Horse pulls back while being tied?

Question

I just started riding a new horse, he's a perfect angel except for when being tied. When he's tied he pulls back. You can't even tie him without it happening, you just slip the leadrope through the ring.

He almost broke a post by pulling back, how can I correct this behavior?

His halter is fitted correctly btw.

Answer 1

if you have the ring im thinking of then you just put the rope around this little belt buckle like thing and the horse is free to move back but in your case is moving all the wayback and out. so i would tie a knot on the end of the rope. is something soppking the horse. do you leave him when you tie him up even for just a second to go get a brush to clean him with?  if so i would put the brushes closer to you for one thing but then practice walking up and retreating. keep tying the rope back up until he calms down do this until he can stand about 1 minute all by him self with out you. praise his behaviour. when he backs and tries to escape a light smack and a firm no repeatibly would do you some good. tie him up for everything. don't tie him up like you normally do. like don't tie him up to go on a ride ( if thats your normal ruteen that you do )  tie him up when your with him tie him up while you are pouring feed for him. ties him up while gathers brushes. tie him p while cleaning a stall. soon he will get the picture. good luck!

Answer 2

get a trainer or someone that takes care of the horse and ask them for help or to train the horse better if this doesn't answer your question email me @ [e-mail]

Answer 3

Two ways.

1.  Get a 25 foot or longer lead and wrap it around a solidly built and anchored pipe gate so that it can be pulled if tugged hard.  wrap it up short so that your horse can pull back but is rewarded with slack when it stops pulling.  A few sessions like this usually helps.

2.  Cross tie or tie the horse up solidly with a heavy duty halter and heavy duty ropes and leave the horse tied up until it spends at least a continuous half an hour calmly standing without fighting.  This way works for the REALLY stubborn ones.  I had a horse that went through $75 worth of lead ropes and halters before I finally got tired enough to do this to her.  She never pulled like that again.  After that I could tie her up with the reins and she never tried to pull away.

Reread,  What ring.  Are you talking about the one that teaches them not to pull away.  Same principle as the gate.  Use a longer lead.  

If it is just a tie ring then TIE the horse to it.

Answer 4

He proberly had a bad experience before. He may have gotten scared or spooked while being tied. Anyway he is either scared or just being stupid, if he is scared you may want to try a stall or ground tying, or just work through it slowly by just standing with him and holding the rope up to the post, give him treats. If he is just being dumb then just tie him to the strongest thing and let him work it out on his own.

Answer 5

Put him into the right gear.  Use a nylon rope halter attached with a loop to a nylon rope lead, at least 8 feet long (I prefer longer).  You can correct this by playing tug of war with him in this rig...there are no metal parts and the pressure he will cause to be exerted on his poll when he pulls back will compensate for his strength and he will give in...it's physics.

My experience is, you can't do this with any other rig.  Nylon or leather halters, anything with metal parts, can break, and don't put enough pressure on the poll.

Chains are unnecessary and can cause panic or damage to the horse.  It is expensive to purchase this rig, but it lasts forever (well..long), and is worth every penny.

Answer 6

well my experience is this.....don't try to fix it, if it's one big hitching rail, because he will pull back and break the hitching rail and drag it 200 metres  with three other horses connected to it...there by causing quite a spectacle and your popularity will dwindle before falling into nothingness, even though it wasn't completely your idea...

Answer 7

Not panicking - just pulling ?

What does he do once he's pulled loose ?

Reason I'm asking is that we had this issue with my horse - he came from a riding school and had always been saddled in the stable then brought out - never tied, so anytime we tied him he would just turn around to see what was going on or whatever and he broke headcollar, ropes and tie rings - he always pulls just enough until he's loose and then he stops.

Someone suggested fixing a broom behind him so when he went back he'd put his butt on the broom and shoot forward again - I didn't do that, don't see the sense in frightening him over something that he just didn't understand.

What we do is we tie him but don't leave him, as long as he's occupied he won't pull back - it's only if he's left there so we try to only leave him for very short times - gradually stretching it out. Not broke anything for a while now, I do think he's getting the idea.

Answer 8

if nothing works, you might have to buy a rope training halter for him. they make them with small knots in specific pressure point, so when he pulls back, the knots apply pressure to the correct spots, and he will stop. this will alsoo help if he is a jerk when you are leading him in hand.

Answer 9

"you just slip the leadrope through the ring."

What happens when you do this?  Does he stand?

Do you leave enough slack so he dosen't feel himself being tied?  

Have you tried cross ties?

Is this a habit with everyone?  When you tack or untack do you do it calmly without spooking him?  Is he head shy?

Just a few things to think about.

Answer 10

I have had to deal with a few pullers too.  This is what I did.  always tie the puller high, the higher he is tied the less leverage he can get.  Never use cross ties on a puller...to easy for him to get away, something is bound to break.

One other thing that works for a puller...string a high line...well above the horses ears...you can have a tie ring in the middle of the high line or not...it matters not.  The thing that works  with the high line is the give.  You do not need two halters or two ropes, with this technique  simply tie the horse to the tie line and let him try to get loose or break something...he will give up in few minutes...oh he may pout for a while, but he can't get away.

Answer 11

There are two types of "pull backs".  Those that are just being brats and can be handled by putting some sort of warbridle on (like a be nice halter) and those that mean serious business and will NOT be tired.  

I've owned BOTH.  I had a AQHA mare in the early 70's who would NOT stop pulling back.  So much so that we even tried a belly band and she flipped herself down on the ground, we covered her head, sat on her, made noise so that she thought she was dead and then let her back up.  Within 2 minutes she did it AGAIN!  That's the type of horse you either sell or learn to live with the quirk.

Then there's the youngster who's figured out as soon as it pulls back, you back off.  That's the one a war bridle works on and once they feel it on their pressure points, backs off and stands there quietly.

You may try tying your horse higher than hitching post level and see if he will stand there quietly.  I had a gelding that would stand there all day, until you went to cinch up a saddle  (Somebody had cinched him WAY TOO TIGHT at one point in his life.) and then he'd pull back and mean business.  We tried tying him up high and he's been GREAT (He's in his mid 20's now.).

Answer 12

Put two halters on him to begin with....have someone hold him.  Now, put an inner tube around a post or tied to something very, very sturdy...tie both lead ropes through the inner tube securely.  Have your helper lead your horse up...bridle off, saddle off...quickly snap a lead rope to each halter and walk away...stand out of the way and watch just to make sure your horse doesn't hurt himself...the inner tube will give and avoid hurting his neck...and he isn't going to break two halters ties to two different leadropes...let him learn, then let him think about it for a while...repeat this on a daily basis, it will break him of the habit without hurting him...sometimes, some horses just will not be tied, if that is the case, either teach them to ground tie and saddle them or have a helper on hand.  Tie the lead ropes short enough so that he doesn't get a lot of leverage when he pulls back, just long enough that when he is standing like a gentleman, he is comfortable.

EDIT*****Giving treats for pulling back is ridiculous!  Horses shouldn't get treats unless or until they do something right.  Horses are not people, they are horses...they don't think like people, they think like horses.  One more thing, I guarantee you that you do not want to be standing closely by with "treats" and a kind voice when a horse decides to pull back...ridiculous!