This is strictly from the FWIW department...it works for me. I hobble break
all of our horses as a matter of course during their foundation education. That
may sound a bit strange for someone who has TB's and Anglo-arabs, but I do it
very slowly...takes about six weeks...and by the time I actually put the hobbles
on properly, the horses understand and don't even wiggle. When they are
thoroughly comfortable with the hobbles, I begin tying them for ever increasing
time periods (always tie to a hay string that is breakable as a safety factor).
The first time we took Rosie and Silver to an endurance race, they stood tied to
the trailer with hobbles. Now I don't worry about the hobbles with Rosie because
ridecamp is no big deal to her, and she understands that to be tied is to stay
tied. I must admit though that around midnight, I put her back in the trailer
until early morning. Had a stallion near us the first ride in an electrified
pen. Had terrible visions of getting a free stud service...to our mare who would
have stayed tied no matter what. Now putting her back in the trailer at midnight
is just routine for us. The mare gets hand walked for about a half hour every
three to four hours whether she is tied or in the trailer.
