This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bonnie wrote: > ...does anyone know how you ground-tie?...
Never taught my horses to ground tie, although I have been teaching them all to stand hobbled. There is a good article on hobbling in the May 2001 issue of Western Horseman ( http://www.westernhorseman.com ). The author teaches a horse to accept hobbles and stand quietly while the handler is nearby holding a lead rope. After the hobbling lesson is well learned, the author then begins to teach the idea that the horse should stand still while hobbled after the human drops the lead rope and moves a little distance away. The lesson is reinforced by moving further and further away as the horse learns what is expected. I suppose the ground-tying lesson is then taught without the hobbles. The author cautions that if you want a horse to stay exactly in one place, don't expect a ground tie or hobbles to be a sure-fire way to do that. Tie them instead. I have heard that ground tying must be reinforced frequently. It's not a skill that can be taught once, then forgotten -- if you don't use it, you'll lose it. The horse does not naturally stand for long periods without moving or grazing. If you want that, you have to keep working with the horse to keep the ground-tying skill fresh. DeeAnna
