Pulling back when tied up

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pinkcatkin

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My mare has always been a monkey about this and she has frequently broken free from stables, lorry, etc. etc. She doesn't panic but just pulls back, knowing that the baler twine will snap, and quiety wanders off to find better pastures.

Is there any way this can be cured? With her foal coming I want to be sure that I start correctly with the foal as well, even if there is no cure for mum.

Anybody got any ideas?
 
my stallion used to do this even though he was regularly tied up with no problems with the last people, he broke a bridle, headcollar and several lead ropes, he always did it when he thought you were not looking so i tied him up and hid behind the shed and every time he started to pull back i would tell him no, if he still did it i smacked a stick on the ground(well away from him)when he stopped he was rewarded with loads of fuss. he soon learnt not to do it and has never looked back
 
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Tie her straight to the ring.

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NEVER tie straight to the ring. If the ring holds the horse can injure its poll severely. The poll is a sensitive area and the exact reason you should not tie to something solid is because of this. I recently heard about a horse that damaged itself to the point on contracting wobblers syndrome because of this sort of poll damage caused by pulling back.
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You are better off standing behind your horse and the minute she pulls back push her forward. It is difficult I know but persevere.
 
Thanks for that guys. I would not tie her directly to a ring as I know what can happen! i.e. taking the side out of the stables, etc.

Will try and bungee I think and practise staying behind her as you have suggested.
 
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Have you ever tried a rubber bungie?

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My thoughts exactly - these are excellent as the horse pulls back and they give - meaning end of fun for horsey as nothing to pull back on! Job done.
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You said that she didn't panic and just pulls to break the string, obviously I wouldn't have said do it if she was likely to injure herslf.
Axel went through a stage of doing this and I tied him to the ring or something solid and he stopped and now he doesn't do it at all even though now I tie him to the string.
 
Merlin pulls back if he is scared, and to the point of something having to break.

Whether its the headcollar, rope or string you can lay bets on, depends on what was the better quality item to be honest....

Now I thought about these elastic type ropes, but does it not give eventually (bearing in mind he is doing it out of fear, not for fun).... and when it eventually goes is there not the danger of an elastic whiplash taking out an eye or something????
 
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You said that she didn't panic and just pulls to break the string, obviously I wouldn't have said do it if she was likely to injure herslf.
Axel went through a stage of doing this and I tied him to the ring or something solid and he stopped and now he doesn't do it at all even though now I tie him to the string.

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problem being the horse has never had to panic as can break free easy, if you tie to something solid it could cause the horse to panic and cause injury as said before
 
Tie her with baler twine as usual but also have a lunge line threaded through the ring (not tied) hold onto the lunge. when she pulls and breaks the string let her back up a few paces so that she dosen't panic and then pull her back to the ring and tie her back up to another piece of string.When she breaks this again pull her back upto the ring and tie to another piece of string.Continue for as long as it takes.
Don't yell at her at any point as she needs to figure it out for herself but she will come to realise that she cannot get anyware. Always let her back up a couple of paces otherwise she may panic and rear.
I would be reluctant to tie any horse that has learned this habit to a fixed object as they can be a real danger to themselves and others if they panic.
 
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well it worked for me! my horse doesn't pull back at all and he's never injured himself.

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Nine times out of ten when tied to a fixed object the horse will pull abit then realise it's stuck and be OK. The other time it will pull and thrash until it's rope, headcollar, or neck snaps.
you decide.
 
Would never personally tie straight to the ring. We were advised to use a loop of tail bandage to cure this. Quite a lot of stretch in it so spoils the fun, but will snap if horses panics badly.
 
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