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 Ditch the Stirrups
Posts: 5369
  
Location: Sorrow Not! Defending against workplace bullies | On the thread where the BB bought the mare who violently pulled back whle being saddled; several other BBs suggested teaching the horse to saddle while untied in a round pen. Can someone explain how u do this?
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Expert
Posts: 1543
 
Location: MI | My trainer did this with my colt. Has all of his saddles and pads hanging on a round pen panel in his indoor. Just made my colt stand while he saddled him. I keep reinforcing here. Essentially teaching him to ground tie. If you google "ground tie horse" there's a lot out there. |
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 Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
Location: Bandera, TX | My mare also likes to pull back when saddling. She just stands there and lets me put the saddle on as long as we are on gravel or a parking lot. It is a bit more tricky when we are on gras for obvious reasons... I nevere had to "teach" her to stand still, one of the few things she understood without a lengthy process..... |
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  Sweet Tea
Posts: 3496
Location: Home of the World Famous "Silver Bullet" | teach him respect and that whoa means whoa. |
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I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | Every horse I have will saddle untied. If I am in the arena or round pen I always saddle the horse without it being tied to anyting. even if I am in the wash rack I wash the horse without it being tied. I only tie my horse to the trailer at shows. None of my horses pull back I just give them more freedom and if they move around I get on them and that ends it! I didn't do this knowing I was doing it I just felt more comfortable personally and the horses are fine with it. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1100
Location: Southeastern Idaho | I never tie my young horses up while saddling, I have always found it much safer for all involved. Dad never did and I just followed him. I make sure I do my cinches up (nothing like smacking with a cinch or getting a breast-collar tangled up to spook a colt). I just loop the halter rope over my arm and saddle away. I don't tie them hard and fast until I consider them good and broke. Even then I find myself saddling without tying. If the colt moves I stop their feet and continue on, turning any movement into a circle around me. |
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Ditch the Stirrups
Posts: 5369
Location: Sorrow Not! Defending against workplace bullies | I am asking because all but one of my horses stands just fine. the one that does not had some saddle fit issues but is no longer sore and now has a better saddle. He always danced around some but then the bad saddle fit really aggravated the problem.
I accidentally brought out the wrong saddle last weekend and he ran into me and then pulled back. I dont know how he knew it was the wrong saddle but he did. He still got in trouble for disrespecting my space.
I have since been desensitizing his back and tossing light ropes; pads; and an old treeless across his back. He flinched at first but then calmed down. He is not a bad horse,he is very smart and willing to learn. He just remembers the old pain. i want to make sure this gets fixed while he is young.
I was thinking about taking him in the round pen and doing basic ground work. Then when he wants to rest gently put the treed saddle (the one that fits lol). if he moves then the saddle comes off and he works some more. but if he stands still he gets rest and praise and probably at first gets to go back to pasture.
Would this work? I cant find anything on google. Instructions for ground tying are all about teaching horse to stand still when you leave the pen. This is a little different. |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
Location: Texas | luvropin - 2013-11-21 8:30 AM I never tie my young horses up while saddling, I have always found it much safer for all involved. Dad never did and I just followed him. I make sure I do my cinches up (nothing like smacking with a cinch or getting a breast-collar tangled up to spook a colt). I just loop the halter rope over my arm and saddle away. I don't tie them hard and fast until I consider them good and broke. Even then I find myself saddling without tying. If the colt moves I stop their feet and continue on, turning any movement into a circle around me.
Flying cinches and saddles falling off are part of my ground work.
I had a gelding that would shake almost every time I put a saddle on him, a couple of times the saddle came off because it wasn't cinched yet. It was nice when he just stood there like "Ha, now you have to do it again... You just thought it was heavy the first time." Instead of "Oh my God we are all gonna die! Run over the women and children first!"
I just get my junk saddle and by the time I am done with them you can drag a saddle off both sides and the back and let it hit the ground and they stand there.
I try not to smack them with the cinches, but I don't baby them when I am doing it. Unless it is the first few times they have been saddled. Don't want to tramatize them, just teach them that sometimes things don't go as planned.
I don't tie them to saddle them until they are used to the whole saddling process. I've never had a problem with them standing to be saddled, they just do it. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1100
Location: Southeastern Idaho | I agree, they need to be willing to put up with stuff flying around and falling off. I mean that could be me some day. :) But I meant getting that cinch tied up so they don't get a crack in the elbow. That sucker has got to hurt you know? My husbands legs are so long ( he is 6' 5) that his monel stirrups really whack a horse, so I have to be careful of those when saddling for him. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| ninaom - 2013-11-21 8:42 AM
I am asking because all but one of my horses stands just fine. the one that does not had some saddle fit issues but is no longer sore and now has a better saddle. He always danced around some but then the bad saddle fit really aggravated the problem.
