Horses should learn age appropriate skills. We have two yearlings at the house right now. They are babies. They have short attention spans but they can do age appropriate tasks. They stand to be groomed and have their feet cleaned. They are learning to be good citizens for the farrier and dentist. They can be stalled without having a melt down. They can walk in and around obstacles. This week they started “tying”.
A lot of preparation goes into tying. Prior to ever tying they must be halter broke well enough to understand connection and coming off pressure. When that concept has been well established we start “tying” work by running a lead rope through the bars on the stall while grooming or trimming feet. The rope is long enough that we can move all around the horse’s body without having to let go but if they get worried we can feed them some slack.
We only use blocker the rings when ready to tie. We don’t want sit back injuries especially in young, growing horses. We tie in a place where the horses can see their friends and in an environment they are familiar with. They all get a hay bag so they can keep food in their stomach and relax through eating.
Over time as the horses learn tying isn’t stressful, they don’t need the hay bag. Rarely, however, do I tie without one.
As the horses show an understanding of tying, we increase the length of time they are tied.
Here are pictures of Quinn and Grace learning to tie while I work horses. They each stood for 35-40 minutes.
Tying becomes stressful when introduced without proper preparation. Tying is stressful without an outlet for stress, let them eat. Tying becomes stressful when the environment isn’t conducive to relaxation. As the horses become comfortable with tying you can change up the environment. Tying becomes stressful if the horses feel trapped. They need to know they have a way out in the beginning. We use the blocker tie ring followed by 2-3 wraps over the rail with the tail of the rope. It provides enough friction that they can’t get an immediate release but if the horse panicky, they can get free. The blocker tie ring is hung on bailing twine that will break if the horse gets panicked.
Teaching a horse to tie is an art. Done well, you will have a confident, well mannered horse. Done poorly, you will have a pawing, panicky mess with the potential for significant, permanent injury. It takes time to teach tying.
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