Teaching baby to tie?

[tidy rabbit]

When do you do it?

And how do you do it?

[siegi b.]

I don't..... My babies are halter-trained at a fairly early age and that teaches them to respect and respond to pressure. But while they're on a lead-line you are at the other end, and you can respond to any "freak-outs" on the part of the baby, something a post just cannot do.

There's a time and place for everything...

[tidy rabbit]

S,

All of the weenlings I've bought have been taught to tie before I got them at 4 / 6 months old. Are you saying this is wrong and there is no simple way to do it?

My colt leads, stands, fly sprays, picks up his feet, gets groomed with all sorts of brushes.

I'm just wondering at what point specifically do people teach them to tie? And how do you do it?

I have read that a lot of people wait until they are 2 or 3 because of a possible neck injury from freaking out about being tied.

If you need to trailer them someplace do you not tie them in the trailer either?



Feel free to PM me if this is some sort of taboo topic.

[TwoMares]

teaching a horse to tie

I have had multiple experiences with tying babies so here is what I did for one in particular.

Baby #1 - Got him at 6mo old, no real human interaction prior to that. He was very timid and took longer to halter train then expected. I first spent time standing with him in hand and if he was to walk away I would give pressure and encourage him to come back. I first gave a gentle tug on the led rope and then used my body to position him back to where we were standing. This started him to understand that we was attached to something and set the foundation of giving to pressure. Once we had that down and he was leading well and moving with the rope I moved on. (DISCLAIMER - if you don't feel comfortable doing this alone get someone to help you, accidents can happen) I put him in a round pen and led him around, stopping a lot and re-establishing the giving to pressure idea. I tied his lead rope to his halter with a piece of ribbon, the kind you use to wrap presents. The thought was that it would break really easily if pulled hard enough. I then let him go in the round pen with the rope on the ground. I walked with him and he followed me, stay close enough to help him if needed but be cautious to stay out of the way so you don't get hurt. If you need to, let your horse run and get the kicks out before doing this, you don't want him to be in a hot mood when practicing this. So..He would walk and eventually step on the lead rope and that would pull on his head. The first couple of times he fought it for a moment and then moved his leg and the pressure released, one time the ribbon broke and I started over. After doing this a few days he figured out that when he "hit" the end of the rope he could not get away and he would just stop. I continued this for about 3 weeks every other day in 5 minute sessions. Eventually he figured out that it was his foot on the rope and would move it himself - at that point i figured our lesson was over!

Baby #2 - she was handled since birth and halter broke at 2 days, totally got the give to pressure thing, very calm and had a good attention span. I moved to the round pen exercise when she was 6 months old and she picked it up in a few days. Had her tying well by 7 months.

After they are consistent on not pulling back when stepping on their rope I then move to a tie pole. I do not cross tie babies! Start with just the rope looped over the pole and I stand there with them. Eventually they try and move away, instead of them actually being tied I hold on to the rope. I keep enough slack in the rope so they can move their head but if they start to walk it will get tight (because my hand is on it) I spend a few weeks with this before I actually tie with a slip knot. The first time with a knot i keep it short to keep things positive. If you have the feeling that your baby will react badly you can always go back to the ribbon tie so it breaks if pulled hard enough. I would rather see a loose baby then a baby with a broken neck because they couldn't get free. I recommend a leather halter or one with the leather head stall, they usually break before injury happens.

I am not a big western person and I don't know how much i buy into the natural horsemanship thing (good ideas tend to get sold out), but I will use what works and that is fair and non abusive to horses. I found the John Lyons book "Bringing up Baby" had 'some' good ideas and was worth reading. That is where I found the round pen trick. I have even used it on a older horse that was known for pulling back, it helped a lot.

Whatever you do keep it slow and do a lot of work in hand before attempting to tie them.
good luck. I am curious to read other techniques people have used.

[ise@ssl]

We put halters on - Day 1 and we usually have them out of the stall by Day 2 - and use a leadline attached to the halter and around the butt. The are lead back in. We NEVER allow them to just "follow Mommy".

As far as teaching them to tie - we NEVER tie youngsters. Sorry - I have too much into these foals and won't risk a neck injury. Often some neck injuries don't show up until they are put into work. I've heard all the stories about how people have done this with no problems but statistically it does go wrong and I don't want to be in that group.

When we teach them to cross tie - we use one cross tie at a time and the leadline is the "other" cross tie on the side we are grooming. Then we switch to do the other side. We have control but they still learn to accept the restriction.

When we ship youngsters we set the trailer up with box stalls. We only ship them in straight stalls when they have started groundwork with a bridle and lunging and understand voice commands and pressure on their face to stop.

[EventerAJ]

Agree w/ ise@ssl, especially with teaching to cross-tie.

