thingy. Run the rope thru the ring without tying or flipping the pin on his ring so the rope will slide freely. Once the rope is slid thru start despooking her and let her run backwards - as soon as she stops - stop doing what ever scary thing you are doing, relax all your muscles and expression and say good girl. Ask her to come back. Do it again, and again, and again. She will become more desensitized so that she has no reason to spook and not feel so trapped.
Here are a few Clinton clips that may help. I do a lot of lunging for respect and despooking on mine. I couldn't find a tying video clip of his.

I have also taken a bicycle inner tube and tied the lead rope to that so there is more stretch before she can actually break it.

The one horse I had (this was pre-CA era) would break lead-rope latches for the fun of it. I got a hold of a Western Horseman scrapbook. There is a section in there where you make a gut rope. I took an old lunge line and looped it around his flank. Tied a knot in it so that when I clipped it to itself it wouldn't slide to loosely. I ran the end of it between his front legs and tied it just a little shorter than his lead rope. He sat back on it one time and never broke another latch after that. Now, keep in mind this horse did it cause he figured out he could - he was not spooking and would do it when the random thought crossed his mind.

And one last method. Hang a lead from a high point, like an overhanging sturdy tree limb, so that when a horse is clipped to it they can't get leverage to pull back. They can walk in circles, but not actually pull. It worked on my puller until he figured out how to twist the rope and unclip the latch. Gotta love appys! If I were a tree climber, I would have put one of those spinny gizmos on it so he could twirl the rope round and round and not twist it.

Hope this helps and at least one is something you can use.

My jittery colt that I adopted responded well to an hour in the round pen with my CA method. I was firm and assertive, but I backed off as soon as he gave to pressure. I got further with him in a hour, then the owners had in 6 months (which is how I came about getting him). I gave him boundaries, told what I expected, and backed off as soon as he gave it. Now I can do whatever I want with him even if he is wanting to shy. He will stand with my holding the halter and his side will quiver while he switches his mind over to me saying whatever it is isn't going to eat you, you are fine. Took a few months to get there and he has much fewer boogies that get to him, but when there is something nervy to him he knows I am alpha and I will take care of him.


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## Barrelracer Up (May 22, 2009)

Perfect Vidaloco!!


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## HalfPass (Jun 12, 2009)

Hello there...
When I have had trouble with horses that have issues with being tied i usually will start out with and extra long lead line. 
I never tie it! I will run the lead through the tie ring and hold on to the end while I am working on grooming or hoof picking etc. When the horse pulls pack they will feel pressure! The extra long lead gives me some le-way when the horse pulls back. As soon as the horse relaxes, I let some slack in the line and the pressure is released. I think someone in the above post mentions something similar to this.
It can take a while before a horse will get the picture. 
My horse will stand quietly while being brushed etc. even when the lead line is not tied off with a safety release. I never ever tie a knot that can not be released. Is your horse a young horse? Time and patience has always paid off in the end..
Best of luck to you both..
HP


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## PaintsTheWorld (Apr 24, 2009)

I had a horse that would rear at anything he was tied to. and break it. 
What we did was tied the horse to a tree. it so works because the horse finally has to stop because it gets tired. A horse cant bring down a big tree. Hope this helps =)


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## Barrelracer Up (May 22, 2009)

I also prefer to use rope halters with strategic knot placement and Be-Nice halters rather than flat nylon or leather halters. Be-Nice halters can be used on a sit and stay puller, but be prepared to pull your slip knot loose or cut it - I have never had to do this myself, but I can see the potential need. This kind of halter is "free sliding" and will tighten when they pull back and loosen up as soon as they quit pulling. A really idiotic behaving horse would definitely need to get use to this halter prior to tying him fast to something.

My puller would break the metal bull-lock clips on my leads - tree and halter still intact  I used a Be-Nice on him after I gut roped him, but he never tested any of my tying methods thereafter. I used it on my rescue colt and he pulled back one time at a barrel race and he hasn't done it again (he spooked when we came around the trailer).

Funny story (goes into my appy's character) I was in the barn and my Mom had him on a lead letting him eat some tall grass. I heard her yelling for me. Went to the end of the barn and looked out and Katumba was slowly dragging my Mom, ski fashion, across the property. She couldn't get any leverage to stop him or disengage his hindquarters. I yelled "HEY" and he quickly turned and placed himself like he was suppose to and looked quite innocently at me with an expression that said, "What, I wasn't dragging your Mom, I swear". He was always being mischievous and finding ways to get into trouble.


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

Guys nothing beats a neck rope. It is a soft rope about 1/2 inch in diameter with a good snap on one end and and ring knotted in the rope the proper distance from the snap so when the snap is snapped onto the ring it fits nicely around the neck where the throat latch would be. 
Snap this around the neck and pass the lead through the ring on the halter to keep the head in alignment.
Nothing breaks the neck rope. nothing. No stress on the halter other then to keep the head aligned.
Tie about an arms length long and about eye or wither height to a good solid object and that horse is not getting loose.
I live in amish country and every every single one of their horses are tied like that. I have never seen anything else. Hundreds of horse parked outside the church, every one wearing a neck rope.
I would never tie to the halter.

A neck rope on a young stallion


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

I'm sorry but I do have to speak up about the neck rope. Some horses will react more to pressure behind the poll exerted by the neck rope. The position of the rope can damage the vertebrae that it rests against; and since the rope is fairly thin, it can do a lot of damage. I would also be concerned about the neck rope tightening and not loosening at all.
The method itself is good; though I recommend using an old cinch. You put the cinch behind the ears where the rope is in that picture. You attach a rope to the cinch rings and run the rope through the chin strap like pictured above. This creates greater surface area, and also releases easier than a neck rope. See, when a horse stops pulling back, you want the release to be an immediate reward. With the cinch system, it releases pressure immediately. 
I would like to hear anyone else's opinion on the neck rope as well, as I personally have never used one.


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## dressagebelle (May 13, 2009)

I had a Thoroughbred mare that learned that anytime she pulled back the halter would break. I had always used either a nylon or leather halter, and after the first few times, I went and got a standard rope halter and tied her with a quick release tie to make sure I could untie it if I had to, and I tied her up like normal to tack her up, and when she pulled back, she wasn't able to break anything, as she was tied to a metal tie rail cemented into the ground. After that she stopped trying to pull back. I would not use that method on a horse that is truly scared to be tied though. I felt comfortable doing it with her only because her entire reason for pulling back was because she could, and she was able to run home. Not because she was actually scared. If she's scared, I would start by just looping the lead rope over the rail 3 times, so its tight enough that she'll feel pressure when she pulls back, but it will end up coming undone quick enough if she's that scared, and just work with her, give her treats or whatever as long as she's good, and work your way up to actually tying the rope.


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## Britt (Apr 15, 2008)

My mare used to break things when she was tied... It was years ago.
My uncle bought a rope halter and tied her about a foot and a half away from a tree and let her go at it. When she finally quit, she hasn't broken anything on purpose since... but now I use crossties or a quick release knot.


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

Neck ropes can not tighten around the neck. They are fixed length like the girth and can not cut off the wind. Around here neck ropes are the norm for any horse tied in public. I wouldn't consider a halter as safe.


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