Tying to outside of trailer- to tack

[TinaR]

Hi new friends,

I am new to horse ownership and using a trailer. I plan to go on lots of trail rides outside of where I board and will need to be able to tie my horse to the trailer to tack him. I see the place on the outside of the trailer where I can attach a rope or snap, but not really sure the proper way to do this.

Can anyone provide links or tell me the best way? I assume I want a break away snap or similar for safety but not sure length, ect. Whatever I get would attach directly to the halter, correct?

Thank you!

[DMK]

Lead shank plus a properly tied quick release knot is how most people do it.

Length is dependent on the horse, some are ok with a longer length but in general long enough for the to drop the nose no more than halfway to the ground

[Guilherme]

You tie a horse, any horse at any place at any time, "eye high, arm’s length, with and to something that won’t break.

This is the Golden Rule of Horse Tying.

Start with the the thing you’ll tie to. It should be sturdy enough to withstand the normal one horse-power device that might pull on it. Some trailers have “tie rings” of some type attached to the frame. Some you just use a stout, structural member. Review your trailer to see what you can use.

Then you put a good quality halter in good repair on the horse. Again, one that one horse-power can’t break.*

Use a good lead rope of the same quality as the horse.

The tie ring/post should be at or slightly above the height of the horse’s eye. That’s going to be about six feet for most horses. If a horse pulls back at this height it will cause them some pain and it does not allow them to use their full strength.

Use of a slip knot is a Good Thing. Learn to tie one. If you have to quickly release the horse you can do so, as might someone else.

If you’re new to horse ownership then find a “mentor” who can help you out. Good luck in your work.

G.

*IMO “breakaway” tying is more dangerous to horse and human than hard tying. You’ll hear stories about horses breaking necks or suffering major injury trying to escape in a panic. In 30 plus years I’ve never met anyone (including many vets) who had personal, first hand experience of such things. Horses can, and do, injure themselves while being tied. But if they escape, then what? One documented case of tragic injury was fractious horse, tied with a hay string, at Houston horse show. The horse broke free, ran through a crowd, and trampled a three year old child. If you’re in the woods and your horse breaks free where will it go? Is there a highway nearby where it can get hit by a truck? Or will it just become feral and you’ll never see it again? Decide what risk you’re willing to live with.

[beowulf]

Tie baling twine around the metal hooks on trailer, and tie the horse to those via the lead rope. I would use a cotton lead rope.

A caveat learned the hard way - never use a nylon lead-rope or halter in a trailer. No nylon anything, not even nylon + breakway headstall. The reason I say this is because of Murphy’s Law - in trailer accidents, or mishaps, the horse never snags itself in a way where the breakway part of the halter can be utilized… my last time shipping in a nylon + breakway halter, the horse somehow got the nose part of the halter caught on the metal bar where the pin feeds through the butt-bar as he was backing up. You can imagine what happened - it was not pretty.

I do not use breakaway clips. They tend to 'bungi’e back under pressure/when they’re released, have had more than one horse whacked in the eye that way… which makes things worse.

I prefer to have the baling twine because it breaks before the horse goes into full panic mode, thus preventing that whole panic and get away from handler.

Each to their own - I find different disciplines have different expectations, and such.

You’ll see “hard-tie” thrown around as a term, it means the horse is tied to something unbreakable, with unbreakable material ( nylon). I have seen some serious accidents from hard tying and do not do it.

Teach the horse to yield to pressure and single-tie first. You can do this by teaching them to drop their head when you apply pressure, and walk forward when you pull on their halter. It wouldn’t hurt to teach them to ground-tie either.

I use an all leather halter, and cotton lead-ropes when tying to trailers.

The “Pony Club” way is to tie to a loop of baling twine that is around the trailer eye hook. Tie at heights that are at least the horse’s chest or above. I prefer eye (yours) level, but you can’t always control the height you tie to in a trailer. There should be minimal slack in the lead-rope, not enough for the horse to get a leg over, or walk away, but not so much that he can’t turn his neck (to nip at a fly on his chest, for instance).

I tie with an “emergency release” knot.

This shows what I mean by tying to baling twine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIGDy7DNg7U

This is (more complicated) version of the knot I use:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyPwOgjPS70

Like this – but I would NEVER tie to a board of fence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipOCj2WEhv0

I prefer those knots because in a panic you pull the end of the rope, and it’ll all come out, without part of the leadrope still being fed through whatever it is tied to.

[beowulf]

@beowulf

Tie baling twine around the metal hooks on trailer, and tie the horse to those via the lead rope. I would use a cotton lead rope.

