Fly - update on tie up scenario!

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moneypit1

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Thanks for all your replies everyone. Went onto yard an hour ago and tried looping the rope through the string but he just gently pulled it out! Next put on a dually halter and looped it through ring and held on until he pulled back. Thing is as soon as he felt the pressure he did his usual and REARED and I had no choice put to yield as he is so much more powerful than me. The thing is that he is not scared at all and is just making a point! When he does get loose he just stands there anyway, its not like he runs off etc. Lastly I tied him to some string and as soon as he started to pull back I shouted at him. He stopped so I rewarded him with a carrot. Will have to try this for a while and see if it helps. What a pain, its a nightmare when we are at a show as someone has to stay with him the entire time.
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Sorry, didn't read the previous post - so apols if I repeat.

However:

No. 1 - NEVER, EVER tie up in a dually or similar.

No. 2 - You are supposed to stay with your horse at a show.

I'm sure that I can't add to any good advice you've allready received regarding tying up - so won't go over old ground.
 
Ummmm, actually what I meant was I have to stay with him literally at a show, I cannot even go into lorry for something or he will pull loose. I certainly would not leave my horse unattended! And thanks but I would never tie up in a Dually, hence me holding the end of the rope when he pulled back. I wonder actually if he has always done this and if so I guess it might be something that he will always do.
 
Tbh if I were you I'd get someone with lots of experience to help you, otherwise you risk making things worse. At the moment he is learning that if he doesn't want to stand, he doesn't have to and if he rears to avoid pressure, it works
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You need to be fair but firm and I really would get someone to help you with this if you aren't strong enough to hold him.
 
Sorry, misunderstood you.

The thing with Dually's is that they have their place. However, if you have a horse that likes standing on their back lets then this type of headcollar will do nothing to stop it - in fact it can encourage it.
 
how about not holding on so he has nothing to pull against - ive found that with horses like this they pull back, snap the string then stand there my oldhorse used to do this badly so i then just used to put the leadrope (a long one if you have it) through the string he would pull back but there was no resistance so he stood there contemplating it for a while then realised there was not really much point in pulling back as there was nothing fighting him on the other end !!
 
Fly is 11 and is a very complex character. I have only had him for 4 months and when I first got him he would nap, rear and was a bit of a nightmare. I feel I am making real progress with him but we still have a way to go. If I loop a rope through the string and leave it he will simply walk backwards until he is loose again! I try not to pick a fight with him as he is quite a strong personality and I guess it is a matter of trial and error. I do tend to agree that the Dually is not the "right" halter for fly. Any pressure and he will rear and i mean rear vertically on the point of going over. He is responsive to my voice however and this may be a way to go forward.
 
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Fly is 11 and is a very complex character. I have only had him for 4 months and when I first got him he would nap, rear and was a bit of a nightmare. I feel I am making real progress with him but we still have a way to go. If I loop a rope through the string and leave it he will simply walk backwards until he is loose again! I try not to pick a fight with him as he is quite a strong personality and I guess it is a matter of trial and error. I do tend to agree that the Dually is not the "right" halter for fly. Any pressure and he will rear and i mean rear vertically on the point of going over. He is responsive to my voice however and this may be a way to go forward.

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well if he does this slowly walk towards him walk him back to the tie up and put the rope back through - he must get bored after a while ?
 
Interesting that so many people seem to have this problem in the UK. Pulling back when tied is VERY rare over in my area. Horses are taught at a young age that they just cannot do this. They are generally tied to an immovable object which is going absolutely nowhere, no matter how hard they pull - nylon "rope" halters are used so that they do not break. The horse can pull as much as it likes but it will not break the halter, nor whatever it is tied to. We do not tie to flimsy pieces of string.

With my horses, I have horseshoes concreted into the wall of my barn. Any horses who have not been taught to tie, are tied to this. They have a little fight and then they give up....none of mine taught like this have ever tried it again as they know fine well they cannot get free.

The other thing they do here; is to put a nylon rope halter on a horse with a 10ft nylon lead tied to it. They turn the horse out in a small corral and when the horse stands on the lead it learns to move back to release the pressure. Not much different from the teaching to tie malarky.

Particularly in the western scene where I live, people do not molly-coddle their horses. The expect excellent behaviour at all times and this sort of training (whether you guys in the UK frown upon it or not) works.

Different cultures I guess, however it's something I have always done, regardless of which country I have lived in.
 
Sounds like he still has some settleing in to do.

Have you tried the rubber bungies?? We only tie up with those. We do put them on a string just in case something goes amiss - but find them great.
 
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No. 1 - NEVER, EVER tie up in a dually or similar.

No. 2 - You are supposed to stay with your horse at a show.

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It makes sense not to tie up in a dually etc. however with some horses its the only way! One of mine learnt to pull back and brake the string, tried everything but the only thing to stop him was in one of those controller headcollars - as soon as he pulled back even slightly he felt the pressure and that was it. He's not broken a string since! It does depend on the horse though as I wouldnt have done that with a horse who was panicky. And obviously I was right there just in case so I could release him if necessary. Did work though.

