[wyldterv]

Ok, First off, this is about Lexi.. Poncho's no where NEAR ready to be tied up yet, LOL... Lex on the other hand is fully broke to stand tied, has been tied for more then 5 mins at a time through out her life according to her old owner/breeder.

I did not start tying her much when I got her, as I wanted full control of her head while I brushed her, saddled her ect since she was a known kicker.

Yesterday I had Roger set up a tie bolt for me that the horses can't break or pull out and I tied Lexi up and made her stand still while I brushed and saddled her. This she did, albeit reluctantly, and because she was wanting to be so antsy, I made her stand tied with saddle on until she settled in.

She never tried to pull back on the halter, obvioulsy knows that won't work, but she danced, pawed, kicked, bucked, tossed her head, tried to crib off the fence and worked herself into a huge wet ball of sweaty nervous energy. I did NOT untie her until she could stand still on her own for 5 mins, then I untied her, worked her on the ground, rode her, tied her back up, loosened but not removed saddle and made her stand quietly for another 5 mins, then untacked her, hosed her down, made her stand still some more and turned her out to pasture.

What I'm thinking she needs is 2-6 hours of standing tied up until she can learn to just stand queitly, not pawing, now bucking, etc... BUT because she cribs even with the cribbing collar if she's near wood, I'm thinking I need to tie her off the trailer which is all steel?

I'm open to all ideas and thoughts. She really needs to learn some self control, that's obvious and I think she needs to stand tacked up for periods of time as well as untacked both...

I'm just lucky, once I've trained my horses to stand tied, they've always done it quietly and patient! Lexi, of course, always has to provide me with new challenges, lol.

[Shotgun93]

You are on the right track. Make her stand, and don't give her relief until she stands nicely, then move her. Then put her back, just like you are doing. Eventually, she will probably figure out that the sooner she stands still, the sooner she gets to not be tied anymore, after a while, she won't mind being tied at all. Sometimes, we'll put a horse in a stalll tied. For some reason, maybe b/c they feel safer in a stall, they will usually calm down long enough to realize that they aren't in any danger by being tied. Although, we have one horse that could probably paw his way to China if he was left there long enough, and we have tried every trick in book.

[Sev]

First of all, I think you're going about this the right way. You did NOT untie her when she was antsy and pawing, which is good. Otherwise, she'll learn that kicking and pawing will get her untied.

I think the key here is to teach her patience. I would start with tying her for 5 minutes a day (5 minutes of standing still and being calm) for a week. If she learns how to do this, then I would up it to 10 minutes, again for a week. So, you get my point. Week by week, gradually increase the amount of time you have her tied, until she can stand for hours without a bother. Tie her to something extremely sturdy and durable...a trailer seems like a good option (and also gets her used to it for the long trips).

[wyldterv]

The trailer is a 6 horse and well blocked so she's not to likely to pull off of the tie ring there and she'd be hard pressed to crib off the trailer.

My Tie post is an 8" x 8" burried 5 feet into the ground and is 6' tall, with a solid stainless steel 2" diameter eye bold drilled all the way through the 8" post and washer and bolted on, so again she'd be hard pressed to bust it or pull it off but she can crib off the wooden rail :-(...

She's out standing at the trailer as I type this, she has just enough length to put her nose to the ground but can't get her leg over the tie out (which of course is on quick release connectors). I can watch her out my window from my computer desk. She has jet to stand still for more then 35 seconds and has been out there for about 15 mins... sigh...

I'll just treat her like I do crate training the dogs... No release until 5 mins of peace. 5 mins of peace 3 times in a row successfully then we up the ante to 10 mins of peace, do that successfully 3 different times and we bump up to 20 mins, doubling each time they must be calm and quiet.

She's actually funny when she stands and bucks, it is pure frustration on her face, she KNOWS not to pull back on her rope halter, KNOWS that won't work, so she bucks for about 30 seconds then stands there and stares at her butt, like "what were you doing back there" It is funny to watch but NOT a funny habit at all and she could hurt someone if were were not at home...

I'm thinking that as soon as she can stand for an hour quietly with the lead at it's current length (just long enough for her nose to reach the ground) I'll shorten it up so that she can't drop her head all the way down and has less wiggle room as I think it's important they be able to stand calmly tied fairly short as well. Thoughts or ideas of course are most welcome :-)

[Sev]

How old is she? If she is a young horse, then she clearly needs to get used to the whole idea, so just give her time.

The bucking comes from her testing her grounds. She's trying out what's acceptable and what isn't. You've got the right idea though, it's very similar to crate training. I'm actually going through that process now with my dog.

[wyldterv]

She's almost 6 and HAS been through this process several times, she's just basically been allowed to behave in any manner she wished to in the past. She has very strong opinions on how her world should rotate, primarily around HER needs, wants and wishes (her nick name is the Pasture Princess as that is what She'd LIKE to be, LOL). I've been rehabbing her and have made incredible inroads in the past 2 months.

She is FINALLY not kicking at me every time I brush her, touch her etc, so she's to the point where I will tie her up while doing things with her (I never tie up a horse that has space, touch or kicking issues, you need to be able to control that head fully to keep you and the horse safe!). According to her old owners (who bred her as well) she used to have to stand tied up for up to 3 hours at a times when in training, so it's not a brand new concept to her. Her # 1 problem is she's SMART and not terribly patient! A bit like myself I'm afraid, ROTFL... She's actually about to earn herself some free time as she's going on 3 mins of no pacing, pawing or weaving side to side... Just trying to chew on her tie out now... Guess I'll need to put the chain up instead... sigh... always something with this girl... She doesn't keep me on my toes as much as my mustang, but ALMOST! LOL

[MissBandit]

Personally, I wouldn't leave her stand tied for so long right now. I reaaaly skimmed over a lot of the posts so maybe I totally got this wrong. You want to leave her tied for an hour? Myself, I would do shorter stretches of time more frequently and work up to longer periods. I think she'll feel a lot less aggravation and will be rewarded a lot quicker, which just feels more positive to her.

[Sev]

Originally Posted by MissBandit

Personally, I reaaaly skimmed over a lot of the posts so maybe I totally got this wrong. You want to leave her tied for an hour? Myself, I would do shorter stretches of time more frequently and work up to longer periods.

That's exactly what was being discussed. You read that wrong...sorry for the long posts.

[MissBandit]

Sorry Sev, I didn't realise I was repeating what you had already said.

[Sev]

lol no problem, I'm just glad I'm giving sound advice.