When hauling a horse and if you tie do you tie with a bungee as part of your tie or a simple rope with a break-away? This is part of an ongoing discussion with someone who feels it is important to use a bungee (she actually always uses a bungee every time she ties) so if the horse feels the end of the rope there is ‘always’ a little give. Somehow she feels this is important to the horse and prevents pulling. What are your thoughts on this please? Also, as part of this discussion when teaching a horse to tie would you use a bungee so they always feel that ‘give’ ? When I teach to tie before I ever actually tie I have taught the horse to give to pressure, then when I do tie they know what to do when they ‘feel’ the end of the rope. I am talking about training a young horse. 
Bungee and horses are a terribly poor combination.
Teaching a horse to understand how to yield to pressure starts in hand with regular equipment. Over time they learn that pressure on their poll means step forward for the release.
When it’s time to tie an inner tube hung up about ear height is all the give one should offer.
bungees don’t release pressure like a rope would, so if they do pull back a bit and try to come forward, that bungee is STILL pulling on them, so they fight. When all hell breaks loose because they feel trapped, the bungee shreds and fails and at best the horse gets slapped with a face full of rubber. At worst, they lose an eye.
Djones, you use an inner tube instead of a bungee but wouldn’t that essentially do the same as a bungee? Not instantly release pressure? (would be more sturdy and not as likely to break as a bungee) Why would you use an inner tube? I like that a rope instantly releases so the horse understands he did the right thing.
I tie on a blocker tie ring in the trailer. Actually the only time I don’t use a blocker tie ring is in cross ties with a back wall. And if they were MY cross ties I’d use blocker tie rings there too.
In the trailer, I like the peace of mind that should he fall the blocker tie ring will give him enough lead to not hang himself.
If the horse understands the intricacies of leading - ALWAYS move to release pressure/never test the pressure - then it is ready to learn to tie with a lead and handler right there to assist the horse in understanding that it needs to yield to static pressure as well as the already ingrained response to the handler’s pressure.
If the horse doesn’t 100% understand pressure and how to cause the release of pressure, it is not ready to be tied no matter what gadgets you might use.
In regards to bungees - no, never, ever. Take a quick Google tour of bungee horse accidents (guessing on the search terms) and you will probably find all manner of absolutely horrific pictures of lovely horses missing eyes.
I will add that things like Blocker rings are fine for horses that have not been taught correctly from the get go and have ingrained issues with being tied. You can’t fix them all, but you can keep them safe without the use of bungees
No, it’s much more resistant than a bungee. The two are apples and oranges
If there is a butt bar or trailer wall if slant then IMO no need for a dangerous bungee. I have been hit with a “snapped” bungee - in the face. Really hurt and really scared me IRT possibly losing an eye. No bungees for my horses anywhere.
No bungees anywhere near my horses. I do use them to strap down tarps in the pickup but I am very careful because they do ricochet.
I trailer with horse in a leather halter. It’s a good Walsh halter, not a breakaway halter. But I know the horse can break the leather crown piece in an emergency.
Now to how you train a green horse to stand tied, I’m going to say “it depends” on what behaviour the horse is offering you. Obviously you start with ground work, giving to pressure and standing patiently.
There might be a role for a tie blocker or inner tube for a horse that you expect to have a panic attack, though you also should do enough growing work to minimize that behaviour. Also tie above the level of his head.
I personally don’t like tying semi secure on my own horse because she absolutely can figure out how to juggle the rope to give herself more room. At the wash rack she gets a nylon web halter, and a fast release short trailer tie on a loop of binder twine. She can’t jiggle that out, but if a bear jumped over the fence she could break the twine.
Same when I tie to the trailer, but I use my leather halter.
I don’t use my good soft cotton lead ropes to tie if I can help it because (a) she can jiggle out a safety not and (b) if you tie them to binder twine you can get a horrible mess that requires a knife to cut out.
I’m another one who uses Blocker Tie Rings in my trailer and barn.
I use a small loop of baling twine and tie that to my tie rings( in trailer and barn) and then tie to those. Usually I have to replace the twine since it gets frayed from constant tying, but they haven’t broken it yet.
For those using twine (good idea for many horses), I think it’s important to have the twine as close to the horse as possible, like between the rope and the snap that goes to the halter.
I’ve seen a horse break safety twine and completely tweak out because it suddenly had 6’ of flailing “snake” attached to its face. I don’t wish it on anyone. That horse did end up ok, but it became completely unsafe to itself and everyone in the barn until someone was able to catch the busted cross tie and stop the horse.
ETA - if you don’t like farting around with twine (I don’t) buy the crappiest double ended snaps you can - either brass or white metal (not stainless or heavy duty or anything “better” ) because they will always break before halter, rope, nylon, or chain. Way cheaper to replace than anything else and no injuries to worry about. Always make sure the crappy hardware is closest to the horse and the good, heavy duty stuff is at the attachment end (wall, trailer tie ring, post, etc)
Thanks to ya’ll - I don’t use bungees ANYWHERE anymore - even securing items in truck bed. Not worth the risk of a snap and hit the face or eye.
Bungee + horse just seems like a bad idea from a common sense point of view. I don’t need to see proof of a lost eye or snap in the face to understand just how bad of an idea this could be when attached to a panicking horse!
