How long would you leave your horse tied up if you weren't there?

What do you all do if you have to go to a competition on your own and go and pay entry fees, walk the course etc? (Not being rude/sarcastic - it is a problem I have a lot thanks to an absent OH)

I try not to leave him tied up unattended, but sometimes I don't really have an option.

Leave in trailer/ lorry? Most show ground ban horses being tied to trailer and unattended.
 
i normally have all tack and equipment ready then fetch horse in ,i only leave mine tied up for seconds if i have forgotten something
they are both good tied up ,i ride and lead quite a lot and tie one up beside arena while i school the other but not out my sight

if i'm at a competition i leave them on the lorry while i get my no and every thing sorted and return the one i'm not riding to the lorry while i ride the other one ,then swap
 
I will tie my mare up on the yard and pop round the corner to muck out or to sort something, but I will keep popping and checking on her. I expect her to stand and behave though. Same with the grey boy, I expect him to stand ok if I need to go speak to his owner or something, but I wouldn't leave either of them that long realisticly.

HOWEVER I think it is downright irresponsible to go hacking and leave a horse tied up!!

Schooling I would do, but then our tie-up places are along one edge of the school so I could see the horse at all times! :)
 
I will tie at home and go to the house to the loo or something - horse would stand all day, and I can see him from the house (though not literally from the toilet, right enough...). I stopped tieing at shows years ago, after I went to the portaloo with horse tied up (was on my own so no-one watching him), and came out the loo to find him standing outside, totally naked! Had snapped his good leather headcollar and followed me...
 
I rarely ever tie up as I am lucky enough to have my tack in my locker which is right next to my stable, also my pony is in an indoor barn and there is no place to tie even if I wanted to, I'd have to walk him out of the barn and tie up outside which is kinda pointless given the layout haha!

However when I was on a previous livery yard where everything was spaced out I would leave my previous horse tied up, I was always floating around though.
I have only tied Sandy (current pony) a few times and gone out of his sight (literally only around the corner to get a brush!), it is adorable because he usually follows me everywhere and he tries to plod after me! Obviously he can't and he gets the most baffled look on his face, honestly you'd have thought that I had tied him up to a gate with a sign saying "Free To Home" around his neck :cool:
But he does tie quite well, however I would never leave him unsupervised as he is a total stresshead and I would worry that something would spook him and that he would freak out. It hasn't happened yet however I'd rather not take the risk! :D
 
Never. Someone I know put his mare in the trailer after a show and just nipped to the loo there was a queue and when he got back the mare had hung herself:(

TBF this could have happened at any time not just because he popped to the loo

I once left old man 'tied up' outside stable whilst faffed about in the feed barn next door, within earshot and about 10 steps away. Silence. Came back to find him in same place, dozing, wearing headcollar... Not attached to lead rope :eek: he'd stood there patiently thinking he was tied up :rolleyes: stupid me :mad:

But do agree with Enfys, horses should be taught to be safely tied up, I can at times be a fluffy bunny hugger :o but we can also mollycoddle them too much.
 
only when absoloutley necessary, and if then not for very long at all , 5 mins tops! If i ever do leave her tied up its because ive forgotten the key to the gate :o and then run back to the house like a lunatic to get the key, because shes very good at untying herself! Hate even doing that though.
 
Bar one of mine, they all tie up beautifully, but I don't tend to leave them unattended for long. The other mare, who 90% of the time will tie up fine, will also untie herself, snap things, and bugger off. That is just her, in spite of 10 years of being tied up on a daily basis, you cannot trust her. She dislikes being away from her herd, if they are all tied up next to each other its fine but otherwise no dice. Most of the others will untie their leadropes if they fancy it too, and am about to get some trailer ties, as they are just safer. I don't wander off and leave mine at rides, I corall if I have to, or put them back on the lorry.
 
I very very rarely tie up any of mine and out of 4, only one would I tie up and leave unattended for 5 minutes.

My arabs are only ever tied up in their stables with the door closed, so that I can groom them etc. If I need to muck out and they are in, then I tie my Welsh A and pop them into her stable while I do theirs. It's not that they don't tie, more that I would rather not risk something that I don't have to. My welsh A stands quietly and doesn't panic, but I still check her regularly.

I am another who thinks it bad manners to tie if you are in someone elses way. I don't understand the need to tie outside when you have a stable to work in. I also think that tying any horse that is known to kick is very rude indeed.

I don't tie at shows. The horses are left in the trailer/lorry (tied short and with all bars/partitions in place) they are got ready in the trailer/lorry or with someone holding them outside and stand in the trailer/lorry between classes. My pet hate is seeing unattended horses tied to trailers at shows. Its an accident waiting to happen. Another reason why its so important to teach a horse to load easily.
 
I leave my horse tied for as long as needs to be. Sometimes my stable is needed for visiting horses so mine gets tied on the yard or in the indoor school. The day after our stable fire he stood on the lorry, no fuss.

In fact he's so good at being tied he's been the back drop for some defra welfare videos stood on a lorry.

On the other hand when I'm bathing the 3yr old I get everything ready first so I don't need to leave him.
 
