Hello,
I have a question about my Thoroughbred mare, ex race horse. I have had her for 2 years now but the only problem i have with her is that i cannot tie her up or if i accidentally drop the rope and she treads on it she flies backwards from the pressure, but she does stop when the pressure is off. When she is tied up and feels that pressure she goes stupid until the twine breaks or until the pressure is released. I have been told to put a thick collar over her poll put a rope on and let her go in the round yard and let her figure it out for herself.
I'm not to sure if that's a good idea or what else i can do
How can i help her with this situation?? Any ideas.
Thanks
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Horse Behavior and Training
Afraid of pressure??
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Hello Candi,
There is a video that Monty has on the UNI that helps a horse to learn to stand still, quietly, without moving in any way no matter what. I found it very helpful to help my young filly to stand still and accept things more readily.
It took some time but now when I have to tie her she stands there like a young lady should.
Using the dually halter really works, it's instant reaction to an action, the video is worth a look.
The loose tying is an old training method and can be dangerous when the horse gets tangled on the hanging rope, it use to be used on mules and small ponies.
A beautiful Thoroughbre with those fine long legs might be harmed if she were to trip.
Something I did with my dancing lady was to have her on her lead rope, take another light rope and gently throw the rope to land around her feet area. At first she danced like crazy but now stands very still and is used to things around her feet.
Fighting against the pressure is also a problem but normal for horses perhaps watching Montys video will help.
I hope so, they are beautiful and worth the effort.
I was to have one last summer but with my little hottie and not having the greatest of health I felt I could only train her at the time, I'll wait until she's a bit more mature (emotionally) before I get another.
Hope everything goes well for you.
Ronda
Good question, Candi. and I agree with My Star. The dually would really help here but do not tie her up with it when the lead is attached to one of the side rings - Monty warns us against this. Just hold her with it close to the point where you usually tie her. Lots of gentle rope swinging around the legs while you hold her with the dually should help to familiarise her with ropes around her legs. Tom Roberts in "Horse Control - The Young Horse" suggest that with a problem like this you just be persistent with the bailing twine tie. His idea is that as soon as she pulls back and breaks the twine you just tie her up on it again immediately so that she is not rewarded by pulling back. Keep on doing this until she no longer pulls back. This worked for my Pie who used to be really bad at this too. She would pull back, break the twine and give herself a huge fright. She too was very scared of the rope flying back with her and around her legs. Takes awhile to get them over this but with patience and time I am sure you will succeed. I would avoid the thick collar and rope idea as it will scare her needlessly and as My Star says she could damage herself badly if she panics and gets tangled in the rope. Good luck with it.
Hi Candi
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Great advice given here. Do you have a copy of "From My Hands to Yours" or the "Fix Up" DVD?
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The process for re-training a "Pull-Back" horse is described from page 186 to page 190 of "From My Hands to Yours". Its also on the "Fix Up" DVD.
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They basically tie the horse up in a D shaped enclosure with a stretchy bungie-cord lead rope so that when the horse pulls back, the lead doesn't break. Maggies is correct in that the horse is rewarding herself when she breaks the lead. When he realises he can't break it, there is no longer any reward to the behaviour.
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Have never tried this myself, but I did once have a thoroughbred mare who used to do the same thing. She cost me a lot of money in broken leads and halters!
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See you later,
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Gen
The idea of a D shaped enclosure seems good but when I read these pages and watched the "Fix-up" DVD my feeling was "How many of us would have access to such a D shaped enclosure"?
Hi all,
I have seen the bungy tie-up in action, and it worked amazingly well. We did not have a D shaped enclosure, just a small square pen. This horse seriously tested pulling back twice, but she learnt so quickly, and the stretch in the bungy rope meant that she was not going to get hurt. Make sure you do it somewhere that the post she is tied to is solid and then make sure you buy a good quality bungy rope with solid clips that won't break with the pressure. Also, the one we used had a quick release on it, 'just in case'. Good luck!
Hello again
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You can make your own D Shaped enclosure using 5 portable fence panels. Understand that not everyone has these, but as Ruth says, a small square pen will also do the trick :-)
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Did you test this out at the Intro Course Ruth? Or did you just give it a go with someone you knew? Also, where did you get the bungy cord from? A sports store or somewhere like that?