Do you need to tie them in the trailer at all? I’m a huge fan of hauling horses loose. They have more freedom to move their head for comfort and balance, if one slips and falls they don’t get strung up by the head, if one panics coming out they’re less likely to hit their head or pop back forward and injure themselves or me, and it’s easier on me just to toss them in and go. The only time I tie the majority of them is if I’m using my stock trailer as a 4 horse straight load (only 1 divider in the middle of the trailer), or if I’m hauling my mini. My mini gets tied in the slant load because he fits under the slants, if it’s just him or him and 1 more in the stock trailer then he’s loose in there with the divider shut between the 2 horses. I did have one horse that would get her head down in the straight load and get it stuck there and her face would swell up pretty good, she got tied to prevent that, but rope and NEVER bungee.
Bungees and horses is a game of roulette you’re eventually going to lose, and you and/or the horse will pay the price. I personally know a horse who lost an eye because of a bungee break.
As said, there are many MUCH safer ways to have a horse feel some give so he doesn’t immediately feel trapped. But IME, most people aren’t doing the work the should be doing so the horse has the need to feel that give, which means they’re playing with fire
Turtle snaps are something I prefer to bailing twine, since they are something I can quickly release if I need to, without having to put a knife or scissors near the horse. They are the crossties in my aisle, and they are the tie in my trailer. They will release if the horse pulls hard enough, but it’s got to be a pretty serious struggle, though I’m sure there are always exceptions.
And there’s bailing twine, and there’s bailing twine. The sisal type twine will break before the plastic type twine, so be careful. You don’t want horses learning they can easily break free.
There are some horses where the battle to teach them to give to pressure isn’t one that’s worth undertaking, but they are RARE horses. Most of the time it’s the person who doesn’t want, or know how to do the training.
There are reasons to have the breakaway whatever (twine, turtle snap, etc) at the horse end, or the wall/trailer end. Horse end means there’s no length of rope “chasing” the horse if he’s free, which also means there’s nothing to grab until you can get close enough to get the halter. And, obviously, the wall/trailer end means you’ve got something to more easily catch him with, but it’s also something chasing him.
IMHO, if more people did the proper work to teach horses to give to pressure, they would tie and lead better, and when horses lead better, so many problems start resolving on their own. Soooo many people have horses who just follow along because it’s not inconvenient to do so. Then something makes it inconvenient, and you have problems.
I am firmly in the camp of twine or whatever quick release method you use on the wall end at all times. I WANT to be able to get a hold of the horse if at all possible and my chances greatly improve if there’s a lead rope attached to the halter.
That said, if your horse is worried about a loose lead rope for more than the time that they are still reacting to the twine breaking, I can see why that might be a concern. But I’m firmly in favor of teaching them how to handle themselves when they are loose with the lead rope, how to step on it and not panic, how to have it trail well behind them and not panic, and so on, because that is far more likely to happen in their day to day routine than a trailering problem and I heartily agree that if they are reactive to that issue, it’s a very bad problem!
There’s another type of snap that gives called The Clip by Smart Tie. I prefer it over the blocker tie because you can adjust the tension to give very easily to not really give at all. I keep one in my trailer for when I’m tying them to the trailer and want to keep a slightly longer line to reach a water bucket or graze. In case someone gets in trouble it will let out enough line to prevent a problem.
No thanks. Unless the horse is just a jerk and breaks ties for the fun of it (btdt and it’s maddening but not terribly dangerous and sure, more convenient if it’s trailing a rope when it whips out its circus trick) it is already panicking. Adding a rope or chain or nylon strap to an already panicking horse is not safe. Unless getting a leg wrapped up in something solidly attached to the head is safe?
Would my own horse worry about something like that? Nope. She was taught right from the get go that ropes and lines around and between legs are no big deal. Average horse in a backyard or boarding situation? Nope, not safe. Almost none of them that I’ve met have been properly conditioned to weird stuff.
But, as I said, I’ve seen it and it ain’t pretty. It’s probably one of those things that if you haven’t seen it, it doesn’t seem like much of a risk.
I’ve seen a few things as well, I’ve got some solid decades doing this. But you be you and have at it. If it works for you that’s great.
I’ve explained why I chose the way I do things and If I can stop the panicked horse before it gets a full head of steam and ends up dead, I’ll take those odds. As you say, “if you’ve haven’t seen it, it doesn’t seem like much of a risk”…
I agree with twine on the halter with tie clipped to the twine. The horse can safely break away if it has to without a scary rope dragging on it.
I’m with DMK. My horses are always supervised on cross ties and in the event of a ‘freak out’ I would 99% of the time grab the broken end of the cross ties to control the horse. Less escalation that way IME. Typically there is always a path to step forward and grab onto them anyways if you aren’t afraid.
I don’t think there is a right or wrong, because with horses ANYTHING can happen. Your horse running around because you have nothing to grab could get out on a road and hit by a car, or your horse with a dangling rope could also do the same. Usually a horse with a rope attached is going to be stepping on it, slowing themselves down anyways.
As for bungee ties, I don’t use them. I only use leather halters, and they break.
