Teaching a horse to tie up?

[Ali27]

So my baby ginger pony who will be 3 in May is doing really well with most things (got her last July pretty much unhandled) but I’m struggling to get her to tie up! I’ve got an open shelter in between two stables so make sure that she has company. But she just keeps swinging round and pawing the ground? A Haynet doesn’t distract her. Any tips would be very welcome? Thank you xx

 

[Sossigpoker]

Have you tried it somewhere else?
She might not like the location rather than being tied up?

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

I saw a brilliant trick with one of those small plastic chopping boards smeared with peanut butter (I think horselyx or similar might have been my choice) left hanging where the horse was to be tied and that worked very well on a pony who refused to be tied up. Maybe some sort of toy / likit thing might be another option, just something to make it fun to be there.

 

[Cortez]

I just tie them. It's one of the things a horse has to learn if they're going to be useful in life. I teach foals to tie from the very beginning, and I don't tie to anything that's going to break either.

 

[AdorableAlice]

If you halter break them properly teaching them tie up should not be a problem.

 

[SEL]

I just tie up too. Keep an eye on them and just let them fidget it out until they realise their job in that spot is to stand still for me.

I will distract if needs be for the farrier but that's for their safety because otherwise they expect treats every time - but that is not the treat spot, that is the standing still spot.

 

[Snow Falcon]

I just tied my youngster up, he'd not been tied up before. He'd seen the others tied up. If they are used to standing still (and trained to do so) with a headcollar it shouldn't be a problem when tied. Gaps in training are when issues occur.

Have you tried cross tying her? Teaching her to just stand without moving is useful. If she pulls back a gentle prod from behind and a "walk on" command sorted out my semi-feral 5yo when tied on for the first few times.

 

[BBP]

Can she stand still for 1 minute whilst you hold her? 2 minutes? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? If she can’t, then it isn’t tying up that is the problem, it’s learning to stand quietly in general. So if you don’t want to try the ‘tie up and get on with it’ method, I would be starting with teaching her to stand still and keep her mind in the room whilst you are holding her (without you having to interact with her constantly). If she can do that then tying up shouldnt be an issue. Warwick Schiller has tips on this if you want the ‘how’.

 

[Patterdale]

Tie her up somewhere safe with food and a friend tied next to her, and leave her for a couple of hours (supervised). She will paw and swing about but just ignore it, she’ll give up and start eating at some point.

I have a bit of a thing about horses learning to tie up. I do the above from weaning onwards and although they pull about at first, if you are consistent, always give them a friend and food, and don’t let them go until they’re quietly standing, they learn very very quickly.

Patience is a gift you are giving them which will help them out their whole lives!

 

[sassandbells]

Do you go over and give her attention when she swings / paws or do you just let her do it and ignore her?

I’m another who just tied up my youngster and let her figure it out. She pretty quickly realised what she was meant to do and we’ve had no theatrics so far… the occasional pawing at the beginning but I just ignored it and she soon stopped.

 

[Starzaan]

I just tie them. It's one of the things a horse has to learn if they're going to be useful in life. I teach foals to tie from the very beginning, and I don't tie to anything that's going to break either.

Same here. They just get tied up and they learn that when they stand nicely, nice things happen.

 

[Ali27]

Can she stand still for 1 minute whilst you hold her? 2 minutes? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? If she can’t, then it isn’t tying up that is the problem, it’s learning to stand quietly in general. So if you don’t want to try the ‘tie up and get on with it’ method, I would be starting with teaching her to stand still and keep her mind in the room whilst you are holding her (without you having to interact with her constantly). If she can do that then tying up shouldnt be an issue. Warwick Schiller has tips on this if you want the ‘how’.

I’ve just watched Warwick Schiller and I’m going to try his method. She will stand quietly with me holding her with no interaction from me but I will build that up to a longer time. Someone I know suggested pronging her with fork on bum (only gently) if she moved when tied up but would rather try more a positive approach first!

 

[FitzyFitz]

If she can stand nicely on a headcollar already then it's not such a jump to stand tied up.

I never tie up with a haynet or food because then you often end up NEEDING one. I know far too many horses who kick off if they don't have a haynet and I can't stand that.

Try a few different tie up spots, most of mine aren't too fussed but I have a couple who are noticeably better if they have good sightlines to each side. Not necessarily to other horses, but a 3 sided shelter wouldn't be as good for them as just an open yard.

Don't go and fuss them if they are stamping or swinging around, unless they are in actual danger (tied up safely on a short rope with no haynet it's pretty minimal) or they'll learn to do it more to get attention.
Just leaving them for a while will soon teach them that kicking off doesn't get them anywhere.

If you have the time and inclination and the pony is sufficiently people oriented and most importantly, your timing is great, you can speed it up a bit by completely ignoring them, back to them when they are fidgeting then giving them a big fuss and scratches when they are standing still BUT the second they shake their head or stomp a foot or move around you have to immediately turn round and walk away.
The timing is tricky to get consistent so you don't accidentally reinforce the wrong thing and it's extremely tedious but if human attention motivates them it does work.

