I like to tie my horses to a post because I think it is a fabulous way to develop a more dependable horse. Before I tie a horse, I prepare the horse how to stand still at liberty on command using the Waterhole Rituals. If it is a foal, I make certain that foal would be happy being separated from its mother and vice versa. From being tied, a horse learns that when I leave him he is responsible for standing still and not fussing.

At the beginning of the training, I tie him with a knot that I can pull loose immediately he might suggest he would try to pull back. The theory is that in early training if a horse never experiences pulling back, he will not choose it as an option later on when he is fully trained.

So, let’s say I have a baby foal that has a foundation with the Waterhole Rituals and this baby foal watches his mother regularly being tied to a post and he sees how much she enjoys it and how happy she is. He thinks to himself, “Gee, I never get tied to that post”.

So, one day, you bring that little foal and you say “Today’s the day! Today we’re going to tie you to Mr. Post.”

And the foal says, “Boy, you been bringing everyone else and tying them to the post and I’ve never been to the post before. I’m sure glad I get to investigate Mr. Post today”.

You say “Yes” and you tie him up, “Now, there you are with Mr. Post”.

And he says “Mmm, very interesting post”.

“And I’m just going to sit right here in this chair and keep you company. Oh, and by the way, here’s a carrot. Well, isn’t this fun here with Mr. Post? Well, I’m just going to read my book here for a while….. OK, we’ve been here three minutes, that’s enough, let’s untie you.”

And the foal says “Boy, I can’t wait to go to Mr. Post again, that was so much fun”.

So the next day you bring that little foal up again and tie him to Mr. Post and he says “Oh here I am with Mr. Post again!” Now, it’s not a post, it’s a tree, a beautiful tree and the foal says “Oh I just love being here under this post with all its leaves and shade”.

“Yes” I say, “You don’t have to worry about a thing, I’m right here. Oh and by the way, here’s your carrot.”

So, as the days go by, you only have to hand him a carrot once in a while and the time between carrots gets longer and longer.

So pretty soon, I can say “Oh Honey, guess what? I’ve run out of carrot. You stay right here and I’ll be right back” and I go and he’s left there all by himself. And he’s saying, “I wonder where she went?”

I’m gone a little while and then I come back, “Well here I am! I went to get some carrots for you. Good boy, here’s your carrot”.

And the foal says “Well, thank goodness, you went to get those carrots!”

Next time I go away a little longer and he says to himself, “I know where she’s going! She’s going to get those carrots”.

So I go about my business, do the things I have to do and the next thing you know, 30 minutes have gone by.

Now that foal has a system of understanding that that’s what we do. He says “I can stand here like my mother, you just watch me. I can stand here right by this post because I love standing here! See everybody, I’m standing by the post and you don’t get to stand by the post. But I do and carrots are going to come”.

The next thing you know, an hour has gone by and I come back and I say “You’re right, Honey, here are those carrots, you’re so lucky.”

So one day somebody brings in a horse trailer. Now the little foal has never been in a trailer before but he’s had lots of experience with Mr. Post and also, he’s seen everybody else get in the horse trailer and eat.

And that foal says “When’s it going to be my time to get in the trailer?”

So I say “Today is your turn to get in the trailer”.

You know what that foal does?

He says “Get out of my way, I want to get in that trailer!” and in he goes. He stand there and says “This is much better than being with Mr. Post, you know. Look at all the treats in this trailer”. And I let that baby eat those treats and just before he finishes them, I bring him out of the trailer and he says, “Wait a minute, I haven’t finished those treats!”

“Oh, that’s OK, Honey, we’ll get them next time” I say.

And he’s feeling really sad, he says “Gee, she took me out of that trailer and I didn’t get to finish those treats”. So by the next time that trailer comes round, he just can’t wait to get into it.

So there you have it, pretty simple, huh? Well, yes and no. I surely haven’t given you all the answers on how to accomplish the task of teaching a horse to be tied and after all, horses are individuals so some will be easy and others will require a bit more work. The rule of thumb though is that is there is any objection or concern, I do not tie. Maybe we just eat the carrot at the post and then return home.

Let’s say if a foal becomes upset at any point on his trip to the post, stop and give him time to get comfortable. When he is, give him carrots and take him home. The main point is to let the foal’s attitude and how he is feeling about what is going on guide your decisions.

The purpose of this tale is to empower you to find your own way to train a horse to be tied up by showing you the method I use and how careful I am to keep a horse interested and enthusiastic about learning new behaviors.

You can comment on this article by clicking –>HorseConscious Forum