Accepting feeling 'trapped' (i.e.: stepping on one's lead rope, and surviving)

[ChasseurSauteur]

Not sure if this is the right place for this post but any thoughts appreciated!

My 16-year-old TB has a training hole that I’ve never taken the time to fix in my seven years of owning him: if he steps on his lead rope or otherwise feels that his head is ‘trapped’, he will pull back in a panic until the offending object either breaks (RIP a couple of halters) or slips free. I know many folks have trained this reaction out of their horse by methodically teaching them to simply stand still and wait to be rescued in situations like this. I would love to do this with my guy but am not sure where to start. He otherwise has excellent ground manners, yields to pressure easily, etc. I would love to be able to ground tie or otherwise allow unsupervised grazing etc without risking a snort-pull back-break things incident (and of course imagine this skill would be very useful in an emergency where, god forbid, he gets truly stuck in something. He is exceptionally accident-prone so this is not out of the realm of possibility.)

Does anyone have any resources they might point me to in order to work on this, or would like to share a method that works for them? Many thanks in advance!

[2tempe]

Let him figure it out himself. Hook on a lead, put him in a place with some grass - and a fence, lol. If there’s no grass, spread a bit of hay around. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcRYRR0HkdI

Edited to add: Here’s the same guy with a horse, getting it used to dragging the rope first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9TJ_jJlMxk

He appropriately points out that you just dont leave them, you should watch and encourage.

[FatCatFarm]

I don’t know if this will work with your guy given he is grown and your description, but one method used to teach youngsters to give to pressure is to put them in a stall in a halter and old lead rope, and let them drag the rope around and step on it, and they quickly figure out that they can release themselves by giving their head and stepping off the lead rope. I only do it supervised, as in, I have a weanling in a stall with this set up while I am doing barn chores and keeping an eye on things. They all have quickly figured this out and desensitized nicely. Would imagine this could be done in a round pen too - just some place safe so if they freak out they aren’t flinging themselves into random objects.

If your guy is breaking things when stepping on his lead, I would be sure to put him in a sturdy halter with a sturdy rope tied to the halter ring rather than a lead with a snap. The rope is going to get dirty and stepped on, so something you don’t mind having this happen to. A rope halter with lead attached without a clip may be your best bet.

I also teach my youngsters to accept a lead rope around their fetlocks - all four feet, and ask them to walk around, they can drag the rope but I’ve also held the rope to provide some resistance - wear gloves! It teaches them to calmly handle having something around their lower legs without freaking out and I’ve used it several times on older horses who were difficult about letting you pick-up their hooves as the rope around the fetlock gives you extra leverage to pick up a hoof without having to be up under the horse, so is safer when dealing with a difficult horse. I personally reward with food as positive reinforcement.

[cutter99]

I am a huge fan of hobble breaking horses. It teaches them to relax and be calm until their human releases them.

[Lusoluv]

You can teach a horse of any age to accept pressure and learn releases. I’ve done this will all my horses - some of them as unstarted 3 yr olds and some were already 6-7yrs. There are tons of videos on YouTube with English and Cowboy type trainers who can teach you how to bend a horse to yield, ask them to back, stop and go forward from pressure. Then when it comes to standing in cross-ties or they accidentally stand on a lead rope, the horse has the tools to figure things out vs blowing up. I feel turning a horse loose in a round pen with a lead attached sounds more like trial by fire. Some kids have survived the the “sink or swim approach” (being thrown in a pool) vs swimming lessons. But I also think there’s a better method and these days and most of us would think throwing a child in a pool is cruel and might cause trauma.

[theresak]

With the bigger horses or ones that freak out a bit more, I try to do the rope on the ground with the sort of footing and rope that will allow them to pull a little bit of it from under the foot so they aren’t totally trapped head down. Poly ropes and shod horses usually work well and smooth cement or wet grass (but not muddy). Also maybe a flat lunge line would work well. The reaction is usually the worst when they step on the rope close to their head, so letting them pull about a foot of rope out usually gets them to stop there and then move off the rope.

[Scribbler]

I’ve always just done this by letting the horse loose to graze with the rope over their neck. Eventually it falls down on the ground and they step on it and figure things out. With you watching but well away from the horse so he doesn’t think you are doing it to him.

IMHO too many horses are not taught to understand this and get panicky when it happens.

[Montanas_Girl]

This is very common in both OTTBs and in show horses that have been taught via breakaway ties/halters that freaking out = freedom. The behavior can be improved with diligent training, but a horse who has developed this habit will never, ever, be 100% trustworthy when it hits the end of a rope, in my experience.

If you’re going to try the “loose with a trailing rope” technique, then be sure to use a rope halter with a tied on (no snap) lead rope. The key is that there cannot be any breakable link in the “chain” of restraint, or the horse will n out be prevented from achieving the reward it is seeking.

The best way to solve this problem is to prevent it from occurring in the first place, which is unfortunately not an option in your situation. If horses are taught to give to pressure reflexively at a young age and never allowed to learn they are capable of breaking ties, then they can be reliably restrained in any situation under a variety of circumstances. Once they learn their own strength, however, there is always a non-zero chance that they will return to this behavior given sufficient incentive.

As @cutter99 mentioned, hobble training is an excellent life skill that more horses should experience. Not only does it provide a work around for horses with a history of pulling, but it can also be life-saving if the horse somehow manages to get its leg(s) caught in something.

[anon29046226]

Everyone here has great comments. I never hobble trained because I didn’t have some to show me how. That being said, I had a blocker ring for my horse. They pull nothing happens. The times they stepped on their lead rope I let happen and didn’t try to control it. They settle so much better. I did have someone teach me how to ground tie. My horse could be on cross ties but never hard tied because I just don’t think it’s worth it.

