Tying Trouble

I recently purchased a new horse! Everything was going great when I got him home! He stalled great, fit in well with the other horses, everything was perfect. Or so it seemed… After letting this new horse settle in for about a week or two I decided to throw a saddle on him and ride.

Well, little did I know he was going to give me a run for my money when it came to tying. I tied him up to the hitching post and began to tack him up for our ride. He then backed up and held pressure on the lead rope knowing exactly what he was doing to try and snap the lead rope. He did just that! He snapped the lead rope and got loose. I finally got him caught, and put back away.

I began thinking I can’t be the only one that has struggled with this issue. After conducting endless amounts of research, I came across a friend who had the same issue with one of her horses. She told me to use a neck rope along with her halter and lead rope. I thought yeah, sure he will slip right out of that! I was desperate to try anything, as without tying you can’t do much with a horse.

I put the neck rope on him and tied him up to the hitching post again and he pulled back to try and put pressure in the lead rope and snap it again, just as I thought he would. However, this time the neck rope stopped him! He fought it for a few minutes then gave up. It took about 2-3 times of using the neck rope and he was tying like a dream!

If you are struggling with a horse that won't tie, don’t give up! Purchase a neck rope and try it. However, you want to be sure to tie them in an area where he or she can’t hurt themselves because they are going to fight it to try and get loose as this is a learned behavior.

It shouldn’t take more than a couple times of trying this and they should be back to tying like they need to, and you can have your horse back! It worked for my gelding and I hope it works for you too! No one should have to struggle with this issue when you can try a simple thing such as this to fix it for good!

- Leah