How to make a neck rope

[Shadow14]

![]( believe strongly in neck ropes. I live in amish country and neck ropes are used to secure horse most of the time. They can be used around the neck, pass through the bit and tied up and they will not get loose.
I start with about 12 feet of soft 1/2 inch rope, tightly wound , marine I believe, a brass swivel snap and a brass ring. Be sure to burn both ends of the cut rope to prevent fraying.
[IMG]http://i29.tinypic.com/mvhtoj.jpg)

Loop one end through the swivel snap, fold it over about 3 inches and using light strong cord wrap it tightly. I always run a little laquer or varnish/varathane over the wrapping to keep it tight. You then knot the brass ring where it fits the horse well around his neck, not too loose but not too tight. If you are tieing a horse put the neck rope around the neck and pass through the halter ring and tie. Unless the thing you tied to breaks the horse will not get loose or break the neck rope.
I seldom use a halter. I always go into the field with just the neck rope, snap it around any horses neck and lead him away.
[IMG]http://i25.tinypic.com/jgilg1.jpg)
If the horse caused a problem make a loop over his nose and pass it back through the brass ring. This really gives you control and if the horse acts up and arches his neck he pulls on himself gaining you even more advantage.
[IMG]http://i29.tinypic.com/zohjpz.jpg)

Final while hand grazing I snap it on a cuff on the hind leg. It frees his head, no chance of stepping on the rope and he will not wander like a grazing horse. He eats in one spot, moves in a sweeping motion, stretches but doesn’t pull. when I wish to give him a new fresh spot I just let a slight amount more rope out. It really is nicer to hand gazing. I sit in my lawn chair and read and pay no attention to him and weather he is stepping on the rope or not.
[IMG]http://i26.tinypic.com/2db82yp.jpg)

I have left my horse tied to up to 3 days , gone to the beach for most of the day leaving 3 or 4 horses tied with neck lines to trailers or overhead lines and never lost one ever. I will not tie with a lead to anything and walk away for any length of time but with the neck rope I know he will be there.
Using a heavier version of this I have broke totally untieable horses in less then 1/2 hour and snubbing post and once broke they stay put.
I have yet to see a neck rope broke.
Go to the amish market and you will see horses tied 14 hours straight, not even unharness but every one wears a neck rope.
Hope this helps someone
Norval

[MikeP]

Thanks for the detailed instructions and pictures. I ran out of halters yesterday, went to the shed with a printout of your notes and pictures, and made a neck rope. Works just like you said it would.

So, after months of lurking here, I registered so I could tell you thanks.

Yeah, this is my first post and alla’ that. I really have been enjoying reading the info here.

[Guilherme]

Thanks for tips. Looks like a good device to have on hand!

G.

[Shadow14]

Thank you guys and yes it is a great device. It is a far more secure way to tie a horse then a halter but it must be used with a halter for any long term tying.

[Jess1]

I really like this, and I think that I’m going to make one! Thank you!

[Bluey]

We use hobbles for neck ropes, use as you do there and to rope calves tied hard, not dallying, as when you are alone.
That neck rope is supposed to keep the horse facing the calf and make it harder for it, when learning, to try to turn and run off, dragging the calf from the horn.
This way, the weight of the calf would keep the horse’s head turned onto the calf by going thru that neck rope.

Not safe to rope tied hard and fast without a neck rope.

I think that hobbles would also work fine for your purpose of tying the horse.
If a horse were to sit back on that neck rope with the snap, I don’t think that snap would hold and the horse may fall when it gives.

[Ozalynda]

[QUOTE=Shadow14;3201576]
Thank you guys and yes it is a great device. It is a far more secure way to tie a horse then a halter but it must be used with a halter for any long term tying.[/QUOTE]

How do you use it with a halter? Looks very interesting. My guy has a habit of breaking halters when tied. He just decides he is going to sit down :eek:

[Auventera_Two]

They sell wide/flat nylon head collars that look MUCH safer than this. A round, thin rope putting that much pressure on the spine when the horse sits down on it?! Yikes, that’s asking for disaster.

Just spend the 15 bucks and buy a head collar that is 3" wide, and flat to distribute pressure. If you can’t find them (packing supply places usually sell them), then you can accomplish the same by buying a bovine collar at your local farm supply.

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3203373]
They sell wide/flat nylon head collars that look MUCH safer than this. A round, thin rope putting that much pressure on the spine when the horse sits down on it?! Yikes, that’s asking for disaster.

.[/QUOTE]

Vickey you are some 29 year old amature that doesn’t have a clue what she is talking about. Stick to waxing cars and leave the horses to people that do.

