the sheer STUPIDITY of people...

[Brimmers]

We have a 2 year old tb down the yard with a serious manners problem (has no training what-so-ever but that is not the point of this thread ). He normally ties up well but can have his baby moments and is prone to rearing when things constrict on his head. For example, when he wont walk forward and his owner pulls and pulls on him.

So what does his owner do with him to ensure he stands still when he is tied up?

She loops the leadrope up through one ring of the noseband of his headcollar, over the top of his nose back down through the other side of the noseband and uses this end of the rope to tie him up by So in effect, if the horse pulls back, the rope pulls tight over his nose.

Genuine astonishment when I walked into the yard. I never get involved with other peoples horeses but I HAD to say something to her.

The rope had slipped down a little because he was just standing there and it was nice and loose, so if he spooked / was a bit naughty that would have pulled tight over the soft part of his nose. And carried on pulling tighter and tighter til the horse moved forward or his nose broke.

Livid

 

[weesophz]

what a total nutjob.

 

[Shysmum]

don't get me started

 

[Fantasy_World]

Well done you for speaking out as I bet there are many who would have come on here or elsewhere, moaned about it and said nothing to the person involved.
FWIW I would have done exactly the same.
Stupid eejit!
Fair enough I have seen horses led around like this for a short time if it has been difficult to lead, but not tied up.

 

[rascal]

Why not just teach him some manners?

 

[Lotty]

Well done for saying something 😳 It makes you wonder about some people.

 

[Brimmers]

Why not just teach him some manners?

Ohhhh if only she would!

Her severe lack of patience is ruining this poor little horse

 

[Bikerchickone]

So glad you said something, that could've been really nasty! Poor horse!

 

[flirtygerty]

So did she listen

 

[Brimmers]

Well yes she did but I have concerns that she will do it again.

I informed her that she realised this could break her horses nose and her only reply was "yes..."
Then she moved him round the corner so I couldn't see him at all unless I actually walked round the corner to check him.

Which i did when she nipped to the toilet. Good job too as he had untied himself. Thankfully he was happy eating eating grass in a corner

There should be some sort of idiot test before you get a youngster

 

[igglepop]

There should be some sort of idiot test before you get a youngster

Don't you mean before you get a horse in general?

 

[AmiRobertson]

Oh my god! Thats awful!

I tie my 4yr old up outside every time we groom. I try to have her tied up with me for at least half an hour everyday (before she came to me a month ago she was always done in the stable) in the beginning she would try and pull away a few times snapping the bailing twine where she was immediately tied back up again. We are getting much better and this week she has stayed patiently tied up watching me skip out etc and then yesterday I even went around the corner to the store to fetch her feed (obviously asked one of the girls to keep an eye on her) and came back and she was still relaxed and calm even though all the other horses were then coming in from the field and another was being clipped a few metres away! Very proud mummy.
There are no excuses for short cuts with horses I feel. Not teaching them correctly will just result in them either hurting you or themselves
Well done for saying something I definitely would of!

 

[JennBags]

Well done for saying something, so many people wouldn't have done, sadly it sounds like it fell on deaf ears though

When I got my (late) palomino, he was awful to tie up, he'd pull back on a regular basis; god knows how many lead-ropes he got through in the first few months We had a mad-parelli-type woman (no riding, terrified of her horse) on the yard at the time, and she told me how her horse had "never been able to be tied up" and that I should give up trying & just deal with him in his stable. No, I said, he will learn to tie up as I won't tolerate a horse with bad manners. 6 months later he was absolutely fine as he started to realise that breaking loose wasn't a big palaver, he was just quietly caught and tied back up again.

Her horse had in the meantime got even more badly behaved, she'd moved onto another yard & he'd ended up kicking her new YO in the head Shame for him as he was a nice horse, just not given any leadership or boundaries

 

[Crosshill Pacers]

The daft thing is, it doesn't even take that long to teach them manners in the first place (at least not in my experience). We've been breeding horses for the last 8 years and have always taught ours to stand tied up from an early age, to be groomed/checked etc.

