Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Is a horse that won't tie exceptable

Hey, I resemble that remark:-).  My wife fell in love with a horse and 
bought him. Turns out when we found out the history I really felt sorry 
for the guy. He had some issues - one being that when he was tied if he 
came to the end of the rope and it wouldn't give, he panicked. Most of 
these were man made fear responses.  If he had been trained with no 
break tack, rope buckles, etc., he'd probably broken his neck. The good 
news for him is most buckles are made of pot metal and will break.

He was way to hot for her to ride so I ended up with him and she got a 
calmer horse. I don't mind hot horses, actually I enjoy them.

We started carrying a bicycle tube around with us and using it between 
the fixed structure he was tied to and his lead. He learned that if he 
hit the end it would pull but it would give some so he didn't panic. 
Very slowly over time he learned to tie, but it was on the order of 
years not days and we did use breakable tie material while we were 
training for his safety. It had nothing to do with being spoiled or 
stubborn, it had to do with a fear response. I've also taught him to 
walk around with a lead rope dragging the ground. He's learned that when 
he steps on it he just moves his foot. At one time this would cause a 
real panic.

Now he ties without much problems, but I still am careful when I tie and 
if he is going to be tied for a prolonged period of time, I use some 
sort of "bungie" type tie. My cross ties are also designed to have some 
stretch so he doesn't hit the end. If I sold him and he didn't feel 
secure with the new surroundings would he revert back to his previous 
behavior. Since it was from fear, I expect he could.

I doubt if this horse would ever leave our camp. I've left the gate open 
on his pin one time at a ride by accident, and didn't realize it for 
about 20 minutes. He was right there munching hay, with no desire to 
leave his happy home. One time I let him go at a vet check at a ride 
dragging his lead rope while I laid down to relax - head on my saddle. 
This was only to be for a minute or two. There were only a few other 
horses there, and it was in a big pasture and he had his head down 
grazing.  I fell asleep (didn't mean to) and next thing I know he was 
over nudging me. He wasn't going anywhere. The vet told me that he 
grazed in a big circle around me and rolled once ( I always untack at 
check unless it's really cold).

Angie, you know him - you camped next to him at the BSF:-). Did the 
Jbird look like a raving idiot - he sure used to. Of course it's only 
taken about 7 years to get him trained from all the bad habits. He still 
has a few - probably die with them.

T

Rides 2 Far wrote:

> >>is a horse that won't tie acceptable? 
>
> Yes and no.
> Knew one non-tying horse who was sold to a rookie. The guy tied the horse
> with about 10' of slack and she got tangled *before* she threw her
> psychotic fit.  She literally broke & tore off a hind leg. They shot her
> with a rifle as she bolted across the field on three legs.  There are a
> LOT of stupid people out there who do a lot of stupid things with
> horses....they tie them to boards that come off the wall and chase them
> around the field, they tie them with the reins while out near a highway,
> and a million other ways either the horse or rider or even a passing
> motorist can get killed.
>
> On the other hand I have a friend whose horse won't tie to a trailer
> because he was hurt bad while tied to one as a foal. He'll tie on a
> picket line, but not up short.  Doesn't seem to affect any other area of
> his life so they work around it, no big deal.
>
> I sold a mare who tied fine to some people who tied her with pathetically
> cheap leads etc. until she learned to break ropes. This was a horse who
> learned to do it after tying well.  When I bought her back I knew to just
> tie her to a tree with something that wouldn't break and if I'd had a
> rake handy I'd have whacked her butt with it.  Took her a few tries to
> figure out those days were over.  Nothing I did with her would have
> helped the psycho panicer that tore her leg off though.  I think you can
> help the ones who are spoiled or mad, but the ones who lose their mind I
> won't fool with.
>
> Angie
>
>
>
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Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

If you are an AERC member - PLEASE VOTE in the Director at Large 
and By Laws Elections.

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