Jumpy horse

I have lots of question. We need more info before we can help. 

Is she tied to something? How long has she been tying? How is she tied?
When she pulls back does she keep pulling until she is free (halter or lead line brakes?) Or does she stop when she feels resistance?
Are you doing the same thing to her every time she pulls back?
How old is she?
How much training has she had? Who is training her? And how much training has the person who is training her had? Does this person deal with problems with horses and horse training often?
Is she saddled or being saddled? If not has she been saddled before?
How is her eating habits?

In truth it could be so many things. We need more info. Also if your trainer isn't able to help you to solve this problem I would suggest finding someone else. Pulling back can be very very dangerous. You need to get this under control as soon as possible. Or you, her or someone else is likely to get hurt.

It is not likely something in your environment. It is more likely to be a training or health thing. If your trainer can't figure it out. I would suggest that you have your horse seen by a vet. It could be an ulcers. And the only way to confirm this is to have your horse scoped. 

Good luck and be safe. When we have more info we can try giving more to you.

I personally perfer to not tie my horse, I find that if a horse is young, unconfident, or a little spooky, that they do better when not tied because they don't feel "trapped". My horse ground ties decently well, so I don't worry about him doing anything too bad, but with a green horse, or when I was first teaching my horse how to ground tie, I'd use my 12 foot lead rope and just put the end over my arm...so I can gently remind him to please stay where he is without having to worry about him jsut randomly walking off.
Another good thing is the Aussie ties: http://www.downunderhorsemanship.com/products2.cfm/id/10/name/Aussie%20Tie%20Ring
If I have to tie my horse or at least keep him somewhat confined, I always use these. These are strong enough so if they pull they won't let the horse go, but if the horse totally panics the lead rope can slip through so the horse won't get hurt. This is a good option if tying is a must for you.

 Also, where are you tying her? Pull out your detective hat and look at things in her point of view. Is this a place where she is already nervous in? Is she away from her comfort zone? All of these can help solve the problem

I guess I left out a lot of  relevant information.  She's about 8 yrs old and she was abandoned but I know the previous owner used to ride her in an arena although I've heard he was pretty rough on her.  I've only had her a few weeks, and thought I would try teaching her a few ground lessons, such as backing,  yielding the hindquarters, lunging, flexing.  She's calm enough when I work with her and seems more than willing to learn.  I tie her to a regular rail by my tack room, where there really aren't a lot of distractions.  She's not at all head shy, and except for letting me pick up her back feet she doesn't mind me touching her all over.  She will now let me touch her back legs all the way down to her hooves but still won't pick them up.  I was confident I could eventually get her to do this, but with this pulling back problem I'm not too sure I want to get that close.   She's done this 3 times but hasn't broke either the halter or lead rope which are pretty strong apparently.  She isn't being saddled and actually I haven't even been near her when she's done this.  One minute she's standing there calmly (I think) and the next she's pulling back like crazy.  The last time, she got her feet up on the rail before she settled down.  that's what scared me, because I know she can really hurt herself.  I really didn't know what to do in the way of correcting.  When she calmed down again, I took her out to the arena and went on with the lessons we'd been practicing.  I walked her around the entire stable, which is pretty large, trying to expose her to different things.  She was just fine.  I was there by her, and like I said, saw and heard absolutely nothing to explain the behavior.  I can understand her feeling trapped if she gets startled and wants to back up and can't, so maybe I'll try learning to ground tie.     I hope this helps explain the situation and that someone will have some suggestions.

I'd say if it really is a fear thing like you said, the gentler your correct her the better. Gently tell her it's alright then politely remind her to stay where she is. With some horses it's harder for them to hold still, where others they could do it for hours, but ask them to move and they refuse.

What I did for a while with my horse (during the bad weather when I could only groom him), I'd put him in a stall, give him some hay, and groom him that way. He had his freedom to move around if he wanted to, but he had a reason to stay in one place...the hay.

When it got nicer weather and I was able to ride and groom outside, I'd put the lead rope down on the ground while I was grooming, but if he moved without me asking him to, I'd gently bring him back to where he was standing originally, and then give him a pet for being there. After a while the idea clicked "ooh ok, so when my lead rope is dropped and your not asking me to do anything I'm supposed to stay here".

Get a tie-ring blocker and learn how to use it. 
 
http://blockerranch.chainreactionweb.com/index.php?cPath=24
 
Its the same thing as the aussie tie ring - C. Anderson just endorses this guys product.  I just sold mine, but if you use them as a training tool, its the perfect thing for a horse like this.  They freak and pull back because their instincts are setting in and they feel trapped.  This will create resistance, but prevent the trapped feeling.  CA has a great video on how to use this properly as well to desensitize while the horse is standing there so they learn to stand still even through scary things.
 
