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Re: [RC] Horse that pulls back - Kathy MayedaThis is probably not applicable to your situation and maybe not advisable... but it worked for me. Drako did not tie and he had little respect for the halter when I first started handling him as a pretty wild unhandled 4 y.o. I put a rope halter on him and tied him high on a ring that my ex welded onto a steel frame feed bin he built. Drako started pulling and setting back until he figured out that he was hurting himself whenever he did that, and he couldn't get himself free. He never pulled again. No skin damage. Rope halters have a "bite". I use rope halters almost exclusively, as do most of my friends, and I have yet to hear of anyone having skin damage from rope halter usage. The flat halter does not have a bite, and I think they may pull against it more because it isn't inflicting any pain. They learn that if they fling their head around with a rope halter they are self-inflicting, and if they misbehave there is a physical consequence. My observation is that the horses that pull back the most are the ones tied to a rack with baling twine. They don't get hurt, but then they learned that they can escape with the baling twine, so the cycle is repeated because they know they can break free. Not all baling twine users have escape artists though, and use it just as a safety measure. I tie hard to a rail w/o baling twine myself. When teaching babies to tie, I've seen an inner tube used to put the rope through and the end held while a little bit of sacking out happens. When they pull, there isn't as much resistance so they don't panic, but there's still a halter hold, and they should eventually calm down and learn to stand while tied. I'm sure there's a better way to "cure" it, but I don't really have any horses that do that anymore so it's out of my realm of direct experience. K. On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 8:30 PM, Judy Etheridge <misxfire@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Hi Val, The firS The first suggestion I would make is that you use a strap halter rather a rope halter when tying your horse.? The rope halter can tear into the poll area and injure the skin or worse when he pulls back. The previous owner gave you what may be some valuable info--your horse may be still be scared of the trailer tires and when anything noisy, etc., happens?it might make the tires move just enough so that he reacts as he did when the cat frightened him.? What you might try is to put something like a piece of plywood the same color as the trailer between the fender and the tires and make sure it won't move around by blocking it well or screwing it tightly to the fender. ?I just read Temple Grandin's latest book "Animails in Translation" about her autism and animal behavior in which she describes cattle (her speciality) being frightened by things that aren't always apparent to their handlers.? To complicate the situation by now your horse may have become fearful of any sudden movement or noise such as the manger door closing suddenly, etc. Well applied sacking out in a safe area may also help--like putting a piece of plastic on the end of a whip and gradually getting your horse used to it being moved around? and tapped on something which also will get him used to a noise.? I hope you are able to solve this problem--it is a tough one. Judy Etheridge West Region =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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