So cross ties were fine, blocker rings were a must and if dobbin stepped on the lead rope you could still see the “oh my god!! Imma die” briefly but then all is well.

[fledermaus]

My horse had a bad accident as a filly where she got loose with a halter and lead rope on, ran down a gravel road, stepped on the rope and flipped herself. Major road rash, luckily nothing more serious, but after that she’d freeze-panic if you dropped her rope on the ground. My trainer suggested putting in a smallish pen with two pans of food, one at either end, and turn her loose with a dragging rope (while I was watching of course). It took one session before she learned to carefully avoid stepping on her rope as she sidled toward the other pan.

[IPEsq]

The blocker ring can be tied with various strengths. It is designed to give at least a little bit before horse goes into full on panic mode. Helps alleviate the feeling of being trapped even though the horse doesn’t exactly get free so that they hopefully start thinking through the problem and get off the pressure rather than tearing things apart.

[Montanas_Girl]

@anon29046226

That being said, I had a blocker ring for my horse. They pull nothing happens.

Until a very smart horse learns that they can just keep pulling until the entire rope comes loose (seen it more than once).

I like the Blocker ring principle, but it is not infallible. At some point, the horse DOES need to learn to accept restraint to be safe to work around.

[JB]

@ChasseurSauteur

yields to pressure easily,

But he doesn’t, if his reaction is to panic and break things. He yields “easily” when you ask him to yield under quiet, normal conditions

He’s like the horse who “leads really well” as long as the environment isn’t conducive to anything otherwise (which includes reluctances to go into trailers)

So, the answer is to slowly increase the conditions around which you’re asking him to yield to pressure on his head.

John Lyons has some good info on this around somewhere, I know it’s part of his book Bringing Up Baby

You ask the horse to walk away from you, but he has to yield to the pressure on the lead rope. As he gets proficient at yielding at a slow walk, you ask for bigger walks, then send him trotting off, then cantering off, etc, using as long a line as needed (ie lunge line) to allow for distance and speed, and therefore force on the line

He also does this exercise around a sturdy round post, (like a Patience Pole) one that he can let the rope slide around if the horse isn’t giving, to prevent a full on escape/breaking something, so he can manage the pressure and then reward the horse for stopping. Not everyone has something like that though, but you get the idea.

A tie-blocker is similar in principle.

I don’t think I’d let him just figure it out since he’s a confirmed puller with this. I think that can be a good method for those who don’t have either habit yet

He can’t be allowed to break things again, which means study halters and ropes, and on your own terms per above, not something to figure out himself. No rope halter - a horse who does what he does can do a whole lot of damage to his head if he steps on the rope and struggles before that foot comes off it.

He has to learn all this with his head in a normal position first, before working on the pressure coming from below. It’s too easy to damage the neck that way.

[Montanas_Girl]

@JB

He can’t be allowed to break things again, which means study halters and ropes, and on your own terms per above, not something to figure out himself. No rope halter

Sorry, but I don’t understand this sentiment. Rope halters are MUCH more effective than flat nylon ones on effectively and humanely teaching the “give to pressure” concept. And leather will (eventually) break, making it inappropriate for a horse with a history of sitting back. Rope halters, properly used, prevent virtually all of the problems we see in these types of threads.

I use leather halters ONCE my horse have proven themselves sensible and “broke” to the rope. Until then, I use rope halters and/or don’t hard tie them. Because a horse that learns it can sit back and break free is, in my opinion, THE most dangerous type of horse out there. And I won’t knowingly create one by using inadequate equipment in a training situation or asking more of a horse than it is capable of doing at that moment.

[JB]

@Montanas_Girl

Sorry, but I don’t understand this sentiment. Rope halters are MUCH more effective than flat nylon ones on effectively and humanely teaching the “give to pressure” concept. And leather will (eventually) break, making it inappropriate for a horse with a history of sitting back. Rope halters, properly used, prevent virtually all of the problems we see in these types of threads.

i guess my train of thought there wasn’t telling the story my head was writing LOL

“No rope halter” was supposed to be in the context of letting him figure it out himself. FatCatFarm, suggested “A rope halter with lead attached without a clip may be your best bet.” while the horse drags the lead around to step on

Yes, a rope halter for training under controlled conditions is excellent, I use them all the time that way.

[Montanas_Girl]

Notice that I don’t advocate for the “let him figure it out” method, BUT…IF you’re going to go that way? It is far safer for everyone involved to use equipment the horse can’t break. A hors that learns to “fight to the death” against breakable equipment will literally do that if ever given the chance.

I strongly prefer to teach basic manners at a young age. With remedial horses, though, it’s a tougher call. Allowing them to break equipment endangers them and any person who will ever handle them in the future.

[SLW]

A friend desensitizes all her young stock like this: rope halter with 4/5’ attached lead. Any longer and it can get wrapped around the legs. They are turned out in a round pen to learn the give/release for as many times as the young horse needs to become safe.

[trubandloki]

I do not know about the OP’s horse but I have one that ties well. Cross ties, tied to the trailer at shows, tied up for a bath (which is pure torture per this horse), tied to a tree in the woods during a trail riding break. Ties like a well trained critter, never freaks out when they hit the end.
But darn, if they are grazing and happen to get a hoof on the lead, the freak out continues until something breaks.

I am just adding this because horses being horses, they are situational, and maybe the OP means that they have one like mine that ties like a saint but stepping on their lead is a freak out thing.

[ChasseurSauteur]

Thanks @trubandloki, this is pretty much the situation with this horse. No issues at all tying anywhere else - it is the ‘hoof on the lead’ scenario, where his head is down and he realizes he’s confined, that is at issue here.

[ChasseurSauteur]

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies! Lots to consider here!