How many of you pullback owners don’t tell anyone about it, especially not horse people, until you absolutely have to? If you hold back, why?
I find that there is generally a lack of tolerance toward both owners and horses regarding the problem. If your horse pulls back, doubtless you are a weak individual and he’s bossing you. Assumptions are made about your horsemanship skills and even your character generally. Unless it’s someone who has seen a truly explosive pullback in action - they seem to have a deeper wisdom.
There are horses that can be re-trained, who aren’t really losing their minds and are just being wilfull, have never understood limits, simply walking off to other entertainment. My reaction to those is “easy fix.”
There are others for which I think it could be biological - a stimulus causes something to flip in their brain and they lose control. And ultimately, finding his head is fastened when he starts reacting to the initial stimulous. He isn’t trying to improve his situation, he’s panicking and even he doesn’t seem to know why.
Why do you want to re-teach your horse? Is it because this is something you truly need, to be able to enjoy what you do with your horse? Or is it because of what others think, to relieve your embarrassment?
Just curious. I think this is the unspoken arm of the pullback issue - it isn’t just the inconvenient horse, there really is a social stigma attached. People would be nicer if you told them you had aids, rather than a horse that doesn’t tie. (well, some, anyway) 
It is tough. I decide each year when clinic/event time starts where my stopping point is in the tie situation, based on how solid I think incremental progress has been. Then I have to impress on anyone I trailer with etc. that this is how it is. Whatever they think of me.
[quote=Auventera Two;5338294]Every horse on my farm must tie. Period. That is not up for discussion. You live here - you tie. You don’t tie? You get training every single day until you do tie. …
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[quote=Auventera Two;5338312]Baby steps, lots of treats, adding pressure just an ounce at a time, and training the horse to step forward when they feel poll pressure. Don’t tie at first, loop the rope around a pole. Encourage the horse to step forward toward the pole when he feels pressure. The tiniest lean forward or “try” is rewarded lavishly with treats, pets and praise. It may be weeks or months before you ever actually tie the rope.
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Auventera Two, I do completely understand where you are coming from. I appreciate that you are willing to see progress that takes years to fully resolve. I have to ask and know about the expectations of people who believe as you do, so I’ll know not to move into your barn.
I do work on incremental progress and over almost 5 years my horse is a light year better than he was. He was 8 years old when I got him and he wouldn’t stand on a Blocker tie or a lead weave through stall bars - now he does. He wouldn’t stand for the farrier, now he does. He still doesn’t tie.
I’ve actually worked through so much of the exercises you describe to get him to think ‘forward,’ not ‘back.’ But that’s not the root problem, it’s what developed from the real problem. His lovely forward attitude doesn’t make any bit of difference when something disconnects his brain wires. When that happens he doesn’t have the mental capacity to use what he knows. That’s the huge shock, when a ‘reformed’ horse has another panic after a long period of good behavior. Such a horse was successfully retrained out of the offshoot habits. The real issue is still deep in his brain. IMO
Because I have thought hard and decided that several kinds of risks are not worth some traditional methods of attempting to fully cure him more rapidly, and because I’ve got him to a point where the inconvenience is minimal and I can live with it, and because I would never fully trust him having seen what could be a near-epileptic reaction that might possibly be biological … although I continue to work on it incrementally, I’m no longer trying every day to cure. There are too many other things I am asking of him instead. I don’t think you or I would ever be truly comfortable if I moved into your barn with my horse.
He’s a lifetime horse. If he should have to be passed on, I take the responsibility to be sure that the next home is prepared to deal with what they’re getting. From my perspective on what will give him a safe, happy life with few if any incidents.
[quote=katarine;5338419]Meh, plenty of horses have enough baggage that sometimes, tying is more trouble than it is worth.
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This is really what I’ve taken as my bottom line on tie training for my own particular horse. The horse has trust issues in so many areas, all related to the pullback issue, I believe. He’s inclined to spook under saddle, he over-reacts to little things that distract him from easy tasks. I think some of it could very well be biological - some little electrical impulse is firing in his brain when certain triggers apply stimulous. If that’s the case, it mushroomed into behavior and training issues. I don’t doubt that in his early years whatever set him off wasn’t properly handled. But he’s so trainable and re-trainable it would be long fixed before I ever got him, if it were merely training.
On all fronts I learned that the most effective approach was not merely “don’t do that,” but rather teaching him to react differently when that panic surge hits. In the barn and under saddle. He gets that and he is really trying. And it’s helping him not panic as much, as well.
Trying to stop the panic just produced a nearly rigid and catatonic horse. Trust issues got worse. Managing the response to the panic has built trust and actually minimized both the reaction and the frequency. Now he’s in a place where “it happens, I can deal with it.” Kind of like a schizophrenic who learns to ignore auditory hallucinations. They still happen, but they no longer control life.
Given that, the last thing I want to do is a hard-tying, confrontational, emotional training session that would contradict and destroy the trust and calmness that my horse and I have worked so hard for 5 years to build. I expect that in future he’ll nicely handle a soft-resistance Blocker tie and stand without challenging it for longer and longer periods, but never be truly safe on a firm tie. With him it isn’t the standing. It’s the head fastening combined with his own ability to control a panic impulse.
If it’s a mystery why I put up with this animal - the pullback thing is now easily manageable, and he is such a performance star when he is on his game. He is fun to ride, is sweet and affectionate. He’s worth it.
But if I ever own another horse - it will be one that ties. No more pullbacks in this lifetime.
(I’ll be the idiot at the horse trials exclaiming in thrilled amazement, as I visit the porta-potty and handle my registration and buy an ice cream, that my horse is still there tied to the trailer, and the trailer is still there too, and upright … :lol: )
I don’t think that hole in the horse’s skill set hurt him one tiny bit. count the millions he earned 
