A clinic participant asked a great question: “What do you do about a horse that ‘sets back’ when tied?” In this episode we talk about this from the perspective of safety and understanding the horse’s instincts, and offer specific suggestions about how to avoid the problem, and how to address it in a horse that’s already developed the habit.

Preventing–or Curing–the Horse that “Sets Back” When Tied

Some horses react badly to being tied up, using all their strength to pull against the restraint. Can this be prevented? Can it be “cured”?

Why does a horse pull back when tied?

It’s because the horse doesn’t respect the halter, so it all starts with proper halter training.

Flight or fight response

The key to understanding this problem is understanding the horse’s instincts. By evolutionary development, a horse is a prey animal whose first, preferred response to any threat is to flee–get away first, check it out later. When we tie up our horses, we take that defensive option away, leaving them only with their second choice: to fight. The objective of early training is to teach the horse to overcome that instinct to flee in response to the pressure they feel when tied.

Prevention is best

The keys to preventing this habitual response are:

1. Due diligence (understanding the horse’s natural, instinctive responses) and careful training. In this episode we outline the process of training the horse to respect the halter.

2. Don’t provoke the flight or fight instinct by tying too hard and fast (use a knot with some give).

It’s a safety issue

This response of setting back, or pulling back, is dangerous for us, for our equipment, and for our horses. We discuss some safety tips:

1.  Use a knot that can easily be untied. Check back here for a short instructional video that demonstrates how to tie the knot I recommend.

2.  Use a halter and lead rope with no metal fittings that can break.

3.  Always carry a safe type of knife that can quickly be used to cut the rope if necessary. Check back here for a photo of what I carry for this purpose.

 

What do you think?

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Next Time on Ride Every Stride

We’ll begin talking about the most important element of training: ground work. If you don’t want to miss it, be sure to subscribe in iTunes or on Stitcher.

Thank you for listening. Until next time . . . remember to Ride Every Stride!

Van

Van Hargis Horsemanship