Tying my pony? he rears, bucks, paws and kicks when tied up! he is just so impatient! HELP ME!!!?

Question

he is a dominant 13.3 gelding. he wont wait to be untied! he rears and kicks and bucks and stretches his front legs out untill his belly is in the ground! help whjat can i do? im afraid he is going to hurt himself! i have tried the slipknot, but he unties it.i have tried the binder twine theory, but he pulls on it and he snap then he runs off.he knows what to do to get off it. how can i teach him to be patient and wait?

Answer 1

ahh at last some1 that has a pony that does this just like mine! you should try tying him up really close to the fence and then it would be hard to hurt himself. sometimes you just have to leave him there until he stops which might be and hour but hey trust me it works.

Answer 2

"Jackie g" is right. The inner tube is the best way to go. You don't want to untie them or have them get untied because they will learn that if they throw a fit, they won't have to be tied anymore! The inner tube will work if they are away from anything they can hurt themselves on.

Answer 3

1st please dont get to close when hes having his tantrum you could get hurt. 2nd get a good strong halter and rope and a tire inner tube. have your parent attach the inner tube to a solid fixture like a good strong post then tie your rope to it , make sure it doesnt extend more than 2 ft.  and is up high enough in a rare he wont get  his feet in it.now clip your horse to the rope which is    attached to the inner tube. as he pulls it will give. as it stretches,and then let him have at it , and unless he's causing himself major harm leave him tied a couple of hours ea day .until he begins to settle down. he'll figure out its less work to stand still then to throw  a hissy, believe me ive done this on many horses and it works..or you could take him to a professional trainer.

Answer 4

i have a mare that is simalar!! when your not around the horse but he is tied up and you can hear him fooling around even though it may sound like hes about to hurt himself then try your best to completely ignore it. get on with any jobs your doing and if yoru brushin him ignore it and continue brushing him as best as you can moving around just incase you do get in the way!! if you keep saying stuff to your gelding like 'stop it' 'stand' ect when he does fool around then he knows your getting his attention. i dont know the reason why your gelding is like this but iv been told that horses tend to mess around when tied up because there bored and impatient like you said! if you havnt already tryed it then tie a haynet up next to where he is tied if he eats it then he is busy doing that and wont even think about messing around. thats the only things i could really give you as advice because i do this with my mare and she is improving!!  just keep practising the more you have him tied up the more he will get used to it. good luck with him. x

Answer 5

You could try the tie ring that Clinton Anderson uses. When a horse goes to doing these behaviors it lets the horse out a bit of ways until the behavior stops.

Also if you tie your horse at the proper length, then it will be pretty hard for him to hurt himself. When I have impatient horses that won't stand to be groomed, tacked up, or wait in the trailer. I will tie them out either all night or for half a day.

PS- why do you think horses are so good with being tied during a rodeo. It's cause we tie our horses so much it becomes a habit to them, and not a nuisance.

EDIT: also if you immediately release him to pasture or feed him I would change that pattern. Instead of taking him directly to the pasture, walk him around or move him to a different area and retie him there.

Answer 6

Horses and ponies learn to "like" pulling back because the pressure they feel on the poll releases endorphins in the brain.  Endorphins give you that "peaceful", "euphoric" feeling.  Basically, they get a good feeling from the effect and so repeat the bahavior.  The trick is to stop that good feeling by tying with something that "gives" a little, but won't break.  Some people use bungie ties, I like to train all my horses (especially if they like to pull back), with a bicycle tire wrapped around a tree and a chain or rope attached to the tire.  It gives but doesn't allow them to get that hard push on the poll that results in the good feeling.  If you take away the fun, they stop doing it.  Make sure that whatever you use it is sturdy enough to NOT break, that will just reinforce the bad behavior.  Be patient and consistant.  You may want to try this out in a stall for a few days and make sure the horse responds well there first, then move them outside to a busier area.  Good luck, you can solve this problem.

Answer 7

Use a clinton Anderson tie they work wonders!

Answer 8

there's a lot of different ways to fix this problem.  my personal favorite...clicker training.  

start out by just click and treat.  then work up to marking good behavior...stands quietly next to you, click, "good boy", and treat, all at the same time.  soon, he'll do whatever to get a click.  at that point, then you try to tie him for a short moment.  click, "good boy", treat, untie, walk around...etc.  slowly building up the time.

hope this is helpful.  best of luck.

Answer 9

well you should never really tie a horse...

my mare is the same way on cross ties i just taught her how to ground tie and everything is fine now.

Answer 10

The thing Slivapu referred to is the Blocker tie system.  It's the safest thing to use when teaching a horse to stand tied.  Your pony needs to learn to stand tied quietly, but you have to do it in a safe way so he doesn't hurt himself.

You said he's dominant, so you may want to work on your relationship with him, making sure he sees you as his boss.  Then you need to reteach him to stand tied.  Use the Blocker if you can find one at your tack shop.  In the meantime, you can use a tie ring fastened to something very solid and at his eye level or higher, or a high fence post that is round (not a flat board type fence rail).  Use a 24' line and loop it through the ring. Put and keep pressure on the line (attached to his halter -preferably a rope halter) and release the pressure only when he steps forward and takes the pressure off.  If he backs up, feed the line out but keep the same pressure on his head via the line until he stops and steps forward.  

There are other methods, but it sounds like he is really rebelling, and this will be the safest.  Once he's standing pretty well,  you need to tie him up and leave him tied whenever you are messing around the paddock or stalls.  Tying him in the stall is also a good idea.  Just make sure you're withing close range if he starts to freak out.  If you have another horse who stands quietly tied, it may help if you tie him nearby.    

This is a dangerous temper tantrum he's throwing and if you can't seem to fix it, yu ought to get some helpf from a gentle but firm and knowledgeable trainer.   Good luck