That’s a horrible situation your pony went through, TWICE! I hope big changes were made to prevent it from ever happening again. Well done on retaining him!
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Thanks everyone for the advice. I’ll be going out there tonight after work to ride and we will see how it goes. I’m really going to take my time tonight and probably just walk. Last night when I rode I didn’t realize he was upset until after he already got nervous and I probably pushed him too much.
I also told the barn owner not to use him for lessons for now. The incident happened after the lesson kid finished riding him. Since then, he was ridden the day after by his lease rider and she said he was fine bit she rode alone. And me last night, with other lessons going on when he was very nervous.
I know these things happen but I feel so sad. I’ve owned this horse for 18 years and it breaks my heart to see him nervous like this. He’s always been my bold, brave guy. Hail storm? Okay. Crazy warm up arena? Okay. IHSA riders leaving strides out? Okay. I can tell this incident shook him. And he’s 24 now, these are supposed to be his easy years. Ugh I can’t help but feel a bit frustrated by the barn owner. It was her young horse. And she was using him for a lesson. And Wednesday when she told me about the incident, she said he might be a bit shook up. But now that I’ve told her yes, he really is, she is trying to say it’s something else, maybe his vision is going bad or the farrier got after him. Not the cross tie incident.
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Shame on the barn owner. I’m glad your horse didn’t get knocked down.
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While I have used them in the past I am not really a fan of cross ties.
If he was mine I would just hold him in the isle and have someone lead quiet, calm horses past him over and over on both sides and from both directions.
I would do the same in the arena until he is bored out of his mind and feels secure that he isn’t going to get attacked.
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Poor guy. In my experience, the one thing horses will remember very well and have a hard time letting go of is anything that causes them pain. Your fella might not be majorly injured or hurting, but at 24, I can imagine the incident had the potential to hurt a bit in the moment as well as leave some lingering aches here and there. Now, whenever he sees a horse coming near or past, the memory of that collision and the associated pain comes back and he’s rightly on guard. And as someone else mentioned, as an older horse, he might feel more vulnerable, especially now that he’s been “attacked” (in his view) and hurt.
I’d do like others said and slowly work with him on the ground and eventually under saddle to help him realize it’s okay and that horses coming near or by doesn’t mean he’ll get hurt. He’d be getting tons of snacks during this work if he were mine.
Hopefully, your good boy will get past it soon and be back to himself. He might always be a little more aware of horses in his space now though.
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Not to mention plugging up the aisle😛.
OP can you just take your guy to the arena—either on the ground or mounted and take a handful of treats. Just pick a corner and hangout while other horse work. If he remains calm and keeps his feet still, give him a treat. Spend a few short sessions doing this to convince him it is ok. If that helps, do it with the cross ties too.
I seriously dislike cross ties. I had a horse that had a major wreck in cross ties. I honestly do not see the need for them. I just straight tie in the stall or the aisle. In the aisle you can move the horse over so people can get by.
Susan
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Horses who wear breakaway halters can learn to fling their heads at just the right trajectory to bust out of them with surprisingly little force. I’ve known MANY who have learned to avoid being tied, loading in trailers, or going pretty much anywhere that isn’t their idea because of the use of these halters. Therefore I only ever use them when I need to put a grazing muzzle on.
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I boarded an old QH who would drop his head to graze and use his foot to step in and pop the fuse. Within seconds. I gave up after replacing 3 fuses in a week. He was a smart one.
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By personal choice, every halter that I own has a single unstitched single thickness leather crown piece and is a breakaway halter. I feel that this is generally the safest way to halter a horse, but I do use rope halters when doing round pen work.
Is your point that I need to change to different halters? And why?
My point was that it doesn’t take “a lot of force” to break a breakaway halter. Once a horse has learned to do it, it takes surprisingly little force.
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I can commiserate. I recently bought a new horse, a responsive sensitive type, that my barn owner basically broke through her bad decision making process. My daughter came off in such a way that injured my horse’s back (due to barn owners poor decision on lesson horses for a beginner rider) and then the next day put up her beginner “working student” on him (and no she didn’t say anything to me first) in a super heavy western saddle and didn’t read his behavior and caused an explosion and the rider got seriously hurt and ruined my horse.
I had him looked at by a problem horse fixer type trainer and they say they think they can get him back, but that he may no longer be suitable for us on the other side as he may have learned to buck big under certain conditions.
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I had a mare who knew exactly how to break a leather halter. If she didn’t feel like being tied, she’d basically sit down and pop the halter. If that didn’t go, odds are the snap on the shank would. She had it down to a science.
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I had a mare years ago, I owned her for 7 years, not once did she have an issue with crossties but one event set her off at her new home and she never cross tied reliably afterwards. Mind you I’m not entirely sure they’re practices to fix the experience.
What I have heard is the sliding hook that has some give.
However, the OTTBs I work with rarely ever cross tie so we teach using one quick release on the opposite side you’re working and a long lead rope looped through the tie ring and me holding the end. Allowing it to slide a little. Swapping to the other side when you also switch sides.
Some horses will actually learn to ground tie better to be honest. My current ottb would prefer to stand with a dropped rope rather than be tied.
Good luck! It takes patience and a good eye and response time to ensure you can remove the pressure before it goes awry
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Good news, about one week after the incident, my horse seems to have completely forgotten about it! I’ve been able to ride him in the arena with other horses and he was not nervous. He’s also no longer nervous in the cross ties either and fine with horses passing him in the aisle when he’s in the cross ties.
Whoever mentioned he might be sore from the horse running into him was spot on though. I think part of the reason he was acting nervous was because he was uncomfortable. I noticed he was unusually stiff, not wanting to bend to the left, and seemed body sore. It just so happens the chiropractor vet was already scheduled to come out this week so that worked out well.
This incident definitely made me think about the safety of cross ties for the first time. On days where the barn is busy and horses are passing down the aisle, I don’t think I’ll be using the cross ties and instead will tack up in his stall!
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Great update!
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Boy-howdy! I’m with you on that! I do not crosstie. Was talking to my farrier last week during that long long day of 12 horses… And one of the things we discussed was crosstie-ing. He was telling the story of a local farrier who lost his life a week or so ago, due to a most horrible cross tie incident. Anyhow, my farrier said he will not work on a horse that isn’t being held. Not only will he not cross tie, he will not even tie a horse. Either owner or handler must be holding. If the holder has to move away for some reason, and loop lead over a rail or something, he’ll stop working until they come back.
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I don’t anymore, though it wasn’t a conscious decision I made. I haven’t quite gotten around to finishing out a grooming/wash stall at my barn, so I generally just straight tie or, more commonly because it’s easier, faster, and more convenient, ground tie.
A really, really good colt starter type trainer who put 60 days on my palomino for me two years ago made a comment about people who “need” crossties having horses that aren’t trained to stand. I didn’t really think much of it at the time, but…I don’t miss having crossties at all now that I focus on teaching even the foals to stand where I put them. Funny how that worked out! 
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My current boarding barn has a grooming area with separate cross tie stalls with a solid back behind them. This works well and is pretty safe.
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I spend a lot of time grooming and deshedding my pony and am always in the way in the aisle. Since our incidents I’ve just kept the lead rope draped over his neck or in my hand and he’s been OK. If another horse has to pass, I’ll walk him into an available stall or out of the aisle towards the indoor. I don’t want to put him into a situation where he feels unsafe or worried; it’s a shame because he was never a problem just hanging out on crossties. I didn’t realize that so many people don’t use them. My previous barns always had them, not grooming stalls.
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I am in Australia and have worked with horses in 4 states of Australia. I have never seen cross ties and after reading this thread I will never use them.
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