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=Ozalynda;3203343]
How do you use it with a halter? Looks very interesting. My guy has a habit of breaking halters when tied. He just decides he is going to sit down :eek:[/QUOTE]
Snap the neck rope around the neck then pass the end through the halter ring where you would normally snap a lead on then tie about wither height and about one arms length free play.
No horse tied to something solid , wither height and with a good neck rope will get loose and after a few good tries they learn to stay put.
I can tie anything, halter breaker or not and it will be there. I saw one slide a trail sideways for about a foot but it remained tied.
Is it better to let them constantly break free and run???
If you camp they will be tied a some point and it is stupid to let a horse dictate to you if it is to be tied or not.

It’s ammatures that cause the problem, not the horses.
Vickey I have decided that I will continue to give my opinion until I am ban and do what you like… You are one of those ammatures that cause more problems then you help.

there a no bad horses, just bad handlers. They will do what you allow and if they find they can not walk all over you they will behave.
Make behaving the most comfortable thing to do and bad behavior unpleasant.

[Auventera_Two]

@Shadow14;3204158

It’s ammatures that cause the problem, not the horses.
Vickey I have decided that I will continue to give my opinion until I am ban and do what you like… You are one of those ammatures that cause more problems then you help.

This forum was quite a happy and peaceful place until you decided to run herd over everybody. I personally would never tie a horse with a thin, round rope around the neck or poll. That just makes no good sense to me. If I were going to use a neck rope, I’d use a flat, wide collar so pressure is more evenly dispursed in case something did happen. Even the 1" flat halter is safer than the rope you’ve shown. That’s just my opinion. Everybody can do what they want obviously.

[Moderator_1]

Generally speaking, nobody is going to be banned for having an opinion on a horse subject that they express respectfully. Just as the OP is able to share information on the forums, other members are free to share their opinions about the topic.

You’re welcome to discuss the relative merits of different suggestions, but there’s no need for the personal commentary.

Thanks,
Mod 1

[Jess1]

Shadow14, you have no reason whatsoever to personally attack someone for their opinion. Just because someone doesn’t do things your way, doesn’t mean that their opinion or way of doing things is wrong or any less than yours.

The whole point of a horse forum is to share different ideas, and learn from a broad spectrum of riders and horse lovers. It is not to alienate others just because you believe your ways to be far more superior than anyone else’s.

[NC_Trail_Girl]

I don’t see where this would cause much more pressure (actually looks thicker than) the rope halters that everyone uses?

I use a rope halter and if it hurts the horse to pull back, well then he’ll stop pulling

I know ppl who use the neck rops and swear by them. I don’t think I could use on for my mare. She likes to nip at any horses who are standing next to her. At least with the rope halter, I can keep her head in somewhat of a forward position ;).

Good thread!

Thanks for the detailed info!

[Kyzteke]

@NC Trail Girl;3209450

I use a rope halter and if it hurts the horse to pull back, well then he’ll stop pulling

Actually, that’s not always true.

Some horses are so sensitive to pain that they will totally freak out – become hysterical – as they fight against the pain. Some of these guys might figure it out, but this is the population of horses that might well flip themselves over or otherwise hurt themselves because they really do “lose their mind” when something hurts this bad.

You have to know your horse.

[Shadow14]

The neck rope is not just to be put around the neck and forgotten. You should pass it through the halter ring under the chin. This keeps the horse straight and if you turns her head she is restricted.
That said I seldom use a halter and just snap the neck rope around his neck to lead him into the stable or where ever. When I get there I snap on a pair of hobbles and remove the neck rope and do what I want with him, saddle , brush, shoe even back with front hobbles.
The neck rope is just a better way to tie up a horse, he can not break a good neck rope, the halter doesn’t take the strain and no way to slip a neck rope.
I live in amish country and most are tied with neck ropes just passing through the bit.
If I would break a new horse no way would I just use a halter. I have a big 1 inch neck rope, super strong clasp and this is what I use the first time. I know beyond a doubt that the horse will not get away unless what I tie to breaks. A good truck inner tube and a good tree also make good tying points.
Anyway glad it helped some.
I feel if you have good information, post it, don’t wait for someone to run into a problem and ask. Share information.

[QUOTE=NC Trail Girl;3209450]
I don’t see where this would cause much more pressure (actually looks thicker than) the rope halters that everyone uses?

I use a rope halter and if it hurts the horse to pull back, well then he’ll stop pulling

I know ppl who use the neck rops and swear by them. I don’t think I could use on for my mare. She likes to nip at any horses who are standing next to her. At least with the rope halter, I can keep her head in somewhat of a forward position ;).