Also, you should focus a lot of time on desensitizing this horse to different things.  Plastic bags, ropes, tarps, jugs with chang in them rattling, pool noodles, etc.  Anything that moves and/or makes noise is a desensitizing item.  The goal of desensitizing is to teach the horse to stand still and look to you for its next cue if there is something scary.  The better the horse is desensitized, the better the horse will be tied up & on the trails.

There are several ways to work with this and it all depends on her.  You need to evaluate her mind set and read her body language.  She will tell you what is causing her to pull back.  Invest in a Blocker Tie Ring and place it somewhere in the arena where she can't hurt herself or anyone else.es
 
When I say evaluate her mind set this is what I mean.  These were two different types of horses.  Granted there are many others out there but thse are the two most common.
 
I had a gelding in for training that would pull back as soon as I left him in the arena alone, ie to get saddle, brushes anything.  I would come back to find him on the other side standing next to the gate waiting for me.  I worked with it for a couple days but each time he realized he could, he no longer waited for me to leave before pulling back.  We use the Blocker Tie ring inside a 70 by 60 arena and a 14 ft lead rope.  With him I waited with the flag until he pulled back and was completely free.  As soon as he was free I began moving him around the arena, making him really hussle.  After about 5 laps around the arena I tied him back up and really rubbed all over him.  Stood back and waited.  The second time was the last time.  I made him do about 10 laps around the arena and took him back really rubbing all over him at the tie.  He realized it was easier to just stand there. 
 
With another mare it was just fear and it didn't matter if I was there or not she would have rather come over the top of me than stand there.  It was anything from the birds in the rafters to the wind.  She was standing there with her head down and boom she would run backwards.  With that type of horse I would work her BEFORE tieing her.  I would get that nervous energy out by lounging her on-line and off, changing directions offten, backing up and yielding her shoulders.  After her lesson was over I would tie her and really rub all over her, making the tie a pleasureable place. It also ment a place to rest After 3 days of this I could tie her before her lesson and she would move around a bit but not pull back.  After a week she stood there leg cocked and would only flinch if something spooked her.  Mind you that I worked on desensitizing her to plastic bags, flag, empty milk jugs anything I could find that moved and made noise.  That alone helped greatly.
 
There are so many ways to work with this.  Find what you are comfortable with and go from there.  The main thing to remember is to stay calm when she pulls back and just stand away from her.  If you panic it will only make it worse.  Stay safe and good luck.
 
 

Great answers guys. 

Good luck with this. It can take time. If you get frustrated or don't understand. As a more experience rider that you trust to watch you do these techniques and ask what you are doing wrong. Good luck!

Thanks so much to everyone for the suggestions.  I've already ordered the tie ring because that sounds like the perfect answer to the problem.  And I've been desensitizing with my rope, stick and string but haven't introduced new scary objects yet.  That will now become a priority along with the other groundwork.

Just a note to let you know that I think I've found the reason she's been pulling back.  I was getting something out of my tack room (which is basically a locker) and a squirrel ran out from underneath and practically ran over my foot.  I jumped a mile and since I've seen them before darting in and out from under the row of lockers, I believe that's what startled her.  I don't know how to get her used to this, but over time perhaps she won't react so strongly.  I feel so much better knowing there truly was a reason.  I'll also look for a better place to tie and groom her.

I had a two coming three year old stout Poco Bueno mare who pulled back and could get out of any halter made. One time she did it was when I left her tied to a hitching post and was bathing her for a show...I left her to go inside the tack room to get something, and when I came out she was loose, out of her halter, with a big chunk of skin off her lip (?). I saw her pull back once and she would just wait until you tied her and walked away, and literally just sit on her haunches until something gave. Oddly enough, she had a half sister years later who broke her femur doing that as a yearling or so.....
 
We broke her completely and irrevocably by using (again) a lariat. She wasn't scared of ropes because I started her with them, but her trainer showed me how to do it (and used it herself while she had her, after the lip incident). You take a fairly stiff lariat, put the loop over the head and have them put their front feet through, so the lariat is around the girth, with the free end coming up through the front legs and the honda on top, so when pressure stops, the lariat immediately loosens. Take the free end and pull it through the halter, tie it to a good post (with a good fence, you don't want a post a horse can move around. It needs to be part of a fence). When they pull back, they get pressure around their girth and they do NOT like it and will quit pulling pronto.
 
We tied her this way for about 6 months. She forgot she ever used to pull. I thought for sure she'd really act up when she hit it the first time, but she didn't. She was shocked, but in the way a kid is shocked when he gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She immediately quit pulling and never tightened a rope again.