Help! Tieing to trailer issues maybe?

[Atheta21]

I was hoping someone out there could help me with my mare. I want to take her on our first endurance ride and I don't know if she will tie to the trailer all night. She gets very opinionated when other horses come and go and she really has to look around and see what everyone is doing. I was looking for alternatives to tieing her to the trailer, but they have to be sturdy ideas, cause she is big and strong. She's an oldenburg.
What if I bring her a buddy? Do you think that would help? There will be quite a few other horses next to us that are all doing the same ride. I guess you dont know till you try it! Thanks for your help!

[Trakehner]

Put her on the trailer overnight. Open all the windows, doors open and take out the center divider. It's not cruel and just recall, quite a few horses are kept in standing stalls. Just make sure she has water and hay to munch.

There are the instant electric paddocks...she may respect those too!

[sublimequine]

Put her on the trailer overnight. Open all the windows, doors open and take out the center divider. It's not cruel and just recall, quite a few horses are kept in standing stalls. Just make sure she has water and hay to munch.

There are the instant electric paddocks...she may respect those too!

I second that, or possibly high line her if there's the ability to do so where you're going.

[katarine]

I was hoping someone out there could help me with my mare. I want to take her on our first endurance ride and I don't know if she will tie to the trailer all night. She gets very opinionated when other horses come and go and she really has to look around and see what everyone is doing. I was looking for alternatives to tieing her to the trailer, but they have to be sturdy ideas, cause she is big and strong. She's an oldenburg.
What if I bring her a buddy? Do you think that would help? There will be quite a few other horses next to us that are all doing the same ride. I guess you dont know till you try it! Thanks for your help!



Will the buddy get to go on the ride, too or be stuck by itself all day?
Can you highline her- meaning are there stout trees available for such if you get there early enough?
Would she respect hot tape if you went the portable corral route? Would you be willing to invest in one?
Are you sleeping in the trailer or not? If so, leaving her in the trailer might be an option- assuming it's not a small 2H straight load where she might opt to jump over the back doors ;)

[saratoga]

Most horses tie to trailers overnight just fine. If she has never had a problem with being tied up for shorter periods, I wouldn't get too worried.

I think bringing a buddy is a great idea, just if the horse is going to be left alone when you go out on the ride, would it be OK with that? When my endurance horse was young, he got nervous being all by himself and I would often bring my friend's little old grade horse along. That little horse didnt care what happened around him and he would stay by himself all day eating while my horse and I were out on the trail. But if I would have brought one of *my* other horses, they would have had a fit when I left.

If you cant bring a buddy horse, definitely park in such a way that your horse is close to other horses and can see them well.

I really think tying is safer than electric corrals. I definitely wouldn't leave the horse in the trailer either. If they freaked or got upset, they could hurt themselves by kicking the trailer or rearing, plus they can hardly move at all, cant get their heads down all the way, and dont have as much fresh air.

[Mtn trails]

I agree, tie to the trailer. Those little portable corrals are great but I have yet to attend one ride where someone's horse didn't pull it down in the middle of the night and we end up chasing him down in our pjs.

Also, I wouldn't bring the buddy horse. You're just enabling it and what are you going to do? Drag a second horse around with you everywhere? Your horse has to learn to deal with the situation and get over it. Is your horse going to totally freak out and try to kill himself if he's alone? Probably not. Just go, don't worry, and have fun!

[Shadow14]

I like the high line. NO horse properly tied to it can break it, break loose or get into trouble. Run a heavy rope between two trees as high as you can make it. Either tie the horse in the center of this rope OR run a swivel so the horse can run up and down the line, like a clothes line.
Tie the horse so it can reach the ground to graze but not much more. If the horse fights it he can not hurt himself since the rope stretches.
It is a safe way to leave any horse.
I do not like tying to a trailer all night.

[ChocoMare]

Perfect for hi-tying: http://www.theclip.info/ ;)

[Shadow14]

Perfect for hi-tying: http://www.theclip.info/ ;)

Why is that perfect for high tying?? To me it is a stupid gimic that allows the horse to pull free or if you tie the limiting knot it just becomes a normal tie.
NO Tie hard and fast to the high line and you know your horse will be there in the morning. Nothing will get him free and even in the event of a stampede through camp your horse will not break free.
I would take even a green broke horse and tie solid to a high line with perfect confidence that nothing can happen.
A horse taught that he can escape is a menace in any barn. What if there are a whole row of cross tied horses and your horse breaks free and runs down the line. A wreck is what happens.
Teach a horse to tie properly and securely at the start and forget the gimics

[pj]

I was hoping someone out there could help me with my mare. I want to take her on our first endurance ride and I don't know if she will tie to the trailer all night. She gets very opinionated when other horses come and go and she really has to look around and see what everyone is doing. I was looking for alternatives to tieing her to the trailer, but they have to be sturdy ideas, cause she is big and strong. She's an oldenburg.
What if I bring her a buddy? Do you think that would help? There will be quite a few other horses next to us that are all doing the same ride. I guess you dont know till you try it! Thanks for your help!

