Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

When a 1000 pound animal that evolved by surviving following its flight 
response to escape from predictors panics - nothing good happens. Seems 
to be it is better to get the horse to understand and not be afraid - 
than trying to force him to accept something.

What we do with our horses is let them teach themselves about ropes, 
being tied, etc. slowly. As soon as they are big enough to know how to 
lead and understand, we put a halter on them attach a lead rope and let 
them out in the yard (one at a time) to eat the grass they don't 
normally get to eat. They walk around, step on their rope, get stuck, 
figure it out and learn to move without getting stuck and if they do 
learn to get out of it. Pretty soon the rope is not big deal - step on 
it look down, step off it and go on. Then we go to being tied. Start 
with a bicycle inn tire tube between the structure and rope (some need 
it some don't but it's a good precaution). After a while - no big deal.

The last thing I would do is tie a irresistible force to an immovable 
object - if I thought there was the least chance of panic. All our horse 
tie just fine. We had some work with the Jbird undoing some of the 
"cowboy methods" tried on him before we got him. Some horses may have an 
opinion about it and they may in fact express that opinion when they 
know you are watching - like a horse tied to the trailer that starts 
pawing when she sees you but when you are out of sight, stops pawing and 
goes back to eating and sleeping. Mares seem to have these sorts of 
opinions.

Truman

Karen Sullivan wrote:
> A friends sister had a trainer do this to her horse; ended up with a 
> broken neck
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* Tx Trigger <mailto:txtrigger@xxxxxxxxx>
>     *To:* Ridecamp <mailto:ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>     *Sent:* Wednesday, October 25, 2006 3:25 PM
>     *Subject:* [RC] teaching to tie with belly rope...NOT
>
>     I know that for as long as horses have been taught to tie, and not
>     set back, folks have been using the rope around the horses
>     girth/body, and up through the halter ring, and tied off. If
>     anyone ever wants to see the scars/ areas of no hair that start up
>     near my horses withers, and trickle all the way down to under his
>     girth area, I can show them to you. His breeder sent him out for
>     some "lessons", and things obviously did not go well. When I got
>     this horse, he was scared of his own lead rope. This is not a
>     method I'd recommend to anyone, after seeing what happened with my
>     gelding before I bought him. But, it is a method that has been
>     used for as long as I can remember.
>     Jonni in TX


--

“Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the 
axioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience.” Albert 
Einstein


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