Re: pulling

[Kimberly Price <PLOUGH1@ix.netcom.com>]

Hi Erika,

Erika R Achberger wrote:

> I believe that it is much better to try to teach rather than use
> artificial means, and a friend of mine has retrained many horses by tying
> them to a tire chained to a tree, but I will share one other method that I
> know of, and is less severe/dangerous than tying with a be nice halter.

***** These are all TOOLs used in TEACHING,  not an artificial means of
enforcing.  BUT, if people think it is a tool of enforcement, they are not
teaching anything except pain and fear.  There is a difference.  All because
you use a rope doesn't mean you will hang the guy..it is only a tool....

>         A farrier/trainer taught this to a woman whose horses I used to
> ride before I got my own.  She has a big paint named Ranger who would set
> back and bust the snaps on the lead ropes when tied before saddling.
> A soft rope is looped and tied around the poll and over the nose in such a
> way that pulling puts pressure on the poll and nose, but the surface area
> is great enough (by using thick, soft rope), that it is not so severe.  I
> never got to practice doing it enough to get it to stick in my mind
> exactly how it went, because he soon quit trying.
>         It's effectiveness lay in the fact that when he pulled back, the
> pressure on the poll and head was great enough-- it just tightened up on
> his head-- that it was no fun, and as soon as he let up, it loosened right
> up.

***** This is the SAME as a be nice halter, only the knotts won't tighten up
to the point you cannot get them undone.

> By comparison, pulling while in a conventional halter is not terribly
> uncomfortable, and worth it to the stubborn horse that thinks he will be
> free after.

*** Most halters will not hold, the snaps will go, or the leads will go, and
if the horse pulls that hard to break it his vertibrates will also probably
go....

>         As I said, though, I prefer just looping the rope around the post,
> I personally never tie my horse anymore, just drop the rope on the ground,
> which means "stay" to him after our training.  This is really quite simple
> to do and just requires a few repetitions for the horse to learn (and some
> treats for obeying:)

*** I also do this all the time.  I can check his feet on the trail etc.
Unfortunately, when camping somewhere, you cannot expect a horse to stay put
all afternoon and night because his lead rope is dragging on the
ground!***Thanks for the comments.  I just wish people would understand the
difference between using equipment properly (which eleviates pain and abuse)
and improperly (hence, the tool gets blamed instead of the person).
***Kimberly

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