I am tie high, hard and fast with a quick release knot (good leather halter, thick cotton lead, solid hardware). I hate break away stuff. My horses need to stay tied to the trailer, sometimes even overnight. I spend a lot of time teaching giving to pressure, a lot of time. To me, I’d rather take the time to teach that than have a horse loose in the wilderness or on a busy road. I guess technically when I use my hi-ties they are breakaway because they are attached with heavy velcro but I’ve seen horses set back (not mine) on those pretty good and never seen one come undone because of the angle.
But you use a leather halter. That will break. Maybe not as easy as things designed to break away. Some people are talking non-breakaway as in nylon halter or rope halter.
I sometimes think that a quick release knot is a false sense of security. If the horse is sitting back, panicing, flailing with his front legs and whipping his body side to side do you really want to step between him and the horse trailer to release that quick release knot? I just see that as an opportunity to get hurt.
Not a crappy leather halter, a real one. They don’t generally break. And yes sometimes I use a rope halter- I just don’t tie overnight in those because they come off too easily.
No I wouldn’t get in between the horse and the trailer to release a knot but I also don’t want to tie a knot that’s a PIA to undo just for regular use- quick release knots are the most efficient way to tie.
I’m not familiar with all the variations on the theme of “quick release knots” but you are certainly right if the horse has tightened the rope such that it won’t slide. But, again, there is a choice, here, that can be difficult. We know from the above comments that if the horse is “soft tied” they can learn to release themselves. If you release the horse that is pulling back then have you not taught them that pulling back will gain them freedom? What are the implications and consequences of teaching THIS lesson?
One last thought: how many here (particularly women) carry a sharp knife of some sort on your person at all times when working with horses? IMO a appropriate knife is as important a safety device as good quality boots or a helmet.
G.
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I always use the “pony club” quick release (which I’m sure has an official name lol). Like I said, it’s has less to do with being able to release a pulling back horse and more with the fact that it’s an easy knot to tie and to release so it’s efficient and even releases nicely when the rope is wet. I’ve taught all the guys at work how to do it and they all use it now for tarping trees so it doesn’t take forever to untie stuff and it still stays snug going down the highway lol
And, yep, always a knife and generally a pair of super sharp hand pruners too
I keep a Leatherman in my saddle bags, in each vehicle, the trailer and in the barn. I have an ankle safe that I wear on more remote rides and my Leatherman goes in it along with other essentials in case my horse and I become separated.
“Be Prepared”!
OP, I love the Tie Safe Trailer Tie. I use it for tying my horse outside the trailer. My horse has never pulled back hard enough to separate the Velcro. I like that his halter won’t break if he does, and he won’t be running around loose with no halter on.
https://www.doversaddlery.com/tie-safe-trailer-tie/p/X1-4713/
My trainer was at a show where a horse was hard-tied to a trailer. Another horse got loose and was running directly at him. The tied horse panicked, flipped over and broke a leg. Had to be euthanized. Sometimes even the best trained horse ends up in a situation that causes them to panic :no:
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I saw something similar at a horse show. Horse dumped rider, horse went back to the trailers and got between a tied horse and the trailer. Both horses got their legs pretty cut up on the wheel well. Tied horse finally slipped out of halter. Now he was running around loose with no way to easily grab him. It would have been way better if a piece of baling twine broke and he was trailing a leadline rather than being naked.
^ until someone else recounts that time a horse running around with a lead rope got progressively more panicked until it ran into something and broke its neck or caught up in it and broke a leg…
Because the ONE thing you can count on in owning horses is if you say doing X would have prevented Y tragedy, there will be someone who has had an experience where X caused a tragedy.
So you train them as best as you can to handle the unexpected, you observe the common sense safety measures that make sense for that horse and the place/time you are in, and when the unexpected happens you pray to any gods you happen to observe that the shit doesn’t go completely sideways.
on that note about respecting the horse you have, not the one you wish you had 
One of mine uses The Clip (and because of him I also use them on my cross ties, but also due to the fact that whoever sunk the posts put them in way too short, so the tie ring is not above the eye. It’s a pain, but as long as I am at this place, I’m stuck with it)
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=562395f7-7b04-4429-be72-44297a937b9f
He has always freaked out when he feels pressure from tying. It’s just him, I’ve owned him since he was a yearling and in this area he is unpredictable. If I am there, I can generally step around to a safe distance behind him and ask him to step up and break the cycle. But if it isn’t nipped in the bud, it becomes a downward spiral of reaction. So this clip works out well when I am may not be right there. I use it with a super long lead rope and set it on a medium tension. Just enough that if he moves around it doesn’t give, but if he really sits down it gives a few inches and his panic subsides.
The blocker tie ring may work on the same principle, but I do like the idea you can adjust how much “give” the tie has
If that is a bungee, then NO.
If there’s no stretch to the cord, Maybe, but I’d use a standard lead rope & learn to tie a quick release.
If you do end up using something with that Panic Snap release, clip that part away from the horse , on the trailer tie ring, NOT on the halter.
You do not want to be trying to work the snap with a panicked horse so close to your hand.
I have a knife in my pocket, sometimes one on my belt, too, around horses and cattle. I feel pretty naked if I don’t have a knife on me.
I use a rope halter, and tie hard and fast to the trailer, using a quick release knot.
Any time you have a rope attached to a large animal, you have the opportunity for a big wreck. This includes roping a calf or a cow or another horse.
I have known horses that I would have used baling twine, or a blocker tie ring for.
Don’t use a bungee tie. There is a lot of energy, potential energy that turns into kinetic energy, when the thing breaks, or is released.
I love the Safety Trailer Tie posted in the link above, for that reason. The Velcro gives way and leaves you with a catch rope attached to the halter, not a full lead line dangling on/around the horse. The company makes a cross-tie length option too.
I used those many years ago and my only complaint was the o ring that helps secure the overlapping Velcro pieces degraded/stretched in short order, then the Velcro itself lost its velcroness. What started as a good idea ended up failing when a horse reached around to get a fly!