Our yearling colt at the moment is a real 'boyo' and due to my being in full time work hasn't had as much handling as some of our previous youngsters. When we first got him in a couple of weeks ago to groom him and put a rug on him (first time tied up, he's been groomed whilst being held before), he had a total spaz fit at being tied, pulling back, rearing, snorting, the works. It was really the most stupid reaction, and after a couple of minutes of me talking to him calmly he stood quietly and I was able to brush him and rug him up no trouble. But every time he came in after that he'd freak out the minute he pulled back and felt tension. Perserverance and plenty of reassurance, and now when I catch him in the field and lead him up to the yard, he stands like an angel just watching the world go by while I make him look like a little girl, all pretty mane and tail and clean!!

Don't get me wrong, after the ninth or tenth occasion I may have used stern words and told him not to be such a baby, but in the main it was the 'stand quietly and reward' method. I think it's taken me the grand total of a fortnight to get him from loopy colt with attitude to dopey pony with the patience to stand! It's a lesson they all need to learn, and learn early on

 

[Pale Rider]

Well done for saying something, so many people wouldn't have done, sadly it sounds like it fell on deaf ears though

When I got my (late) palomino, he was awful to tie up, he'd pull back on a regular basis; god knows how many lead-ropes he got through in the first few months We had a mad-parelli-type woman (no riding, terrified of her horse) on the yard at the time, and she told me how her horse had "never been able to be tied up" and that I should give up trying & just deal with him in his stable. No, I said, he will learn to tie up as I won't tolerate a horse with bad manners. 6 months later he was absolutely fine as he started to realise that breaking loose wasn't a big palaver, he was just quietly caught and tied back up again.

Her horse had in the meantime got even more badly behaved, she'd moved onto another yard & he'd ended up kicking her new YO in the head Shame for him as he was a nice horse, just not given any leadership or boundaries

Forgive them, for they know not what they do, or say, lol.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Actually, I have a horse that cannot be safely left tied up because at times, she is prone to panic, breaks free but then stands still.
Rather than tie her up, the lead rope is loosely draped over her neck instead. She does not feel claustrophobic and relaxes once she knows she can move if needed- though, she does not.

 

[Ladyinred]

Actually, I have a horse that cannot be safely left tied up because at times, she is prone to panic, breaks free but then stands still.
Rather than tie her up, the lead rope is loosely draped over her neck instead. She does not feel claustrophobic and relaxes once she knows she can move if needed- though, she does not.

So true.

Tying up needs to be taught very sensitively.. we are, after all, depriving them of one of the most basic instincts, that of flight. What the OP describes simply confirms their fear.

I have also found the same as above, a horse that worries about being tied will often stand quietly with a rope over the neck because it knows it still has the option for flight if it has to. Makes for a much more trusting relationship than enforced tying.

 

[orionstar]

It is unbelievable that people treat young horses in this way, but sadly these are the horses that are for sale as three year old's with issues. My two year old will happily tie up and stand, but he will have his moments, as two year olds do, calm patient repetition is required and they will understand what is asked. Horses are not stupid, their fight and flight mechanism might work as it should, but they are far from stupid, and they will train you just as well as you think you've trained them!

 

[Ladyinred]

It is unbelievable that people treat young horses in this way, but sadly these are the horses that are for sale as three year old's with issues. My two year old will happily tie up and stand, but he will have his moments, as two year olds do, calm patient repetition is required and they will understand what is asked. Horses are not stupid, their fight and flight mechanism might work as it should, but they are far from stupid, and they will train you just as well as you think you've trained them!

I think you might have misunderstood my post. I am not against tying up, but it needs to be taught with the patient repetition that you mention and not by being tied up with a rope over the nose as in the OP. Everything we do is basically against a horses natural instinct and it is down to us to ensure that they understand and can cope mentally rather than being forced and doing things for fear of the repercussions.

PS and I think we need a new thread about the way horses can train us!!