What do you all do if you have to go to a competition on your own and go and pay entry fees, walk the course etc? (Not being rude/sarcastic - it is a problem I have a lot thanks to an absent OH)

I try not to leave him tied up unattended, but sometimes I don't really have an option.

Daughter sometimes has this problem if I'm helping atthe show, so she finds someone to hold the pony, there are usually people she knows about (otehr parents) who will, fortunately pony is quite good with strangers!
 
I tie up while mucking out etc - pony on box rest and will leave her out for up to an hour to enjoy some air and sun, but I'm within a few feet doing jobs so have a constant check and she has a haynet so just munches.

I have left her for up to 10 mins but when others are around - e.g. popped up to catch another pony, gone to pay livery etc but have always asked someone to keep an eye out. Anything else is dangerous.
 
I only really tie up while I'm mucking out etc - I don't leave mine for long and would never leave him tied up to the trailer because he's an expert at untying himself/pulling on the bailing twine until it snaps so that he can go in search of some grass.
 
Never ever leave mine tied up unattended at home.
Never ever tie up outside box when out.
Only very rarely leave unattended in box when out.

Bane of my life when I had liveries - one of the biggest rules I had was that no horse/pony was to be left tied out in yard or stable without person present.
 
I don't leave mine unattended. No halters left on in stable or field either. If at a venue, she stays on the trailer.
 
Leave in trailer/ lorry? Most show ground ban horses being tied to trailer and unattended.

I live and compete in Spain - It is pretty much the norm for rows and rows of horses to be tied up while people walk the course/go to the bar :)

It used to really worry me, (still does a bit) but I am getting used to the idea of leaving him with a haynet while I go and do what I need to do.

I couldn't cope with a horse that can't be left for five mins while I pop to the car, tack room etc.

Sometimes the threads on this forum make me really worried that I am a neglectful owner, then a voice of reason pops up and I realise that I'm probably ok :)
 
I dont leave ginge tied up on his own but thats not for his safety but tha safety of all equipment around him....the horse can destroy/ eat literally everything!! However I do go to shows etc on my own and bung him in the trailer. At the end of the day horses can injure themselves if they are tied up/ loose in the stable/ loose in the field- horrid accidents happen and when they do you always think that you should have done something different but think sometimes its just one of those things. Guess what ever you do you just have to reduce the risk as much as possible.
 
What do you all do if you have to go to a competition on your own and go and pay entry fees, walk the course etc? (Not being rude/sarcastic - it is a problem I have a lot thanks to an absent OH)

I try not to leave him tied up unattended, but sometimes I don't really have an option.

Put the horse back in the box or the trailer.

At most shows, leaving a horse unattended and outside the box, is prohibited.
 
Both mine have been taught to tie up for as long as I need them to, but I am always round and about or doing things with them. I wouldn't leave one tied up whilst I was away from the yard.
 
I wouldn't have a block answer. Where the horse is tied makes a big difference, in a box or on a yard. If on a yard gates are an issue, how enclosed and how likely to stay that way. What happens, and how predictable the yard was would also come into play re likelihood of getting upset. The horse's temperament is an issue as is age and routine. Last of all I'd consider how they were tied, one twine or two, ideal or less so, haynet or no net, fence or tie ring on a wall.

All the above would make the decision for me, from zero time alone to, say, the time it takes to dry after a bath for a roller tied in their box.

Where I worked horses were never tied outside a box and without a gated off area it's still something I'd find hard to do without anxiety.
 
Put the horse back in the box or the trailer.

At most shows, leaving a horse unattended and outside the box, is prohibited.

We don't have our own trailer, we get dropped off at shows, then picked up at the end. And we are in Spain so we don't really have the same rules and restrictions. :)
 
tbf I only know one venue that prohibits it near me.. and they would rather horses didn't come off the box at all attended or not :rolleyes:, they don't seem to have comprehended that tacking two up in a trailer doesn't quite work ;)

LJN in Spain are there places to tie to then? without a box round here you wouldn't really have any other tying options.
 
Yes, most places have post and rail type fences set up in rows to tie up to. People are normally quite sensible - if they have a stroppy horse they will find their own little corner to tie up in.
 
All of mine would quite happily stand tied up for hours given that nothing startled them however I choose not to leave them unattended if I can avoid it. At shows I would never leave them tied and walk off, they are all used to loading and unloading multiple times and it's just so easy to put them on the lorry.
 
I would never ever leave the yard with a horse tied up!!

I usually tie my boy up out side while I muck out (much easier when he isnt in there!) and thats it, I hate doing it, but he is very good and always stands quietly, I try and give him something to entertain himself with, like giving him his dinner out there :)
 
Sometimes mine are tied up outside while I ride the others. metimes with hay, sometimes without. The tie rings are are in view of the arena and theres usually a few people about on the yard.

They all stand nicely for as long as needed :)
 
About 2 minutes max! I only ever leave tied up if i have to go back to the house for something (forgot phone and going hacking, or another bucket of hot water if i'm bathing!) i always run back though as i'm paranoid about leg over lead rein or something else happening. Would never leave for long period. If it wasn't something i could be back in minutes for then i'd put him back in his stable.
 
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