I would before the ride start leaving her tied to the trailer for longer and longer periods. :) If you keep her at home you could even leave her tied to the trailer overnight and practice camping with her yourself.
If possible I would go somewhere there are pretty busy horse trails and park in the parking area and just leave the mare tied while the trail riders came and went. She may do lots better than you think.

[saratoga]

High lines are nice but there are seldom trees where my endurance rides are so its not an option.

[Shadow14]

To me the ultimate is teethering the horse by either the halter or one hind leg in a patch of grass. My old guy Strider could be teethered by the halter and just tie the other end to the trailer. My next two guys Shadow and Rio are trained to teether by the left hind leg only but I would be nervous leaving them like that over night. During the day , fine while I can keep an eye on them but not overnight. I have used 2 trailers and tied the high line to them, well not very high but it works the same.
To me nothing is safter then a high line and any horse can be high lined without preperation. They can just not get in trouble.

[busterwells]

I too last year took 2 of my horses to their first endurance ride overnight. I was worried that they would not do well tied that long. I am also not one to tie my horses up for long periods of time at our stable, only for grooming purposes and then take off for a ride.

Well, I was so surprised at how calm they were and never gave me issue the entire night. We even left them tied to go eat at the dinner that they had provided at the campsite which was quite a trek to get to from our site. When we got back from dinner they were still happy munching on their hay.

I definitely think it was helpful for them to have a buddy with them and there were also other horses at our campsite that they have ridden with before.

But I would find someone to ride the buddy on the ride and not leave another horse tied all day alone.

You might want to also think about if your horse is nervous and needs to check things out alot, that you will be in big groups of people often, sometimes butt to butt waiting to be vet checked. Things can get kind of chaotic when a bunch of horses show up at once to be checked and there is not alot of room to move around while in line and there are some people that will not watch out for you, but I found that most people were pretty considerate.

I tied my horses to the side of my trailer with a quick release and we slept in the bed of my truck so we could keep an eye on them all night.


I guess I would question also why you are worried about this? Have you tried tieing this horse previously with problems? Try tieing her first for an hour or so on your property and see how she acts and also with the buddy with hay and water. My horses were just happy to be munching away.

[Mtn trails]

Shadow14, although I appreciate your experience and knowledge on trail riding, I have to disagree about allowing a horse to run up and down the highline. This practice is highly frowned upon by The Forest Service, BCHA, and other backcountry organizations. The reason is the damage a horse causes is going to be more widespread, including the damage of tree roots, rather than confined to one area. The ground will be more torn up and thus, taking much longer to repair itself (if ever) than if it were just one smaller area and away from the tree roots. If the horse is allowed to come into contact with the trees, in addition to the roots, the horse will probably chew on the trees, damaging the bark.

[Shadow14]

Shadow14, although I appreciate your experience and knowledge on trail riding, I have to disagree about allowing a horse to run up and down the highline. This practice is highly frowned upon by The Forest Service, BCHA, and other backcountry organizations. The reason is the damage a horse causes is going to be more widespread, including the damage of tree roots, rather than confined to one area. The ground will be more torn up and thus, taking much longer to repair itself (if ever) than if it were just one smaller area and away from the tree roots. If the horse is allowed to come into contact with the trees, in addition to the roots, the horse will probably chew on the trees, damaging the bark.

I was/never think about the environment when using a high line. The trees can be protected by knotting the high line before the tree to prevent the sliding of the swivel. Yes the ground gets torn up with a horse spending any length of time tied. Our regular rides use the same trees year after year, the same camping grounds year after year and it looks fine each year that we go there.
If you want tie the horse to the center of the high line but bar nothing, a high line is the safest most secure way to leave a horse. Tied to the trailer is is possible for him to fight the line . If the horse casts himself he could possibly get under the trailer and break a leg. No chance with a high line.
So if we have to take the environment into account then I haven't a clue on how to protect everything. To me the horse comes first.
Torn up ground in no way hurts the environment, just looks.
Our horses live in a well treed field and the horses also chew the bark and they still seem to survive.

[Mtn trails]

Yes, but have you ever ridden into a camp and seen trees girdled from knotheads tying the horse to the tree for extended periods? Or trees stripped free of the bark? How about banks of streams damaged from people allowing the horses free access instead of bucketing? Doesn't paint a very positive image for horse people, does it? The point is, we have to be very careful and sensitive to how we treat the backcountry. Too often stock users are being banned from areas normally open to them. It is our job as a minority to educate the public and tread lightly and leave no trace. Okay off my soap box.

I do highline when I can but sometimes there are no trees to highline to and in that case, I will tie to the trailer. Our horses have years of experience being tied to the trailer for the duration of the weekend and have yet to hurt themselves or get cast. So OP, go forth and tie to your trailer with confidence.

