Tying up for the first time?...

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Honeypots

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I have been given a little Exmoor type pony. She is approx 3 yrs old and never had any real handling. She's friendly and we've got a headcollar on her, brushed her all over and are working on picking feet up. She'll pick up all four now but not for long. So she's pretty amenable but is glued to her 'mother', a shettie so will need to pretty much wean her off her shettie friend..
Anyway, how do YOU go about teaching a pony to tie up? Would I be best to teach her beofre or after I've 'weaned ' her? Breakable string or not? Should she be less twitchy before I do it? She'll still jump if I move too quick...
 
Thread the leadrope through some breakable string on a tie ring. Hold one end, and groom her. If she panics you can then let her have more rope, and have a hold of her. When she's happy, try using a lunge line and walking away (still holding the end). She'll gradually get used to it. Tie the shetty up next to her for reasurrance and she should learn quicker.
 
I'm a total opposite to Katy I'm afraid. I always tie directly to something which won't break thus avoiding any issues with pulling back as grown horses.

When I teach to tie, I always loop the lead rope around rail fencing which will not break, but will allow the lead rope to be held and released by me holding the other end of it. Once they are happy with this then you can tie with a quick-release knot.....but don't be too hasty to release it if they go to struggle....only release if things get too upsetting. I've never got to that stage before as all of ours stop struggling within seconds of realising they can't get free.

We've taught Legacy, our 6 month old foal to tie; she was taught a number of months ago and is totally trustworthy now to be tied and left for a few minutes. She'll stand in the corral alone and enjoys being fussed over.
 
Mmm..when I tied up my shettie for the first time he was so well handled that it was no big deal. I'm wondering if I ought to hang on till she's been more handled.
Does anyone NOT use string? and why? I'm thinking if they pull back and break the string or you let the rope go (if you're holding it) then how does a horse learn not to pull back...
 
I think we're posting at the same time Tia..lol
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I'm with Tia on this one.

When I had Talis as a weanling I tied him directly to the tie ring. I didn't want him to learn that pulling back meant he could easily break free.

After a couple of weeks of tying up daily in this manner, I started tying him the same as I do all my others. He never once broke the tie ring in all the time I had him. Never panicked, never tried to get away. He quickly accepted that being tied meant you stay where you're put.
 
Must admit I'm swaying towards this way of doing it. I may leave it a while though until she's a little less twitchy!!
 
Yes definitely. They need to trust you before you teach them anything like this. If you spend a lot of time with the pony; catching up and grooming etc. then perhaps in a few weeks he might trust you enough to know you won't hurt him.

I've found that when you are doing it for the first time, they generally just accept the tying part without any fight. The only time I've had any trouble is when I've bought a pre-owned horse whose previous owner has made mistakes in teachings; then it's more difficult to re-train them than if you were starting from scratch.
 
'The only time I've had any trouble is when I've bought a pre-owned horse whose previous owner has made mistakes in teachings'

You mean, has done it differently to you, don't you Tia? Maybe not LOL

there are two distinct schools of thought, the 'by the book' school will have you putting a long lunge line through the ring, and have you playing out rope if the horse panics - the other (and this is seen a lot in Polo where horses have to learn to be tied up for long periods without fussing) is to just tie them to something solid and let them work it out. The second option is fine as long as you can do it under supervision, it is easy to underestimate the long term damage that can be done to the poll and neck if the horse injures itself. Then tying it up will be the least of yor problems...........
 
after using a lunge line through the tying up ring, and giving and taking until they learn not to go anywhere I tie up to an exercise bandage rather than string... Sounds a bit odd I know, and I dont remember who told me to do it, but it works really well as they don't seem to panic when there is some give if they pull back...
 
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