No More Pulling Back

At the root of the problem, a horse that pulls back is a horse that doesn't give to pressure and isn't content to stand still. Teaching a horse to give to pressure is the easy part, and many horses that pull back can be retaught to tie by going back to groundwork and getting the horse softer. Once they are tied again, they will know how to step forward off that pressure. A horse that doesn't want to stand can be a little more difficult as there are multiple causes, a horse may be buddy sour and want to return to the herd, a horse may be spooky and try to flee, etc. Lets talk about giving to pressure first as it is the most easily addressed problem. Start with your horse a few feet away from you on a halter and lead and apply gentle pressure to the halter to ask the horse to step forward. Most horses are fairly decently halter broke and will step forward. However, if you start with more pressure, some horses will take exception to this and resist. It's important that the horse respond to firmer, more abrupt pressure as well because that is the type of pressure they put on themselves if they do pull back. If your horse resists, the easiest correction is to simply keep pressure on your hose but move to the side of your horse. The farther around you get, the more of a bend you will put in the horses head and neck. This makes the easiest thing for your horse to do is to take a step to the side ( towards you) to rebalance themselves, and in the process, give to pressure. If your horse lunges well, you can also use a flag, training stick etc to send your horse forward on a circle, therefore putting slack in your lead.

Standing still is the other half of the equation. If your horse is buddy sour, they may not pull back, but you can expect moving around, pawing and the horse hollering for their buddy. I highly recommend that you start to get a handle on a horse being buddy sour BEFORE you ask them to stand tied. Tying a horse beforehand just sets them up for failure. Another common reason a horse doesn't stand stand tied and pulls back is if they spook. Correct desensitization goes a long way in ensuring you horse either doesn't spook, or has the coping skills to calm down quickly and give to pressure if they hit the end of their lead rope. Once a horse is fairly well prepared, there are two things I use to keep my horse and I safe during this process. The first is a blocker tie ring. A tie ring works by letting a horse use their flight response. It should be used with a long lead, I use a 23 foot line. When a horse panics and hits the end of the lead rope when tied traditionally, they panic more because they are stuck. On a tie ring, the rope will slide through while keeping pressure on the horse until they stop pulling. You then pull the slack back up. Once a horse realizes they can move, they begin to pull back for less and less of a distance until they no longer do. There are multiple settings so as your horse progresses, you can increase friction until you horse can tie normally.

The second thing I use is a ring rope. I take a long line with a O ring on one end and thread it through itself at the horses girth. I then go up through the front legs, through the loop for a lead on a rope halter and then tie the horse. I prefer to tie the hose to a bungee as that will have an amount of give as well. Some horses have learned to pull through a tie ring in order to get away, this filly is one. A ring rope works by tightening around a horses girth when a horse moves back and it will also apply forward pressure at the elbows, encouraging a step forward. The ring rope will stay snug until the horse takes a step forward. If you have a horse that sets back bad, tie a knot in your rope to limit the tightening. A ring rope takes the pressure off of the head, so the horse can't damage their poll or neck.

So where a tie ring is great for a horse that gets claustrophobic and spooks, a ring rope is great for a horse that has learned to set back in order to get out of being tied. These tools, combined with proper preparation will make for a great tying experience for your horse.