Our babies are also led in and out from day 3; by the time they are a month old, they have down the "I go where my head goes" idea. By the time they are weaned, leading is ingrained. By this time, they also stand very well for grooming and picking feet. Often, we will loop the leadrope around a stall bar, still holding the end, while grooming and handling. This is a very easy way to teach them the concept of "my head is restrained by an inanimate object and I'm not supposed to move." But you can always give slack or let go of the rope if a freakout occurs.

By the time they are yearlings, they will stand tied to the wall (always supervised). Sometimes we'll mix in moments of cross-tying. By the time they are two, tying is a sure-thing.

There's never been an occasion of: Today, boys and girls, We Are Learning to Tie! It's just a matter of gradual learning, as necessary and as happens in normal day-to-day life.

[springer]

blocker tie ring

Just today I purchased one of these. They're amazing. At my vet's clinic he has them on the wall to use for ties. The lead rope slips thru the tie, and if the horse pulls back it lets the rope out just a bit so they don't meet complete resistance like when they are tied. I am planning on teaching my 2 yr old to tie with this. It seems like a good method to try in any case! They have them in the Dover catalogue but I picked one up locally at a feed store. I wonder if anyone here has tried them in teaching a horse to tie?

[Donella]

Our foals learn to lead at about two weeks old, everyday going out of the stables to the pasture and then back in again. Once they learn to lead and to come off the of the pressure vs fight it, you have a solid basis.

That being said, we never actually tie them until later (late weanling/yearling). We spend alot of time practicing by putting the leadrope through the bar in the stall and holding the other end inside the stall while we groom/feed them with the other hand. They very much respect the pressure at this point and even if there is a fight, we can moderate the amount of give through the bar and or encourage them from behind. Once they have totally accepted this scenario, we can then confidently tie them. We have been doing this for ten years now and have never had an issue. Of course, until they are mature horses, I would never just leave a youngster tied unsupervised or for long periods of time.

I have, on the other hand, gotten young horses 2-4 yrs old who have never learned to tie and wow, that is something else. One we had to send away to be trained to tie because he was 2, 17 hh , extremely sensitive and we simply did not have the setup or wherewithall to teach him this. Just way too dangerous and traumatic for the horse at this age.

I also read that Klaus Balkenhal teaches his babies to tie at a few weeks of age (not sure how though).

[clint]

I have known of a couple of foals with neck injuries from owners teaching them to tie, and one who broke his neck. I don't tie foals; they are halter-trained from the time they are born, and tying has never been an issue when the time is right, as a yearling or two y.o., to begin tying.

[EventerAJ]

I love Blocker rings for difficult horses. I don't necessarily start all horses with them, but I turn to them quickly before a horse learns he can break free consistently. Make sure you use a long lead rope (at least 10').

When I have to leave a youngster tied unattended, this is the BEST device ever!! We have to tie our herd of geldings at feeding time, and the 2 y/o.s use the Blocker rings. They pull back a time or two, but can't get loose to eat anyone else's food. They quickly learn to stand patiently, and I can safely leave them tied for an hour or more when necessary (the Old Man can take a loooooonnnggg time to finish his senior mash!) They've become rock-solid tyers (tie-ers?), have great patience and respect thanks to the Blocker tie ring.

[clint]

I also read that Klaus Balkenhal teaches his babies to tie at a few weeks of age (not sure how though).

A long time ago I took a mare to be bred, and the stallion owner taught babies to tie by running a big, soft cotton rope around their belly behind the forelegs, with the end running up through a halter and then tied to a ring in the stall. I suppose if one wanted to tie a foal, that way you could avoid neck injuries, although knowing foals, securing one to anything comes with risks.

[Dressage_Diva333]

I don't teach my foals to lead until they are weaned. They will wear halters, pick up feet, etc.. in the pasture. When weaning comes around though, it's time to grow up. I try to work with them everyday, teaching them to lead, get in the trailer, bathe, etc... tieing is the last thing they learn, and ONLY when they are very good at leading.

Then I will slip the lead rope through the ring on the post, and just stand ther and hold it. Takes a couple weeks, but it works. Then, when they are good with that, I will take a hay string, and pull it apart (to make it much thinner, and very easy to break should the weanling freak out). I put that on the halter, clip the lead rope to that, and use another loop of picked apart hay string on the ring on the post, then tie the rope to that. It seems to work very well. Under no circumstances do I leave my young horses unsupervised while tied though. I also always have a knife or scissors nearby so that I can cut the rope should need be.

[JoZ]

I just do a natural progression, always careful!

For a wee baby, just holding the end of a lead rope is like tying! Think about it, baby wants to go from X to Y and something is telling him he cannot. I follow along with the foal but I don't release the pressure. I've learned to keep it light but "insistent".

