Horse won't stand still when tied up

[Pink Gorilla]

I have had my horse 18yrs and he has NEVER stood still to be tied up. If other horses are on the yard he is a little quieter, if he is alone he's spinning round going mad. I'm fed up of people commenting that he is like that because he's always been allowed to get away with it. He hasn't. I've tried every method I can think of but have no luck. He was a stallion until he was 7yrs and was never handled and just left wild in a field of mares, so that doesn't help. Are there any exercises I could try? I used to try telling him off when I was younger. Now I try ignoring him until he stands still, just remaining close by. But even after an hour he's still spinning around and if anything he gets more and more wound up. I have two kids now and don't have time to stand there for hours. He's in a solid routine and handled twice a day everyday, so I can't understand why he's still so anxious to be tied up!

 

[Shay]

You say you have tried everything - other than telling him off what have you tried? How do you groom or tack up if he won't stand?

It is true that horses need to be taught to stand so you can work safely around them - but I would not necessarily expect a horse to stand still tied up alone for any length of time. They are prey animals and by tying them you take away their most basic instinct to run.

It does sound like he has not been taught that he is safe - not quite the same as "letting him get away with it" but definitely something you need to address. I presume that you haven't spent the last decade or so not grooming or not getting near him so I presume he is OK is there is someone with him? I would start to work from that. Don't leave him alone. If you need to leave him to get something, untie him and put him in his stable. Don't leave him to work himself up. If you are at a competition either stay with him or put him back on board the lorry / trailer. You've got to rebuild his trust that you won't leave him tied alone.

My daughter's 148 SJ'er came to us like this and if you left him tied he would panic. We had to be in touching distance all the time and he actually couldn't be tied to groom, tack etc - we did all that inside the stable or at shows with a handler on the end of a long line so he could express his anxiety by moving. He hated - still does hate - to be restrained.

We didn't actually set out to "cure" him of this - we just worked around him so that we could be safe and he remained calm. But over the years he has actually improved. I still wouldn't challenge him or leave him alone; but he will now stand tied.

For you - if you really can't find a way to rebuild his trust or work around his anxiety I would suggest going right back to the first lessons in standing tied. Stand with food, stand with someone in eye sight but not close, stand with someone out if sight for only a moment and progress that way. If you get something like an Idolo tether tie and a long line he can have some controlled freedom to move away to reduce his anxiety without breaking the twine - the last think you need to teach him is to break free!

The likelihood is that you won't ever really conquer this because the fear behaviour has been left in place for too long. He is always going to be difficult to leave tied alone. So don't do it. If you really need to you should be able to get him to the point where you can leave him, for a short while to collect something you've forgotten - but as soon as you leave him so long he becomes distressed again you will be back to square one - so if it were me I just wouldn't do it.

 

[Pink Gorilla]

Thank you for your reply. When I say I've left him tied, I mean that I followed a friend's advice by leaving him tied up everyday until he calms down and then turn him out/put him in his stable. I never leave him alone. I just ignore him, yet stand close by for comfort. When he does eventually stand still I praise him and give him some fuss. However this standing still only lasts a maximum of 5 seconds before he's dancing about again. So not long enough for me to teach him that if he stands still he'll get to go out for his breakfast, or come in the stable for his tea. He's old now so I don't compete, however grooming and tacking up is a battle, with me getting knocked about and squashed against the wall etc. From the ground he is fine to lead and respects my personal space only if lead in a bridle, or at least with the rope around his nose. He actually gets handled much more now he's old, as I never used to bring him in at night, but for the last few years I have brought him in and if anything his behaviour has gotten worse with age. I wonder if it is due to a strong fight/flight instinct due to him being wild for his first few years? Or with him being a dominant horse (he's quite riggish), maybe he feels anxious being away from the other horses incase he loses his place in the pecking order? Would you suggest I reassure him if he is having a meltdown then, or carry on ignoring him, yet standing close by? I will definitely try the long line method.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Does he have hay when he is tied up? You cannot expect him to just stand for an indefinite period of time with nothing to do, especially if he knows his tea is waiting for him in the stable.
Does he stand still in the stable without being tied up? My horses do tie up and also ground tie but I never tie up in the stable. I give them hay to pick at while I groom and tack up in the stable.
I can never understand the reasoning behind tying horses up outside their stables as a matter of course, if everybody does it at the same time, it is asking for trouble IMO.

 

[SusieT]

Have you tried cross tying? I found this the best way to manage a fidgety mare.

 

[Pink Gorilla]

Hi. Yes he is given a haynet when tied up but ignores it. I have also tried feeding him when tied up to give him positive associations with it, but he then gobbles it while dancing around and has given himself choke from doing so. We just tie up outside the stable because that's where the tie up rings are, and always have been at other liveries I've been at. May try asking for one inside his stable then. He will however only stand quietly in his stable if he's not in alone. Even though the paddocks of the other three horses are very close, he is still very anxious and box walks if he's the only one in.

 

[Pinkvboots]

It sounds like he is suffering from separation anxiety rather than just not being happy being tied up as you say his the same if left on his own in his stable, I had a mare that was the same and I found its one of the most difficult things to get them to accept, in the 6 years I had her she slightly improved but was never truly happy being left on her own.

I think his anxiety may stem from when he lived out for so long surrounded by horses all of the time for so long without ever having to be separated from them, my mare lived like this for 3 years previous to us owning her, it's also known that horses that are dominant and a leader are often the worse ones when it comes to being left on there own.

 

[ycbm]

I think horses should tie up happily without a hay net. Unfortunately I think is too late for your boy, but it's not the worst problem in the world, I think I'd just avoid leaving him tied up. Sorry not to be more help.

I once made a dreadful mistake and went off to work not realising that I had left a horse tied up. The lovely little mare had only dug a small hole in the surface and was waiting patiently for me six hours later. I felt awful!!

 

[Fruitcake]

I had a pony as a child and teenager who was perfect in every way but would not be tied up. I don't know if she'd had a previous bad experience. Apparently, the girl who'd had her before me was well known at local shows for getting off and leaving said pony standing untied while she went for a hotdog!

In the end, I gave up trying to tie her up. OK. Yes in an ideal world, she should've stood to be tied but in actuality, she would stand quietly untied and allow you to groom, work around her etc without moving at all so I just used to make sure all gates were closed and accepted that was part of her. She lived to 34 and never stood to be tied. I wasnt on a busy livery yard though so I imagine that might have been different. In your situation, I'd be inclined to just accept it as something he doesn't do and put him in his stable to groom and tack up etc.

Sorry I can't be of more help.