A caveat learned the hard way - never use a nylon lead-rope or halter in a trailer. No nylon anything, not even nylon + breakway headstall. The reason I say this is because of Murphy’s Law - in trailer accidents, or mishaps, the horse never snags itself in a way where the breakway part of the halter can be utilized… my last time shipping in a nylon + breakway halter, the horse somehow got the nose part of the halter caught on the metal bar where the pin feeds through the butt-bar as he was backing up. You can imagine what happened - it was not pretty.

I do not use breakaway clips. They tend to 'bungi’e back under pressure/when they’re released, have had more than one horse whacked in the eye that way… which makes things worse.

I prefer to have the baling twine because it breaks before the horse goes into full panic mode, thus preventing that whole panic and get away from handler.

Each to their own - I find different disciplines have different expectations, and such.

You’ll see “hard-tie” thrown around as a term, it means the horse is tied to something unbreakable, with unbreakable material ( nylon). I have seen some serious accidents from hard tying and do not do it.

Teach the horse to yield to pressure and single-tie first. You can do this by teaching them to drop their head when you apply pressure, and walk forward when you pull on their halter. It wouldn’t hurt to teach them to ground-tie either.

I use an all leather halter, and cotton lead-ropes when tying to trailers.

The “Pony Club” way is to tie to a loop of baling twine that is around the trailer eye hook. Tie at heights that are at least the horse’s chest or above. I prefer eye (yours) level, but you can’t always control the height you tie to in a trailer. There should be minimal slack in the lead-rope, not enough for the horse to get a leg over, or walk away, but not so much that he can’t turn his neck (to nip at a fly on his chest, for instance).

I tie with an “emergency release” knot.

This shows what I mean by tying to baling twine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIGDy7DNg7U

This is (more complicated) version of the knot I use:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyPwOgjPS70

Similar to this – but I would never tie to a fence board, lol:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipOCj2WEhv0

A step by step to my knot, hopefully it makes sense:
Take the lead rope and “fold” the end (the part you’d feed through the baling twine) in half, making a loop.
Feed that fold through the baling twine loop.
Take the free end (the actual end of the lead rope) and cross it over the other section of leadrope (the section going towards the horse);
Then, fold the free end up through the original loop, and pull the section of leadrope going to the horse taut, thus creating your knot.

I prefer those knots because in a panic you pull the end of the rope, and it’ll all come out, without part of the leadrope still being fed through whatever it is tied to.

[clanter]

@TinaR

Could I use something like pictured below? It has a quick release for safety and is marked 32”. I could clip on trailer and then directly to my horses halter?

personally I would not use one of those as I have seen them break with consequences As DMK outlines that is the way we have tied horses to trailers for decades without issue.

as for break away connections those are something we have never used as were not wanting to teach the horse it could get away if it wanted … but we have never had a horse injure itself when tied as some people have so I see a desire to use a break away but we have not needed it.

We do use leather halters for two reasons…1) if needed we can cut the halter off quickly 2) a horse can break it if really panicked

[Janet]

Another vote for a baling twine loop.

Yes, I have had a horse get loose once or twice, but they just graze next to the trailer.

[sascha]

@Guilherme

Y

Use of a slip knot is a Good Thing. Learn to tie one. If you have to quickly release the horse you can do so, as might someone else.

Never, never, never, ever, never tie a horse with a slip knot. In a true emergency with a horse pulling hard you will not get it undone because it will tighten to the point of needing to be cut. It’s a bad scene. I won’t even use one on cattle any more because, although cattle will not fight like a horse, we’ve had to cut too many which is a waste of a perfectly good halter/lead combo.

Learn a proper quick release knot. There are awesome videos out there that show several ways to tie them.

[DinkyDonk]

Google Bank Robber’s Knot. Safe.

[ohmyheck]

We tie our horses using a bowline on a bight knot. It will not tighten and is used on ships for heavy loading. We also never tie solid to anything anywhere. We use baler twine and make a two or three strand loop so a little more firm than one strand but will give before a horse gets injured.

Better broken twine than a broken horse has always been our motto.

[Palm_Beach]

@TinaR

Hi new friends,

I am new to horse ownership and using a trailer. I plan to go on lots of trail rides outside of where I board and will need to be able to tie my horse to the trailer to tack him. I see the place on the outside of the trailer where I can attach a rope or snap, but not really sure the proper way to do this.

Can anyone provide links or tell me the best way? I assume I want a break away snap or similar for safety but not sure length, ect. Whatever I get would attach directly to the halter, correct?

Thank you!

Congratulations on your new horse! There is a rule here that if you get a new horse, you have to post a picture.

Work through a tying program with him. You first need to teach him to give to pressure consistently, and thoroughly desensitize him. You then hard tie (do NOT use anything that breaks!) to something really strong and solid using a blocker tie ring. Use a 12’-15’ rope with a beefy snap and a rope halter. I have a few tie poles in my fenceline near my barn and near my ring that are 5.5’ tall and pounded in, and use them. Tie up for a few minutes at a time, gradually extending to an hour, especially if you are going to trailer to trail ride or compete and he will be tied up a lot. I tie up both before and after I ride. If I am riding more than one horse, I will tack them all up, take them all to the ring, and ride them one at a time, with the others tied to poles outside the ring (except when it’s really hot).