I accidentally brought out the wrong saddle last weekend and he ran into me and then pulled back. I dont know how he knew it was the wrong saddle but he did. He still got in trouble for disrespecting my space.
I have since been desensitizing his back and tossing light ropes; pads; and an old treeless across his back. He flinched at first but then calmed down. He is not a bad horse,he is very smart and willing to learn. He just remembers the old pain. i want to make sure this gets fixed while he is young.
I was thinking about taking him in the round pen and doing basic ground work. Then when he wants to rest gently put the treed saddle (the one that fits lol). if he moves then the saddle comes off and he works some more. but if he stands still he gets rest and praise and probably at first gets to go back to pasture.
Would this work? I cant find anything on google. Instructions for ground tying are all about teaching horse to stand still when you leave the pen. This is a little different.
I have had a few horses that wouldn't stand. I would take a 10 foot lead rope have a hold of that while saddling, if they went to move one leg, I would turn them in a tight circle until they would stand. Then I would throw the blanket, and saddle on giving praise at each step.
I also would saddle daily, repetition is key |
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 Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | I start in the round pen. First I make sure the horse will join up or at least stand when I walk up to him. If he doesn't want to stand still I'll put him to work till he wants to stand and rest. Then I'll sack him out with the lead and saddle blanket and then the saddle. It doest take long before they will join up with you and just stand while you saddle them. I do all of this without a halter on them. If they decide they don't want to stand they get put to work. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | luvropin - 2013-11-21 8:30 AM
I never tie my young horses up while saddling, I have always found it much safer for all involved. Dad never did and I just followed him. I make sure I do my cinches up (nothing like smacking with a cinch or getting a breast-collar tangled up to spook a colt). I just loop the halter rope over my arm and saddle away. I don't tie them hard and fast until I consider them good and broke. Even then I find myself saddling without tying. If the colt moves I stop their feet and continue on, turning any movement into a circle around me.
This..... |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I'm surprised not every horse will do this. One of our biggest pet peeves when we get a horse back from being started. When they are saddled from day one, if they are moving around when you throw a pad or saddle on them, they aren't sacked out enough. It is a disrespect thing as well. When I start a colt, I swing a blanket all over them until they quite moving. Same with the saddle. It goes on and off until they learn to stand. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
Location: My own little world :) | equussynergy - 2013-11-21 9:37 AM
I start in the round pen. First I make sure the horse will join up or at least stand when I walk up to him. If he doesn't want to stand still I'll put him to work till he wants to stand and rest. Then I'll sack him out with the lead and saddle blanket and then the saddle. It doest take long before they will join up with you and just stand while you saddle them. I do all of this without a halter on them. If they decide they don't want to stand they get put to work.
This is pretty much what I do also. Before I ever get my horses really working on any riding really I want them to respect me on the ground and do what I ask of them when I ask it. So I do a lot of groundwork like this to get the to come to me in the center of the round pen.. When they do come to me I work on making them do things like get sacked out without me holding on to them and other things like picking up their feet. Then from there I work on the saddle. If they decide to leave me for the outside area of the round pen I make them work. But if they say with me I praise them like they are the greatest thing on this earth! I want to make the area around me the happy place. Sometimes they really have to work to do this. Like they are super sweaty and tired but I really think its worth it. I feel like this ground work gets them more in tune to you and then when you go places they remember to pay attention to you more and less on all the sights and sounds around them.
In my opinion I kind of think the saddle fit thing is kind of an excuse no offense. I understand if this horse had to work for hours with it and it really started to hurt them but I don't think the moment you set it on them and you don't even have it cinched up they know. I don't think they see you coming with it and think "Oh goodness thats that horrible saddle that hurts my back!" In my experience it was prolonged ill-fitting saddle usage that made them sore not just setting it on there.
Also, it seems like with barrel horses people make excuses for their horses, myself included. But in my opinion when it comes down to it a horse is a horse. They can work a lot harder than many of us make them and I also think they are tougher than we think they are. Don't get me wrong I think that the better care you give your horse the better they will be but I think they should all learn to work and be uncomfortable at times. We have to do things that are uncomfortable or that kind of hurt us. I relate this saddle situation to a human putting on heels or the wrong size shoe....it is uncomfortable but it takes some use for it to really hurt. Look at a lot of ranch horses...they have different people riding them with different saddles and all in all they need to get their job done. Period. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 915
Location: SE KS | I have 2 that saddle without being tied or haltered. There already up in the barn, I turn them into my alleyway, brush them & saddle them. Then bridle them n out the gate we go!!! I don't feel like I taught them this, they just know were gonna ride n this is part of it!! One is 5 the other is 9!
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 Hawty & Nawty
Posts: 20424
| I just keep reinforcing a whoa. Also they go back to being completely sacked out. I don't need a big animal jumping around while I'm wrestling a heavy saddle. Just get back to basics. Good luck. |
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