Thursday 9 August 2018

How to Cure a Horse Who Pulls Back (not a recommended method)

A couple of days ago I alluded to Phantom kind of knowing how to undo panic snaps. Here's the tale.

When I first started working with her she had an occasional pull back issue. No specific thing would set it off, but there were a few broken halters over the first 3 or 4 years. One time we were at a clinic and she was tied in the barn aisle, she pulled back, and pulled right out of her halter. Neat trick.

Because of these incidents, I bought Tie-Blocker rings to use when tying to the trailer.
The Tie Blocker Ring. Expensive, but I got them for a good deal online. 
I used to lease Phantom over the winter months, and would board her at a full facility, and then in the summer we would return to her then owner's acreage. When tacking up I would generally tie to a fence post on the round pen.

One summer the owner had a couple of young horses, one of which was Cisco, that needed to learn how to be tied. I picked up a trailer tie, a nylon web one that has a panic snap at one end and a bull snap at the other end, and we attached that to the fence post using bale twine, just in case one of the young guys had a panic attack while learning how to tie. The panic snap end was the end that would attach to the halter (I don't want a strap attached to the horse with a large clip flapping around on the end of it).
An unimpressed Phantom tied to the trailer with the Tie Blocker ring after returning home from a lesson a few years ago. 
I used that trailer tie to secure Phantom for most of the summer with no issue. One day, she took a dislike to a bird flying by (or some other stupid thing) and pulled back. The panic snap released, the halter didn't break, and she didn't leave. I clipped her back up and she was fine for the rest of the day.

On to the next day. She was clipped to the trailer tie and I started grooming. Again, something caused her serious offense, so she pulled back. The snap released, nothing broke, she stayed.

I hooked her back up. Two minutes later, she pulled back again.

I hooked her up once more. I swear to God, 30 seconds later, she looked at me, slightly rocked back, and the panic snap released. And she stood there with a huge shit-eating grin on her face. You horse people know what I mean. That smug look of pride they get when they think they've been smart.

I thought "fuck this" and hard tied her to that post with the lead shank.  A minute later she rocked back again.

This time though, there was no panic snap to release. Instead, the halter tightened on her head. She went "aww, crap" and took a step forward.

And she hasn't pulled back since.

Not even last week, when I walked away from her after tying her to a stall in the aisle, and she looked in the stall and saw the scariest thing inside that she's ever seen in a stall - a poofy dog bed. She danced around at the end of the shank, but didn't set back and didn't break the halter.
The horse eating dog bed.
Note that I do not recommend this method of curing a horse who pulls back. But for some reason it worked for Phantom!




9 comments:

  1. I love my blocker tie ring. I take it everywhere I go. I think that what you did worked for phantom because she wasn’t really scared just smart.

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    1. That might be it. She does enjoy showing off her self-perceived superior intellect.

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  2. My mare learned how to sit back from a blocker tie ring too. As soon as she figured out that it would give, it became a game to her. We had to completely start over with teaching her how to tie properly - WITHOUT the ring. She STILL isn't reliable to tie, to this day. Freaking mares, man.

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    1. I try to use one of the "harder" methods of tying with the ring - using the easiest means she takes the opportunity to snack.

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  3. Most western trainers teach tying with a hard tie. It's best if you can get a high tie or patience pole, but a hard tie with no breakable parts will cure a horse from pulling back if they're smart. If they're stupid, then all bets are off.

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    1. Hard tying is definitely my preference. I'm one of the few at the barn who doesn't insist on tying my horse with bale twine as we tie in the aisle in front of stalls.

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  4. I like the blocker tie ring for horses who are terrified and pull back because they're panicked or claustrophobic. Otherwise, I've found that they just teach the horse that it doesn't have to stay. Hard tying in a safe space can work wonders if the horse isn't fearful!

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    1. I think Phantom used to get a bit claustrophobic about pressure around her head, and that likely contributed to the problem. I only use the ring at the trailer. She isn't likely to leave, only try to snack on grass.

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  5. Carlos used to pull back, once he realized how flimsy halters and lead ropes were it became a destruction game. Finally we he was taught to stop sitting back with a lot of patience and a patience pole.

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