how would i stop a horse breaking away

soxsmummy

soxsmummy

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when tied up
my friends mare , who i am looking after whilst she is ill is tbh a total pain in the arse when tied up she just breaks free
any ideas on how to stop this
said horse is also a bit of a twat and gives herself a fright when she does this
smirk.gif
 
Patience, she may be worried that her usual mummy is not there. Try tying her up while you groom her, reassuring her all the time. Gradually increase the time she is tied up. Give her a haynet to occupy her.
 
she not worried her usual mummy not there because she knows me well, but she is 7 years old and has been let away with murder and has never been tied up x
sorry should have added that in op x
 
I've had two that pull. One pulls slightly, feels trapped then panics until it gives. The other just pulls and pulls until he's free and can go off and do whatever it is he's wanting to do (or get out of whatever it is he didn't want to do!)

The later I solved by shouting at the second he tried it! The former needed to be taught to accept the trapped feeling and that GIVING to the pressure made it go away, not by pulling harder.

First she was taught to give to pressure, first by moving her bum and shoulders over. Then I started to ask her to lower her head by pulling her head downwards- she hated that to start with and it would set off a panic reaction, which enabled the second lesson: when she panics and pulled away I kept the same tension on the rope at all times - she could go backwards as much as she wanted, the pressure didn't change (fancy footwork required!). Only by HER stopping pulling and lowering her head did the pressure go away. She's a bright little button and learnt it fairly quickly.:D

Then she was 'tied' with a lunge rope, which I had ahold of at the other end, just threaded through the ring. If she started to pull I would put pressure onto the rope and give her the same lesson as above - she could back up and keep pulling the the pressure didn't go away until she stopped.

If your horse is just being annoying then triple twineing can help - three loops of twine, each slightly different sizes, so one breaks but the next still holds them.
 
If she's never been tied up at the age of 7 (?), then I'm not surprised she panics. If you're only doing a short term favour I wouldn't worry too much. Find out from your friend how they managed and keep the routine the same. It's not your problem.
 
I used a stretchy lead rope with my little 3 year old. He wasn't stressed and wasn't a persistent escape artist but knew how to break the string if he wanted too.

The stretchy rope had plenty of give but wouldn't break the string. Absolutely useless as a lead rope by the way.

It works well when pony is supervised (before I'm shot down in flames). The more frequently I used it the better he got, although I'm not certain that the cure is permanent. Until I sold him, I used teach the lesson at bath time because I know that's when he's most likely to pull back on the rope (he hates cold water).
 
how about thinking about how she feels - obviuosly scared and confused! then thinking about how you cna make it nice for her to be tied up - e.g. tie her very loosely (or better, not at all, just wiht the rope through the ring if your yard is safe and enclosed!). Then make it nice for her to be by the wall - feed her there, make a fuss of her, don't leave her for too long. she needs to feel more safe; trying her up with something that doesn't break is only going to make her panic more.
 
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