I leave my horses tied up to the trailer at shows. Sometimes you cant have someone staying with the horse, if Im on my own and dont know anybody nearby then of course I have to leave the horse (but only when they are happily munching on a haynet which they do). I had an arguement on here ages ago about this! However I wouldnt leave a horse who I thought might be likely to break off!
 
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Sorry, didn't read the previous post - so apols if I repeat.

However:

No. 1 - NEVER, EVER tie up in a dually or similar.

No. 2 - You are supposed to stay with your horse at a show.

I'm sure that I can't add to any good advice you've allready received regarding tying up - so won't go over old ground.

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Disagree - the Dually has a ring under the chin which is totally seperate from the nose rope so you can tie up in it and if you are using as a pressure halter you can then tie up without losing said beast when you swap halters. It is designed to be tied up in!

However I guess you meant don't tie up using one of the rings on the nose rope? Which is fair enough!

Why not use two ropes with the Dually, one tied up as you would normally, the other looped through the ring on the nose rope. Then you can apply pressure to the nose but if you have to let go, he remains tied up (if you use long enough string!).
 
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With my horses, I have horseshoes concreted into the wall of my barn. Any horses who have not been taught to tie, are tied to this. They have a little fight and then they give up....none of mine taught like this have ever tried it again as they know fine well they cannot get free.

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This is what I have always done with horses that won't tie as well - the last one was a 17.1h IDx - she only tried pulling back the once, had a bit of a go at pulling free, worked out she couldn't and never tried again. Before then she'd been breaking every piece of string, rearing and generally being a cow. I don't think many people over here are keen on the method though...
 
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They are generally tied to an immovable object which is going absolutely nowhere, no matter how hard they pull - nylon "rope" halters are used so that they do not break. The horse can pull as much as it likes but it will not break the halter, nor whatever it is tied to. .

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Hmmm seen this done - it makes my blood run cold, with no breaking points the weakest 'breaking point' becomes the horses neck or legs!
I saw a horse tied to an immovable object as you describe to teach it not to pull back, it tried to pull back, panicked when there was no string to break. It flew into such a panic no one could get near, the rope never broke, the headcollar never broke but the neck did!

I have found (as others have suggested) using a really long rope like a lunge line, put it through the string but don't tie it. When he walks back as you describe let the line feed through the string. When he stops walking back guide him back to where he should be, keep doing this - they do get bored when they no longer get the reaction they are looking for.
I think often they do these things out of habit....

Best of luck.
 
I am just too scared to tie to something that will not break for the reasons stated above. I know of a dealer locally to me that cements a post into the ground in order to tie the horse to it until it gives in! Horses are flight animals and if they get scared when the rope doesn't break they could depending on their character fight till the end to break free. The possible results are not worth it. I do think however, that this behaviour must of been going on for a while long before I had him and it is true that a good education from the start might of avoided this. I am extra careful to install good manners from my 2 yo and he ties up brilliantly.
 
Scrap that. Just looked at pictures.

He is very similar, but probably has similar breeding. Nothing stopped my boy i'm afraid. We tied tying to something solid and he broke the nylon head collar
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Hmm sad; never ever had this happen to me nor to anyone I know. All of the people I go around with here do this and I've never even heard of a horse so much as scratch itself.

Out of interests sake, how did the horse break it's neck? Specifically I mean
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Anyone remember Barbara Woodhouse and her pony training tips? One was about teaching a horse to tie up and it involved a barn with a deep covering of straw on the floor, a telegraph pole, a very stout rope and whatever unbreakable thing it required on its head. The animal fought a bit and gave up when nothing else did.

The thing to bear in mind is that an habitual puller-back will probably have deep-rooted issues which may turn the practise above into a disaster. Start them this way and you might be less likely to have catastrophic injury.
 
Think there's a trainer round here that has a 'padded cell'. a padded room with a sturdy post in the middle to retrain horses that won't tie up.

A similar version to Tia's with a bit of fluffiness
 
Seriously though; we train horses not to buck when we ride them, we teach them not to rear when we ride, we teach them to have nice ground manners when being led or being worked with....why on earth would people not teach a horse one of the most basic necessities like tying up?
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They should! It upset me though, to see a very young horse tied with a short chain to a ring set in a wall. It was there for a VERY long time and my feelings were that that part wasn't necessary.

Here's a thing I just remembered. I looked after a pony for many years, here at my home. He came with instructions about care etc and a note about his dislike/refusal to be tied up. I must never have taken this on board as he was perfectly normal to handle and so got tied up regularly as and when required. The farrier and I used to laugh about 'the pony which doesn't tie up' as I invariably had him quietly tethered up waiting to be attended to. I never EVER had a problem with him......until his owner came one day and he promptly (and with some obvious expertise) sat down and snapped his leadrope.
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She didn't believe me when I said he'd never done with me - but he really hadn't!
 
Sorry Tia, you don't come across as 'fluffy'!!!!

But I like your style and agree. No horse should reach 'grown up' without being taught the basics but I suppose there's always some creatures that buck the trend and are impossible?
 
My mare used to pull back and snap things. She snapped bail band and lead ropes. No panic involved just "look what I can do Mum!" I now tie her to an old rubber cycle inner tube. It flexes when she steps back so there is no pressure to pull against. She hasn't tried it on since.
 
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