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Kind regards,
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Gen
Candi
All the suggestions are great, but I would like to recommend a tie ring called the blocker ring that allows the horse to pull back with out hurting itself. The idea of using this as a training tool involves tie your horse with a 20' lead (6 meters) following the directions on placing the rope in the ring. After the more is tied wave your hands in front of the horse to "scare" it and the horse will retreat quickly, but should not out run the length of the rope. After doing this over and over the horse will eventually realize that it can back up to relieve the pressure but not panic. Usually they will backup about 2 or 3 feet then stand.
The other benefit to using this ring is that if the horse is tied up and really panics he will not injure himself, yet you will not have to go chasing after him.
Alto of horses are injured because they are tie up tight and do not have a breakaway halter on. That is the one disadvantage that rope halters have
Cheers
Thanks to ALL of you :) I will most defiantly try these methods :) Thanks heaps again.
Hi.
I had a similar problem with a thoroughbreed I used to look after. I used a method that is in a way similar to the one with the bungie-rope. I had a ring fixed in the wall in the horses stable and when ever he was tied to it he would break away and break either the baling twine, the head collar and onece he even pulled the ring out of the wall. I used a long lead rope clipped to his headcollar and ran it through the ring. I would then hold the end of the rope while grooming him etc. whenever he pulled back I would apply a little pressure but not enough to make him panic, let him go back untill he hit the wall with his backside. the a s soon as he made a move forward take the slack off the rope completely and praise him and lead him back to the original position. it took about 2 weeks of this and then he could be tied up as normal, although I would still be careful about leaving him alone when tied up and doing anything scary around him when tied up
sorry I pus "take the slack off the rope" I o cause ment "take the tension off the rope"
Another thing that may or may not be useful, is tying the horse to a tyre tube that is fixed to something solid. The tyre tube us stretchy, and works in a similar way to the bungee cord. I do wonder if it would tear, but one of my friends swears by it. Tyre tubes are also easy to come across. The blocker ring also sounds good.
Hi
All the suggestions are using the same technique where by the tension on the rope is flexible. One thing that you should know is that a horse will backup about 12 to 15 feet when startled or scared. He will then stop and think about the threat and is it still there. If you tie the horse too tight and don't give him enough slack to find a comfort zone, he will continue to fight instead of just stopping of his own accord .
While I am not a big fan of Clinton Anderson he has a great video demonstrating the blocker ring if you are interested. http://www.downunderhorsemanship.com/products2.cfm/ID/665/name/Aussie-Tie-Ring-2-w--Mag-Lok---Stainless
Cheers!
HI Gen and Sig,
Sig - I like your idea, so just wanted to let you know!
Gen - yes, we did do this at the intro course! Although not officially part of the course, a person who lived nearby was having difficulty with one of her two horses so just as a little excursion Lynn went to give her a hand, and we watched and learned! You might actually be using the two horses on your course next month. You can buy the special bungy cord with the proper strap to put around the post at Edwards Saddlery in Toowoomba if you ever need one! They also sell the dually halters.
Hi Ruth
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Thanks for that info. I have been wanting to get the bungy cord - not because I need it right now - but because we will be having foals that will grow up and need training, so I just wanted to have these things on hand if I ever needed them. I also thought I may need this equipment for when I am doing my Advanced course...
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I will stop in to that Saddlery on my way to the course. Will be passing through Toowoomba on the Friday before. Will pick myself up a foal-size Dually while I'm there :-)
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Its great that you got to go with Lynn to watch and learn like that. Excellent. Will let you know if those two horses are there and what we do with them.
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See you later,
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Gen
Thanks Ruthy - I am so pleased to know that somewhere in Oz sells dually halters. I have been ordering mine from USA and the last one got lost in the post so I had to repay the postage so the price of that dually soared! I will ring Edwards Saddlery and find out if they have one small enough for a shetland!!
Hi Maggie
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The Red Dually should fit the shetland.
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Kind regards,
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Gen
Thanks, Gen. He is only 9 hands so very small but I will order one!!
Thanks again Ruthy and Gen. I ordered a red halter from Edward's Saddlery by phone to-day. $69.00 and only $10 for postage so for all of those in Australia this is by far a cheaper option than from via Monty's shop. Just hope it fits my little fellow.
Hi Maggie - yep, the red one will fit - I have a black one and a red one, and I used the red one earlier this week on a shetland, and it fitted fine!