Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Tying Horse at Tie Rail with a Quick Release



Be around horses long enough and you’ll see some horse tied to a tie rail too long (with too much slack), where the horse steps over the lead line and pressure on the horse causing him to pull back and break something. You may have seen horses snubbed up too close to the rail. You may have seen someone tie knots that only a chainsaw could get it undone. I prefer to use quick release knots on my lead line so I can quickly and easily un-tie my horse.

Have you seen someone tying to a rail or fence using either one or both reins with the horse carrying a bit? Not good in either case. I’ve seen horses pull down fence panels or bang their teeth on bits pulling back. If you need to tie a bridled horse to a rail, then you should consider using a separate rope like a “get down” rope. If you are riding with mecate reins (sometimes called McCarthy reins because some people don’t pronounce Spanish words very well) then you have that extra 8 feet of rope to tie with.

The below video shows a simple knot I use when tying a horse to a tie rail. Remember that you may see the tie rail as a handy place to tie your horse,....he see's the rail and thinks "Ahh, a test for my strength or knot un-tying abilities".





2 comments:

  1. You use the correct nautical terms. were you a Swabby? No matter, I needed that.

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  2. So let me get this right - a U loop, put it over the rail, then take a U loop from the halter end and slip it through the first one, then take another U loop from the loose end and slip it through the 2nd loop? So you are daisy chain-ing them? I'll have to try that one. Thanks.

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