They'll get over it eventually. Just don't make a fuss of them when they're being silly and they soon figure out it doesn't do them any good. Can take a while though!

 

[Hepsibah]

I taught Daisy how to tie using Richard Maxwell's technique in "Train your young horse" which involves putting the rope through the ring and holding the other end then keeping the same pressure when they pull back. If you have halter trained them correctly they will know to move forward to release the pressure. Do that a few times and they work it out. They may fidget a bit with the rest of themselves but their head will be safe.

 

[Ali27]

I taught Daisy how to tie using Richard Maxwell's technique in "Train your young horse" which involves putting the rope through the ring and holding the other end then keeping the same pressure when they pull back. If you have halter trained them correctly they will know to move forward to release the pressure. Do that a few times and they work it out. They may fidget a bit with the rest of themselves but their head will be safe.

I use his pressure halter on her already so could try this too?

 

[paddy555]

I will bow to those with a million years more experience than I have but I never tie directly to a ring. That is because I have seen 2 poll injuries as a result of horses tied that way and pulling back to the extent they finally broke the rope or headcollar. The poll on both on them was a bloody mess, massive massive injuries on one as it finally hit the stable wall behind it as it went back with such force, vets obviously needed and both were out of work for very many weeks. One had considerable neck damage as a result of this accident. The other I doubt anyone checked it's neck afterwards.

I taught Daisy how to tie using Richard Maxwell's technique in "Train your young horse" which involves putting the rope through the ring and holding the other end then keeping the same pressure when they pull back. If you have halter trained them correctly they will know to move forward to release the pressure.

I had no idea this was RM's technique, this is what I do with my youngsters. Anything older that I have no knowledge of I assume it has never been taught to tie up properly until I have proved otherwise, I feel it is safer that way.

 

[Ali27]

So I persevered today! Did standing in yard with her holding her for 10 mins with no interaction, then tied her up to fence but put stretchy tail bandage on bailer twine to tie her too! Left her for 20 minutes and lots of pawing (her favourite thing) but no drama! So will keep doing it every day to practise ? Then will do it back in my open shelter. Phew! Haha, my farrier did say she is a thug ? She is just so lovely though and I’m determined to do everything properly and make every experience positive for her?

 

[Cortez]

putting the rope through the ring and holding the other end then keeping the same pressure when they pull back. If you have halter trained them correctly they will know to move forward to release the pressure.

This how to train youngsters to tie. You should also teach them to move towards the pressure as well, if they should happen to panic and pull.

 

[paddy555]

This how to train youngsters to tie. You should also teach them to move towards the pressure as well, if they should happen to panic and pull.

I know but I would still never leave them tied to a ring (or gate etc) even when trained.

 

[Cortez]

I know but I would still never leave them tied to a ring (or gate etc) even when trained.

My work with horses required them to tie, often for long periods. I couldn't have a horse that didn't reliably stay attached to whatever I tied it to, so they all learned to tie. I've never had a horse that pulled back, any that tried it learned not to. IMO tying horses to things that break just teaches them to pull.

 

[Landcruiser]

So I persevered today! Did standing in yard with her holding her for 10 mins with no interaction, then tied her up to fence but put stretchy tail bandage on bailer twine to tie her too! Left her for 20 minutes and lots of pawing (her favourite thing) but no drama! So will keep doing it every day to practise ? Then will do it back in my open shelter. Phew! Haha, my farrier did say she is a thug ? She is just so lovely though and I’m determined to do everything properly and make every experience positive for her?

Eek, I wouldn't tie to that fence - it looks like it might come with her if she did pull back hard (tail bandage not likely to break). I'm a big fan of Idolo safety ties used with a long rope - they keep a constant pressure (adjustable) if the horse pulls back, but horse stays tied. It teaches them to come off the pressure.

 

[HashRouge]

Eek, I wouldn't tie to that fence - it looks like it might come with her if she did pull back hard (tail bandage not likely to break). I'm a big fan of Idolo safety ties used with a long rope - they keep a constant pressure (adjustable) if the horse pulls back, but horse stays tied. It teaches them to come off the pressure.

I think that might be the gate - it looks like there is a wooden post off to the right which the horse is tied to.

 

[Landcruiser]

I think that might be the gate - it looks like there is a wooden post off to the right which the horse is tied to.

Ah, didn't notice that.

 

[Goldenstar]

I just tie them. It's one of the things a horse has to learn if they're going to be useful in life. I teach foals to tie from the very beginning, and I don't tie to anything that's going to break either.

That’s what I always did .

 

[Ali27]

Eek, I wouldn't tie to that fence - it looks like it might come with her if she did pull back hard (tail bandage not likely to break). I'm a big fan of Idolo safety ties used with a long rope - they keep a constant pressure (adjustable) if the horse pulls back, but horse stays tied. It teaches them to come off the pressure.

There was single strand of baling twine attached to gate post which is concreted in, tail bandage was attached to baler twine and she was tied to tail bandage with a quick release knot. I was 10 m away supervising the whole time?