[Atheta21]

Wow, great response and ideas, thanks! She might do better than I expect. Her buddy is my pony who would not really care if he was left. There are others horses that we will be camping with that will be there too, so maybe a buddy is not necessary.

I don't think the electric fence will work cause she can step over it (I will post a picture of her and I think you will see why). And leaving her in the trailer is an idea, but she can not see the other horses as well as if she were outside.

I have been to this ride before and I don't remember trees, but tieing her to a rope would be my ideal way of going, knowing her "issues" and after reading this thread. Is there another way to do this? Between trailers?

I guess the next best option would be tieing to the trailer and practicing more. Keep the ideas and opinions coming. I have a few weeks!

[Painted Horse]

Teach your horse to stand tied. Trailer, hitching rail. fence post, what ever you feel comfortable tieing the horse to for the first experience. Once you are comfortable they will not pull back, expand their experience. Go to an endurance race, 4H, rodeo, fairground or stable and just park and tie the horse. Maybe you only stay an hour and let the horse get used to being tied with other horses going and coming.

The 1st night will be your only challenge. After the horse has run 50 miles he will be tired and happy to stand tied the second night.

I usually put a hay net full of hay in front of my horses. They expend a lot of their nervous energies picking at the hay. And I do allow them to eat a lot more while tied than I would at home.

If possible I use a highline, mainly because I get more sleep. When tied to the side of the trialer, I feel them tuggin at the leads all night. I'm a light enough sleeper it wakes me up. But a lot of the places I ride there are no trees to highline off. And I have left my horses in the trailer all night on occassions. Especially if I pull into a ride and its pouring rain or snow.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/Hities.jpg

[Shadow14]

Painted horse I want to come and live with you. I always envy your pictures, the places you get to ride. I would move in an instant if IF it wasn't for family. I hate living in a densly populated area with most runs taking place along busy roads or around planted fields.
Any properly for sale in you neck of the woods:lol::lol::lol:

[katarine]

OP some folks will string a highline between trailers. Ideally there's no awning on either trailer so you aren't tearing it up doing so...b/c ideally you'd tie off one end of said rope to a tie ring on the driver's side of rig #1's Trailer, then toss the rope over the top...then toss it over the top of rig#2's Trailer...and tie it off on the off side of it. If the trailers are far enough apart, and the horses spaced right, she can have company on the same highline that she can see but not touch/interact with. I like the ropes over the trailers for height. Once you attach hay bags and they pull on them, slack happens ;)

Google 'highline' for the various knots to practice and learn so you can create leverage....so you can snug up a truly tight line. They also sell hardware called Knot Eliminators you can slip on the rope to secure her on the line so she can't scootch up and down it. Get some or learn the knots they seek to eliminate :winkgrin:. Learn how to tie a bowline or other good, stout, safe knot to tie her with so she's not going to get loose. Don't just go and hope some granny knots will do. They won't.


I am a big fan of a highline for a safe and secure way to contain horses overnight for camping trips. Do it all the time and my 4 YO laid down and napped her first night on a line, so it's far from a stressfull experience :)

[Shadow14]

Some horses do snore so take that into account if you are setting up a tent. They are also noisy eaters and sleep very little at night:lol::lol:

We had a horse called Oreo that kept us awake with her snoring.

[Mtn trails]

A come-along works great for keeping your highline tight especially when you hang your hay bag on the line and suddenly it's a "lowline. Just crank it back up with the come-along. Don't leave home without it.

[Painted Horse]

Come alongs work great. But they are too heavy to pack into the back country. I have bought a couple of small aluminum pulleys. (the type that Kayakers and River Rafters use for rescue work) They are very light weight and can handle a 1/2" rope easily, You can create some pretty good tension by pulling the rope through the two pulleys. I've also just used a Prussic loop and just the run the end of the rope through the cinch around the tree and back to the prussic loop and pull tight if I don't have any pulleys.

I make my drops out of baling twine or nylon parachute cord using the prussic loop. I use bowlines to tie the end of the rope to the cinches that I put around the trees.

If there are trees we set up highlines. at least for the night time. We often string an electric strand for the daytime.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2008/Jackson%20Lake/GirlsTrip247.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2008/Hunting/Hunting08004.jpg

My horses have spent a LOT of nights tied to the side of a trailer
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2008/Strawberry/Strawberry031.jpg

And I hobble them a alot during the day, when I can watch them graze.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/Senior%20Sluff/Eating-grass.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2008/Jackson%20Lake/GirlsTrip483.jpg

[Mtn trails]

Yes, I don't take come alongs into the back country with me, just when we're going to a horse camp with our camper. If we're packing in we just take tree savers and use the pack rope for a high line. And yep, we do the Prussic loop also. Those kayak pulleys sound great, I'll have to look into those.

Nice rig you got there Painted Horse.