wundahoss
Posted : 4/30/2010 5:04:34 AM
WTF?? I wrote you an indepth reply & seems it's lost in cyberspace! I hate computers! Anyway, short version....
Firstly, I agree the 'Tie Ring' is a great piece of kit, both for stress/panic free training and safety. I would never tie firm in a trailer for eg & always use the tie ring. It is not something 'devised' by CA tho(seems there's a lot CA's credited with mistakenly??), just something I think he discovered & put his name to. The original is the 'Blocker Tie Ring' & you can google it for more info & buy from their site. There's another gadget called 'The Clip' which works on similar principles, but you can adjust the tension too, of which you can't really do much with the Tie Ring.
linaew, I think you're right to avoid tying her firm, due to worry of injury - both to her & potentially anyone in her way when she explodes. But I wouldn't advise using the tactic of just tying firm & waiting for them to get over it with a baby either. While they don't have the strength to fight so hard, they also don't have the muscle development around their spine to protect their neck when they pull back hard either, and spinal/nervous damage can result. It has been theorised that that's how 'wobblers' come about, altho I haven't looked into that one to learn the truth or otherwise.
Great that you've established she understands at least a little of how to yield to the pressure of a rope & doesn't panic when she stands on it. But given that she is pretty new to you & sounds like a rather skittish personality too, I'd be doing everything slowly & easily for her.
I think it's also best to teach them to be tied *confidently* too, rather than just be forced into a 'dangerous' situation & chronic stress until they become resigned to it.
The way I would teach her to tie is basically incorporate it into your desensitising, using 'approach & retreat' tactics. If you have an appropriate rail, horizontal tree branch or such, great. Otherwise you can use a tie ring or some such to the same effect. Take your 22' rope and make a couple or more turns around the rail, to give a bit of resistance. Stand on the other side, holding the slack of the rope. Make the section of rope between her & rail pretty short.
If/when she gets nervous & backs up, allow it, in the same manner as you've been allowing her to drift, then just reel her back in again. Gradually increase the resistance, by taking another wrap around the rail as she gains confidence, until she's effectively tied 'firm'. - But there's enough yield so she's not trapped if she actually panics. Wait until she's confident to stand there without pulling, before you start introducing other 'scaries' & noises, doing the same, until she will confidently stand 'tied' in the face of all sorts. It will also help her gain more confidence in you & show her she can trust you, regardless of what's going on.
**Re leaving the property & tying in different settings, sounds like you know what you're on about, but in case you didn't realise, horses don't generalise very well, so it is prudent to teach her in this manner in a number of different environments in order for her to learn to generalise.
He KNOWS how to tie, and has tied for hours just fine at his last boarding arrangement, but has decided he would try the pulling back business, and no one was even near him, I think he may have been fretting over the other horses, but his owner is a beginner and has been letting him get away with it.
Might be the factor of lack of generalising - perhaps he *knew* how to tie in the last place but didn't generalise. Might be that he got a fright or was tied to something easily breakable & learned he didn't have to stay?? My no. 1 horse had learned to tie in many situations & been reliable for years before current paddock. When first arrived, he was in the paddock that others tied & tacked up in. Being over friendly he got in the way & they tied him - to baler's twine. Don't know what happened, but I guess he got a fright the first time & jerked back & was suddenly free. I was away & didn't learn all this until the habit was quite established - he would stand tied while happy to do so, then calmly pull back & walk away when he'd had enough! When I tied him firm, he panicked, as suddenly the 'quick release' no longer worked! Anyway, I just retaught him in the same manner as I did to begin with, as above. But I can't leave him unsupervised on the Tie Ring or 1-2 wraps around a rail any more - he calmly pulls loose as soon as he thinks I'm not watching! I use The Clip with a fair bit of tension, when I think it's unsafe to tie solid now.