Good thread!

Thanks for the detailed info![/QUOTE]

[Auventera_Two]

@Kyzteke;3209470

Actually, that’s not always true.

Some horses are so sensitive to pain that they will totally freak out – become hysterical – as they fight against the pain. Some of these guys might figure it out, but this is the population of horses that might well flip themselves over or otherwise hurt themselves because they really do “lose their mind” when something hurts this bad.

You have to know your horse.

My best riding buddy owns a super cute little buckskin QH mare who is totally brain fried. She tied her to a wooden arena fence rail while working another horse. The mare set back on the rope and kept fighting until she pulled about 3 sections of the wooden post and rail fencing down. She took off running dragging a board and ended up getting the saddle underneath her also. She galloped through a hay field and went though a fence. To this day the mare is absolutely TERRIFIED of anything underneath her or touching her legs, ropes, weeds, cinch, you name it. She’s hired a trainer to work with the mare and he did tons of round pen work but there is never any real resolution to her deeply imbedded fear.

I was bucked off the mare when I rode her through some tall grass that tickled her belly. She just panicked and bolted in a blind run. It took me by such surprise I lost my stirrups and those flopping sent her into a crazy bucking fit. I ended up going off backwards.

So yes I agree that not all horses have the personality to quit fighting. You have to know the personality of each horse and decide if you’re making a good decision or not.

When I taught my Arab to tie (okay, actually the farrier did it), we snubbed her down tight to a corner post in the barn and let her fight it out. She squalled and fought and went down on her knees. She tried to climb the post. But within 5 minutes she stood there perfectly quiet and has never set back on anything since.

But clearly this did not work with my friend’s horse. Or maybe it would have if she hadn’t been able to break the boards? I don’t know but point is once the fear is there, it’s hard to remove it.

Another good friend of mine has a gelding that broke ropes and halters consistently. Finally she got sick of it and employed the tie or die technique. She put an inner tube around his neck and fastened him to the apple tree then went inside. She watched out the kitchen window and he sat down on his butt and fought hard for half an hour. She’d reached a point where she really didn’t care if he killed himself. He was so stinkin’ obnoxious about not yielding to pressure. Not the way I would have done it, but now the horse ties. Yikes. I guess theres all types of horses in the world.

[goeslikestink]

when its done up looks like a dealers halter, but iwould ever tie my ned up with it or by its feet
just something only pikeys would do or gypies not the average horse owner in uk
mind you we have the amount of free ranges you have , so understand that things are done diffeerent sometimes from there to here…

[katarine]

A2 your friend provided an inner tube to her horse so he had some play in his fighting. Doesn’t sound like your filly got the same ‘give’ being ‘snubbed down hard.’ So you wouldn’t do it her way, which is -by your description- more humane than your way. Interesting. So long as we’re swapping personal tales there’s the 3 YO my old boss snubbed to a tree without any prep work- colt panicked, pulled, lunged, broke his neck slamming himself in that tree. Nice.

BTW- Shadow- no way I’d train a horse to tie using just a neck rope and an inner tube. That’s vicious. I don’t give a hoot what the Amish do.

I teach any horse needing to learn to tie, to give to pressure. That’s 100% understood. Then they are tied to an immovable object (tree) at about ear-height- higher is better- they can’t get leverage if they do panic and can’t overstrain the nucchal ligament - to an innertube with a good rope halter and lead, no hardware. Rarely is there any drama. The drama is only in the horses that have been taught to give to pressure -sometimes. To get away with being pushy- sometimes. That have been mother henned so hard they don’t know how to deal with real pressure. Either way- they learn that fighting is loosing and giving up and giving to pressure- is a winner.

[Shadow14]

Katarina, an inner tube, a 1 inch diameter soft cotton neck rope AND a halter. The soft large neck rope guarantees he will not break it, the halter keeps his alignment and the inner tube provides the give so it is not a totally solid pull.
Vickey I would never tie an unsafe horse to a board fence or even a post.
In the side of the barn I made a plate, a heavy duty ring welded solid to the plate and big bolts going through a very large beam. This is wear I get people to tie their horses for bathing, feeding or currying if they want to do it outside. It has a solid wall in front to keep the horses from jumping forward and a halter is always used.

For the guy from England all my horses are taught to hobble/handcuff front or back feet and they don’t fight.
I one leg stake out Shadow every night these days to good grass for one hour to get him use to it before going on permanent pasture June 1st.
If taught to hobble they fight nothing that catches their legs and if they tangle some day in wire they will hold still to untangle. Nothing bothers my guys rubbing on thier bellys.
It’s all part of their training.