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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
Location: Albany, Georgia | Can someone tell me the safest way to go about teaching a colt to tie using the belly rope? |
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 Peecans
   
| I feel the safeist way to teach a colt tie is to get them really understand that they give to the halter, if they are properly halter broke and not been thought to just follow it should be pretty easy.
I will just put the rope around the post wrap once or twice and hold the end the first time to see how they do, then i move thier feet a little bit side to side so they learn theres no where really to go.
I however have used the belly rope a older horses that were bad about pulling back. You put the rope around the belly and run the rope through the loop or Honda inbetween the front legs and run it up through the halter, id put it through the entire bottom of the halter you then tie that rope a little shorter than the lead rope. When the horse sits to pull it pulls its self forward by the belly. And you best make sure what you are tie in to has ZERO chance of breaking! That would be a disaster.
It honistly never "cured" the horse, knowing what i know now about proper halter breaking and teaching them to tie i never use this method ever anymore.
I even use the first description on two year olds that have never been touched. |
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Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| DustToDiamonds - 2015-04-08 9:28 AM Can someone tell me the safest way to go about teaching a colt to tie using the belly rope?
if its a colt or a baby i would not do this listen to the other poster if its and old horse with a pull back yes but a baby no way |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
Location: Albany, Georgia | It's a yearling that pitches fits when tied. Is it best to just let her get over it. Or I guess the question now is, how do you tie your babies? |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| I am assuming a belly rope is what we call heart lining. You use a long rope with a hondo tied in it so it can tighten down, ran around the horse at the girth. The loose end runs between the front legs in the center of the chest and up through the halter ring. Every time the horse pulls back it tightens around the girth making it hard for the horse to breath, putting pressure on chest cavity, the withers and possible damage to the girth. Eventually they will give in but it is a pretty brutal method in my opinion and can go horribly wrong.
I do not suggest this method is used on anything that is young or any older horse that is not flat out dangerous. I am by no means a bleeding heart but this trick can cause so much damage.
If it were my colt, I would tie him up with a inner tube to a big solid post and just leave him there. Let him fight himself. If it takes a week or two of tying every day then that is what it takes. Eventually they will give in. I worked for a trainer that would leave them tied over night if that is what it took. He would set a chair up and one of us would sit there all night, only offering water when the horse was standing good and quiet. Some colts would be tied there for days, only getting untied to eat. |
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Peecans
| DustToDiamonds - 2015-04-08 8:50 AM
It's a yearling that pitches fits when tied. Is it best to just let her get over it. Or I guess the question now is, how do you tie your babies?
How's the horse lead? Can you stand still and send the horse left, right, back, forward? Can you send the horse around and bend them in? Do they drop thier head when you ask? Give when you ask latterly?
I dont tie until they do that, and they know to give to the halter and not panic when it comes tight. No if she's just impatient and pawing then i just leave them but panicking and having a fit i dont like and feel i did not prepare them well enfough in advance.
So i would probably go back and get her really supple in the halter then tackled they tieing my self. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
Location: Albany, Georgia | She leads great and ties great as long as I'm standing there. The minute I wLk away she pitches a fit. Yesterday she didn't pull back any, just pawed and threw a tantrum. Maybe hobbling is the next step. I was happy though in the midst of the fit to see she didn't pull back though. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
| I tie my young horses and if they throw a fit they can just stand there till they get over it. I had to tie one horse to separate her from another horse that was getting medicine. That young horse was tied twice a day for at least an hour each time. That was an attitude changing experience for her. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
Location: Albany, Georgia | Let me see if I can post a video from yesterday. I have tied her from a tree limb before and she has thrown herself down and wouldn't get up on her own. So I think that's why I'm leary! |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I use an inner tube from a car tire for my weanlings and even older horses if they need a refresher. I sent a 3yr old off last spring and 2 different people have had hell with him pulling back, bring him home and he never even thinks about it :/ so this next 3yr old I sent off, I tied him 4-5 days before sending him off. The first day was on the tube and after about 10 minutes when he got bored he tried to walk off and pitched a mini fit when he realized he couldn't. After he mellowed, cocked a hind leg and relaxed, I untied him. Did the same thing day 2. Day 3 he never pitched a fit after being tied about an hour so days 4 & 5 I tied him to a solid post. He could care less, even when I let the boys ride the 2 geldings that were his corral buddies and left him all alone.
I always use rope halters with the leads tied solid to the halter and no hardware that can break. If they pull back and get away, they are learning the wrong thing. In 10+ yrs of tieing this way, I have never had a wreck or injury either. The tubes give enough that they don't panic. I do stay fairly close by with a knife in my pocket just in case though. |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | I've used inner tubes with good success- I usually use two tractor trailer tubes since they're heavier. I've also used a long rope ran through an eye bolt with a heavy bag of sand at the end- they stand and the bag is on the ground, if they pull it lifts the bag up, i.e. they're having to pull weight. Tie blocker rings work well too but you have to do the whole training process with it. I have used a body rope in an older horse but I tied it where the body rope kicked in second --would only use that as very last resort on an older horse.
One thing I would look at too is the length that you're trying. It seems like they don't get as upset if they can move just a little bit. Not so long they can get into trouble or reach the ground but long enough they can move some. Start out with short sessions. Tie for 2-3 minutes and untie on a good note and work up from there. Then do it every day. Young ones get tied every day during chores when I start them out. |
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 Works Hard For The Money
Posts: 4469
Location: Memphis, TN | DustToDiamonds - 2015-04-09 5:18 AM
She leads great and ties great as long as I'm standing there. The minute I wLk away she pitches a fit. Yesterday she didn't pull back any, just pawed and threw a tantrum. Maybe hobbling is the next step. I was happy though in the midst of the fit to see she didn't pull back though.