When I am teaching the foal to lead, I will stop and talk to someone, or just stop and take a drink of water. Invariably the foal starts to wander off and hits the lead line. Note I didn't say "the END of the lead line" -- I don't want him that far away when the reckoning comes! I might stand a bit firmer than I do for the wee things, but it's still a fairly soft hold and I will follow them but not give in.

Next stage is looping the lead around a post while I am petting, grooming or otherwise working with the foal. By this I mean just passing it around the post and to my hand on the other side -- no wrapping! I can release if I have to, but I can also just give a bit of slack without giving in entirely. By this point they generally don't protest or pull back. I add one wrap around the post, then two. That can be moved by a real pullback but stays pretty stable for a gentle tug.

By the time they are actually tied, it's a non-issue.

[Home Again Farm]

Removed because I refuse to be misinterpreted. My youngsters are taught to lead from day one. From there, what they learn is done carefully, slowly, safely and in small progressive steps.

[mtpony]

I guess I am the only one that teaches babies to tie... I use a bicycle inner tube cut in half, it has more than enough give that the babes (about a week or so) really can wander around the stall, with me with a newer mom so she doesn't have a stroke about the inner tube around her, it is just easier for them to give to it. When they are comfortable with that slight amount of pressure, I double it. It still has quite a bit of give, but is a bit less forgiving, and it is so much easier for the foal to just give in to it. They then are pretty good to lead, too, as they learned to give to something attached to their faces. Never had one get hurt, and if they are prone to severe temper tantrums, they can still throw themselves down on the ground the first few times, and still not get hurt....

[Parker_Rider]

I didn't necessarily teach my baby to tie, she just kind of took to it I tentatively tried "tying" her by looping the leadrope to the pole (kind of like a quick release knot without the knot). She didn't even move. I held the leadrope at the pole and showed her that she had limits. She handled it very well and when she moved to the end of the line, she just stopped and moved forward again. So apparently I have a yearling that ties She's been handled since birth - I fed her her first meal - and we had to help her stand and walk for the first few days, so she definitely respects for the most part what we ask her to do.
When I taught her to cross tie, I had her in breakaway ties, holding the leadrope. Showed her she had boundaries by holding the crossties to her halter - not snapping them yet- and led her forward, back, side and side until she hit the end. When she was actually on the ties, she didn't freak out when she hit the end, but just backed up the opposite way until she was comfortable again.
She's such a good girl, so I don't know what I'd do with a baby who was a handful

[YankeeLawyer]

We teach our babies to lead and to respond to voice commands. I do not tie babies, ever, for the aforementioned reasons. I am curious, though, why people would need to tie a baby? We teach ours to stand quietly for the vet and farrier and to be groomed, to pick up their feet, to load, etc. I have never had any issue teaching an older youngster (e.g., 2 or 3 years old) to tie when brought up this way.

In addition, I think it is possible to overdo it with babies and turn them into royal brats. Ours are handled daily and taught the basics, but are allowed to be horses and grow up at an appropriate pace. Frankly, with the really young ones, a good mom and pasturemates tend to be better teachers. My mares are very no-nonsense and their babies are very respectful as a result.

[tidy rabbit]

I guess there are as many different ways to approach this as there are posters on COTH.

Interesting.

[Jaegermonster]

TR, I taught my baby to tie when she was only a few days old. I was boarding at the time and didn't want some barn worker to try to tie the baby for whatever reason and have a wreck.
Plus I also thought that it would be better to get it out of the way before she got big enough to break stuff.
she's 6 now and to this day has not ever pulled back and broken anything. She has stepped back now and then but as soon as she feels the pressure she stops and steps forward. I've sent her out here and there and am always complimented at what a good job I did teaching her to tie.
teaching them thoroughly to step forward when they feel the pressure is the first step to properly teaching them to tie.

[Equilibrium]

I don't teach babies to tie early on either. They can do many other things, but won't chance the neck with tying. But as yearlings and 2yo's, I do start the process and sometimes later depending on what's happening.

I start in the stall while rubbing over. I have pull rope through tie ring and I hold the other end while giving a brush. You can use the pressure to teach them the elements of tying before actually tying. Then I gradually work into tying with a slip not, and then we tie outside the stall for brushing sessions. My 3yo filly use to be the worst for a freak out if she stepped on the rope so I thought she'd be a disaster to tie, but the opposite happened. Now she steps on a leadrope and stops like, oh I'm tied. The very first time I decided to leave her tied outside the stable while I went to the tackroom to get something, one of the tractors went by and just at that moment something fell off and started dragging on the concrete. OMG, I raced out to see her now looking at said freaky noise, but being quite cool and calm. Had she been in her stall, she would have been bucking and rearing up!

Terri