When a horse with a rope halter pulls back on a blocker tie, he very slowly drags the rope through the ring, all the while putting a lot of pressure on his poll. They usually stop after dragging less than 5’ of rope through - it’s a lot of work and a lot of pressure. As soon as he stops pulling, the pressure is released, and he learns NOT to pull back.

So you can teach your horse to stand quietly, as outlined above, or you can try to mitigate damage by rigging stuff up that mitigate damage done by a horse panicking at the trailer. Personally, I prefer the teaching method, which avoids all the panicking and breaking and injuring and loose running stuff.

If you are interested in developing your horse into a good, safe, fun solid citizen, I highly recommend subscribing to Warwick Schiller’s website, www.warwickschiller.com. He is great at showing how to put a good foundation on a horse, which is really important if you are going trail riding, since you will have little control over your environment and you want your horse to be able to calmly deal with many different situations.

You can get blocker tie rings on Amazon.

Never ever tie with anything that will break, like baling twine. That is a horrible idea. When a horse pulls back and breaks something, he is rewarded for pulling back, hence he keeps pulling back harder and gets even worse and never learns to tie. If you put a nylon or leather halter on him with a flat crown piece, he then has something comfortable on his head he can really brace and pull back with. Pulling back with a rope halter on is like picking up a heavy bale of hay by the strings with no gloves. Not very comfortable. If the strings are just draped across your hands, you barely feel them. Put some weight on them and it’s not nice. That is what a rope halter feels like to the horse - perfectly comfy with no pressure, but if they pull on it, it is not comfortable.

[CHT]

I agree with @beowulf 's advice.

We also always tie to twine (in the barn and on the trailer…always). Contrary to what people are saying, I find this actually stops horses from habitually pulling back as they never feel trapped and needing to panic. I would also much rather a loose horse with a dangling rope than (another) horse with a broken neck.

I do not tie with rope halters (although I do use for them for in hand training) as when retraining horse, I saw too many horses with permanent damage to their pole from setting back against one (a panicked horse won’t release to pain, it will just fight harder).

I do not like those stretchy trailer ties as they can/will break and a) leave you with nothing to hand on to, and b) cause the horse to fall back with force. Twine breaks quicker and before you reach catastrophic pressure.

Good luck with your new trailer!

[ohmyheck]

@CHT Ditto with observing less pulling back with twine rather than more.

Once a horse is properly taught to tie, they will do so on a silk thread, metaphorically but that’s the idea. Therefore the twine simply becomes a safety device in case of an incident.

I’m glad everyone has systems that work for them. Different strokes and all that. Palm Beach I like a lot of yours and Guilherme’s training stuff on here but on tying horses we part ways :).

However I will state emphatically that tying solid to the outside of a horse trailer is a bad idea imo. And that was the OP’s question.

OP good luck and have fun with your new horse!

[clanter]

@ohmyheck

@CHT

Once a horse is properly taught to tie, they will do so on a silk thread, metaphorically but that’s the idea. Therefore the twine simply becomes a safety device in case of an incident.

or nothing is needed if taught to ground tie

[ohmyheck]

Handsome fellow! May you have lots of amazing adventures together

[poltroon]

Baling twine works great; I will second the suggestion to consider the Blocker Tie rings if you don’t like twine. They’re very functional and they provide a variety of options for tying that can allow for release or not release. They’re a little pricey but pretty nice. I much prefer those to any kind of quick release snap tie, for crossties too.

[Scribbler]

My

[RedHorses]

Appropriate tie height is wither height or above. If tied lower a pulling horse can permanently injure the ligaments over his withers that raise his head/neck.

I will echo the not hard tying to the trailer, and using the blocker tie ring as an option with some give.

Never use a bungee tie. I have personally witnessed a horse pull back on a bungee, lose traction and get pulled off her feet by the bungee. Also, if a bungee breaks (or pulls the tie anchor off the wall/trailer/post) it’s going to snap back with even more force than anything that doesn’t stretch - depending on which end gives your horse could have a heavy chunk of metal with sharp pointy bits flying at his head.

[BlueDrifter]

… and lastly, depending upon your trailer configuration, the tie ring might be next to the manger door, and you can tie and open the door – he munches while you tack up!

[SonnysMom]

Just a note that the bright colored baling “twine” is nylon and does not break that easily. If I use baling twine I use the old fashioned baling twine which is getting really hard to find. I have now switched to an Equi-ping type plastic thing just a different brand.