I would tie her up and leave her for several hours. Let her pitch a fit until she tires herself out. I would do it everyday until she has learned it's not worth it to fight. If you can't tie her for hours you can try what I have to do with my 17 y/o herd bound Quarab when he decides his bolts are loose. I tie him and let him decide if he is going to dance. If he starts pacing/dancing I immediately untie him and lunge him about 10 feet away. I don't just make him walk, he either long trots or lopes. I'll do that for a few minutes- until I feel he is focused on me and not his friends- and then I go tie him back up. If he starts dancing he is untied and lunged again. I do this until he stands the whole time. If he stands a few minutes and starts back up we lunge again. The idea is dancing=work. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| Soaking is the best thing for almost any horse. Again, I recommend the tire inner tube to tie to. Above her head, and leave her there everyday for several hours, 4+. I would also work her a little on a lunge line, or do some ground work with her and then tie her up to rest. she's just a baby, she'll catch on. |
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Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| hey they will figure it out leave them tied its called the patience tree |
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Works Hard For The Money
Posts: 4469
Location: Memphis, TN | DustToDiamonds - 2015-04-09 9:00 AM
Let me see if I can post a video from yesterday. I have tied her from a tree limb before and she has thrown herself down and wouldn't get up on her own. So I think that's why I'm leary!
tough love, if she throws herself down get her back up and re-tie her. If she goes down again get her up and tie her, repeat repeat repeat. Let her do the hard work. I promise throwing herself down isn't fun and she will not continuously do it. If she throws herself down and you get her up and take her away all she learns is a nasty habit that she can use anytime she feels out of control. It may be really hard to watch and deal with but typically it takes one hard session, maybe two before they give it up. In this instance if she has thrown herself down and finally decides to stand still I would let her stand for 5-10 minutes max afterwards and then turn her out. Just long enough so she puts together that when she quit throwing herself down and stood still she got a release. Throwing herself down is hard work and I wouldn't add standing for hours afterwards. Save that for when she is just pitching fits but stays standing. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
Location: Albany, Georgia | Being hard on her isn't a big deal for me. I realize it's going to take being hard on her because she is being HARD HEADED!!! I just want to be safe! That's my biggest thing! So lots of time on the patience tree it looks like is on her agenda! Btw I have to cover up her ginormous hole she dug last time lol! She looks 2 ft higher in the rear when she's done! |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | I used to tie all my young ones to a tree for most of the day. They eventually get tired of walking and pawing. By the time they were 3 or 4 they would stand in one spot regardless of how long they were tied.
Also, When it was hot I would offer watter almost every hour to them just in case. I always felt bad for leaving them on the tree that long without water.
I only used a belly rope on the older ones that had been tied using panic snaps.
Now that I only have two I ground tie or just loop the rop around the trailer tie so they think they're tied. My two generally have no problem standing unless we are at an event. Then they like to move around. |
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| I taught my first weanling how to tie this past year... knowing her attitude I thought she was going to give me an extremely hard time with it. But I never flat out grabbed her from the pasture and tied her up and walked off. I started with ground work (very very simple things - disengaging hindquarters/forequarters, teaching her to 'lunge' at a walk around me, teaching how to back out of my bubble... all the extreme basics). After every session of groundwork - I would tie her up for about 30 minutes to an hour. And by tying I mean wrapping the the lead rope around the fence post twice. She never ever gave me any problems. She now just turned a year and has never thought to pull back; actually my gelding has taught her how to untie herself, but thats another situation  The only other thing I did before this, was before she was weaned I tied her up when momma got tied up so she kinda saw what was expected of her i suppose. Good luck! She will learn patience! |
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 Playing the Waiting Game
Posts: 2304
| wyoming barrel racer - 2015-04-09 9:13 AM I use an inner tube from a car tire for my weanlings and even older horses if they need a refresher. I sent a 3yr old off last spring and 2 different people have had hell with him pulling back, bring him home and he never even thinks about it :/ so this next 3yr old I sent off, I tied him 4-5 days before sending him off. The first day was on the tube and after about 10 minutes when he got bored he tried to walk off and pitched a mini fit when he realized he couldn't. After he mellowed, cocked a hind leg and relaxed, I untied him. Did the same thing day 2. Day 3 he never pitched a fit after being tied about an hour so days 4 & 5 I tied him to a solid post. He could care less, even when I let the boys ride the 2 geldings that were his corral buddies and left him all alone.
I always use rope halters with the leads tied solid to the halter and no hardware that can break. If they pull back and get away, they are learning the wrong thing. In 10+ yrs of tieing this way, I have never had a wreck or injury either. The tubes give enough that they don't panic. I do stay fairly close by with a knife in my pocket just in case though.
Love the inner tube tie!!
Also If you can tie them above their heads so they can stand comfortably but not put their head down they have a harder time pawing...
I had a 5 year old here that would tie without pulling but would paw... I tried all the gimmicks to stop him pawing... hobbles, paw rings, chains, hobble his front feet to his back... Nothing stopped him.... UNTIL I tied him to a tree branch hanging just above his head... Tied him that he could stand comfortable but NOT put his head down... THe horse also has a hard time getting leverage to actually PULL .. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
Location: Albany, Georgia | Thank you all for you advice! I will keep you posted ;) |
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Folks on-line