What is the best way to teach a horse to be tied?

[horseloverinVA]

I have never had this problem, however all my horses all ready knew how to stand or didn't balk about it when they were trianed.

I have a horse that I have taken on a training project for my former trainer. He is an OTTB sale rescue that was in awful shape, papers didn't convey in his sale, he is about 18 years old. He is doing better now health wise, and is doing wonderfully in training to become a school/4h horse. He seems to thrive on the kids love, which is great.

My problem is this horse will be showing this summer. Just low level/local/fun shows. He will cross tie ok, but when it comes to being tied to a stationary object with one rope, he's not good. Like to the wall , tree or trailer. He's fine for a few mins and then starts to back up, then when the rope gets tight he freaks. He's not at all head shy. Even when he has hay or someone standing with him(horse or human), he backs, then freaks. he has to learn to tie to a trailer to be shown.

WHat can I do about this? I've never had a horse be quite this bad, even when first training them to tie?

[gbarmranch]

I love using the Clinton Anderson tie ring - you can let it out when the horse pulls back, and then bring the horse back up to the hitching post - it keeps them from panicking and they learn to give to pressure safely.. It takes a bit of time, but within a day or so, they will stand tied quietly!

Well well worth the $20 ...

[David]

I would say get a blocker tie ring, it's the same ring that CA sales but you can get them much cheaper through the company. I've never used one but I've heard lots of great things about them.

[David]

Wow I just looked them up, maybe they are not cheaper anymore.

[almost_mozart]

Wrap his rope around a couple times, so that if he pulls with strong pressure, it will give (ie, if he pulls back, he'll get free rather than break the leadrope), but if he only pulls gently he'll think he's tied solid. This is the same principle as the blocker tie ring. You'll have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't get loose, but the situation will be a lot safer.

[Equine Kneads]

Lots of patience and consistency!..your goal is to get them to tie because they trust & want to..
You can also try to loop the rope so the horse feels pressure but it has some give....I always make sure my cross ties have a release on them too!

[silverdog71]

I know this might be silly and slight over kill but it's how we train our foals to tie. We have an out door arena which is great for this because they are contained but have a lot of room. We always use break-away halters as well (a very bad farm experiense caused us to promise to never go back). Attach the foal/young horse/what have you to a lung line that you secure around a pole or hitch ring. Shorten the lung line so that the horse is as close to the pole as you would like it to be if tied normally. At first the horse won't notice it's tied (they never do) but once it does and pulls back, it won't jerk it's neck (and possibly flip) like it would if hard tied. Because you're using a lunge line it can fight/back up a lot before it finally realized that no matter what it can't get loose of the rope. It helps to have someone helping you so they could go to the horse and calmly walk it back to the starting point while you wind up your line but if you are along you can manage, just wind as you walk lol.

I usually let them repeat this three or four times that first time. Depends on how stubborn the horse is. Even after that first day they might seem like they are "getting it" don't let them fool you lol. It's usually take a solid week or week and a half for us to have them really really get it. Remember lot's and lots of praise when they stand still even if they pulled half of the line through they still stopped before the end of the line which is progress!

Good luck!

[rubysmom]

I had the same problem last summer with our new horse. They never tied him to a trailer. They only cross-tied him. I sent him off to the trainer and she said for me to tie a piece of twine to the trailer in a loop, then tie the lead rope to that. The twine will break if he freaks out. we did this over and over until he got it right. Now i still tie him this way just incase he forgets.

[doyle82]

My gelding will normally cross tie and trailer tie fine but on occasion he will just suddenly sit down on the ties and break his halter.

[ohiobred]

u know what i do is tie some hay bale twian from the clip to the chain on the cross ties. instead of the clip attached solid to the rope/chain. so that if they do go off or sit down the twian breaks. i usually double it up.

[irishmusic]

I posted this a while back, but it seems there are a lot of halter pullers in the world....

I used to have a huge 17h saddlebred. He was 4 years old when I bought him and it wasn't until I tied him the first time that I realized he had a problem -- he was a halter puller. He was so big that he would just sit back and the halter or lead rope would break. I couldn't tie him up anywhere. One time I had tied him to a telephone pole hitching post - and he broke the telephone pole. The stable owner said that I could no longer tie him up, since he had broken every cross tie in the place.

Finally, I read an old copy of western horseman magazine and picked up this tip -- a bicyle tire inner tube. I went to the nearest bike shop and got a used one. I looped the tire tube through itself at what was left of the telephone pole hitching rail and tied my lead rope to the tube. Then I attached the lead rope to my geldings halter. My riding buddies watched in amazement as I just walked away. After a couple of minutes, my big saddlebred gelding looked around and "did his thing" He laid back all of his 1200 lbs into his halter. He pulled and he pulled. My friends looked at him, then looked at me. The gelding let up, then laid into the halter again. Everytime he pulled back, he got pulled forward again. Now my friends were howling with laughter to watch this horse pull back on his halter, only to be pulled forward again by the inner tube. Within one week, he was broken of halter pulling. I was able to tie him normally.

It is always best if you can let the horse teach himself. My suggestion - get yourself a bicycle tube!

[doyle82]

That sounds like a great idea! Maybe I should try that when I'm trying to bathe my gelding on the outside wash stocks.
He'll just sit down and pull the post right out of the ground

[MQuinlan]

I have had several horses with this problem in the past. The best thing I have ever come across is called a high tie. essentially it is a long wire that runs across the top of an indoor ring (like a dog tie run). But except for the horses being able to run back and forth like a dog, the tie is stationary in the center of the indoor. It is best to have a rope halter so the horse can't break away (once they learn to get away from pressure they always will try)....

Basically, you let the horse stand there and work it out themselves. What I love about it is that they cannot get hung up on and fences, trailers, poles ect. And they are on soft footing so they cannot slip on concret or gravel.

I will warn that sometimes a horse can struggle quite a bit and it is hard to watch sometimes but they will NEVER pull again!

I found one with a Natural horsemanship barn that I work with and swear by it. If you can find any trainers in the area that have one or could get your hands on one yourself that would definitely solve your problem.

Hope this helps.

[nickie]

I agree with Irishmusic. That is how we start tying our youngsters.

[Bandit]

I also highly suggest the Clinton Anderson tie-ring. I've found this to be the quickest and safest way to teach a horse how to tie.