Tying up issues!! Youngster putting on a show??!!

[RuthnMeg]

Just would like a few tips and pointers in the right direction...
I can Tie Penny up fine, (she is my NF yearling). I can groom her and pick out her feet while tied up, but when either of the other 2 mares move, or I leave Penny to do said others, she 'twiddles' (acceptable), paws the ground (annoying, but not the end of the world) and then starts her rearing up antics, which obviously I don't want! She has good balance and can walk half circles around her tying up spot, on her hind legs. She went almost too high once today, and would hate her to do something really daft and hurt herself. So, how do I stop her doing this, without giving her the attention she seemingly craves?
In her defense, today was more of an exception rather than the rule as we had the farrier. When Meg was being done, she was getting cross she was missing out, and being young has the attention span of a spanner! She was good enough to do, then relaxed then set off again when Juno went to the back of her stable - out of sight! I don't often bring them in, don't often tie her up, but before she gets too big and strong for her own good, I'd like to break the habit!
So, ideas welcome please. Someone might suggest something I hadn't thought of?

 

[Bop!]

Our youngster had never been tied before when we got her. We got something elasticated with some give in it like this:

http://www.horsetrailershop.co.uk/h...s/horse-trailer-stable-equitie-safety-tethers

Brought her in to her stable every night and tied her to it for a short time before giving her her tea. Gradually increased the amount of time she was tied and the amount of activity around her while she was tied. She did make a fuss and object at first, little bunny hops etc but never reared fully or pulled enough to break it and soon worked out that if she stood quietly there was no pressure but if she danced there was. We then began tying her in places other than her stable.


She is now almost always well behaved when standing tied, though she does get bored sometimes. We ignore any bad behaviour totally.

Think the real key was practicing every night though.

 

[Cedars]

Puzzle does this and i spend all of last summer pussyfooting around the issue. Those rubber ties causes half the problem as she learnt damn quick she could snap them.

New tactic is to tie her up to baler twine, let her have her paddy and totally ignore it, then when she stands still she gets a nice fuss and her feed. We are lucky in that ours never NEED tying up but getting sick of not being able to groom as she walks the box again. Grrr!! Good luck. Xxx

 

[Maesfen]

Puzzle does this and i spend all of last summer pussyfooting around the issue. Those rubber ties causes half the problem as she learnt damn quick she could snap them.

You've almost hit the nail on the head! Before there was this mass exodus to using baler twine instead of just tying to a ring, it was incredibly rare to ever have anything that wouldn't stand when it was tied up (even if it fidgeted a bit; you'd have the odd one that was clever with knots go scarpering but not all this 'my horse pulls back and breaks the string' issues.

Reiner Klimke wrote about it very well in his book Basic Training of The Young Horse.

" When tying up the foal for the first time, it is especially important to ensure that the halter and rope fit well and are strong. The foal will probably try to free itself when it feels the restriction of the rope. That is why it is so important that nothing gives way, so that the foal soon realises that it is useless to resist. This exercise should be concluded with praise and repeated on the following days. If possible tie up the foal at the same spot each day, preferably in the stable near the feed bowl. Let the foal get used to being tied up there, before it is tied up on the yard."

My only amendment to that is do make sure you use a leather headcollar which will break in an emergency unlike a nylon one and don't do this before the foal is old and strong enough to cope. I'm also not a fan of separating mare and foal too early in case the mare panics which upsets the foal; none of you win in that situation and one or both could get hurt but I know many who do this without any problems; me, I'd rather wait until weaned beforehand.

OP, I think it's just time and ignoring her behaviour as by talking/scolding/praising, you're giving her the attention she wants but do remember that youngsters have the attention span of a gnat so don't keep her waiting too long else she'll have a good excuse to kick off.

 

[LisaJM]

My colt has been pretty good about being tied up from the word go, but now he's nearly 2 he's got soemthing else on his mind , so if I take one of the girls away he has a paddy, making lots of noise and swinging round on the rope (luckily no rearing) and pawing at the ground. When this all started, I just ignored it, as I have done with any of his silly behaviour, and he's already worked out that the more calmly he stands there, the more likely he is to get a cuddle or a treat, so ignoring them is definately the way to go! He's already much calmer about this now, and I never untie him until he's standing there with one of his back legs resting so I know he's completely relaxed.

I agree that those elasticated tie things are useless and teach them that if they do pull back it breaks and they've achieved thier goal of escaping from being tied up - so instead I have mine tied to baler twin that I have untwiddled (if that makes sense) so it's half the thickness; it's still strong enough to hold them but thin enough to break if they really do have a hissy fit so they don't hurt themselves.

Try tying your grily up a bit shorter so it's not as easy for her to lift her head to rear, that might help... or not!!!! And another thing I would suggest is tying her up as often as possible, the more you do it, the quicker she'll get the idea

But good luck and be patient - these things all take time as we all know

 

[Kenzo]

Tie her up shorter? on double twine so she doesn't learn that she can break free but with a leather head collar.
Can you tie a net up (nice and high) so it gives her something to occupy her perhaps.

Also leaving them in the stable with a leadrope attached to the headcoller for them to stand on, teaches them to not panic and resist pulling back.

 

[Hoofprints in the Snow]

Firstly try tying up with a haynet, this has always worked for me. The youngster then relates tying up to enjoying a haynet. Then once it has eaten some hay take the net away do this gradually over a week or so and lengthen the time standing without a net. I make sure there is company around other horses in their stables. If that doesn't work I would tie up between two solid/secure posts a lead rope each side of the head collar, the horse then shouldn't be able to escape and will eventually give up the fight. Good luck!