The Power of Petting Horses

I recently had a discussion with a lady who asked me if I thought petting and rubbing horse would create a pushy, spoiled horse. She told me people at her barn warned her about that would give her horse bad manners. Over the years I come to believe that men, for the most part, are really much more likely not to be as hands on petting and rubbing horses as women are. Men make not have that type of contact with a horse foremost in their mind, or may think that's it's not very manly or such. I don't. In fact, I get a lot of ribbing like "you sure do like petting and rubbing your horses." But as far as petting and rubbing on your horses, I believe it's much in how you do it. It's like riding with spurs. If you use spurs judiciously and softly, they can help you and the horse, but used wrong, just to gouge or punish the horse, then you and your methods are going to be detrimental. Same as petting on your horse - do it in a manner that encourages pushiness is not good and getting the horse's head where it can smack you could be dangerous.

There is a secret, really several, on petting and rubbing horses,  but it basically come down to, yes it can help calm and horse, and 2 - no amount of petting will replace getting a horse to understand what you are asking, or what most people would say, training a horse. Two weeks ago, I brought home a 2 year old gelding from a horse auction. As you can imagine, he was very nervous being trailered to a new home absent of the other 2 year old geldings who had been his paddock mates for his young lifetime. Once I got him in his new pen and before I took the halter off, I rubbed on his nose and cheeks until his demeanor changed just a bit and I got his head to soften. It was just replacing his anxiety with some comfort, just changing his perspective for a bit.  And his first inkling that I was there to take care of him and he can trust me.  

Another time I was in the arena judging an event when a man rode his horse in to make his run. This horse, being in place without the support of the other horses, became very scared and would not continue move forward. After a few minutes, which probably seemed like an hour to the rider, the rider said he was going to dismount and lead the horse out. I asked the rider to wait a minute, then I approached the horse and petted on him stroking his nose then putting a hand on his poll and hand on his nose and getting him to soften a bit. After a short time, I told the rider, when I walk away he may follow, and if so, just give him his head and let him follow me. So I walked away and that horse followed me from one obstacle to another. I think I changed his thinking from being troubled with being by himself without his buddies to liking what I had to offer him and wanting to buddy up with me. It did not change his perspective on being by himself from here on out, it just was one small step in the process of letting him accept new things.

Like the 2 year old gelding I just brought home and the horse I described above, this is one of the first things I'll do with a horse to introduce softness in their head and neck. It's hard to do when they are scared and focused on the new environment or situation, but it can help get a change in the horse. But between rubbing and petting on their nose, around the eye socket and poll, I'll stop with one hand on their nose and the other on their poll and put just a bit of pressure until they drop their head. I always have a hand in position to block and discourage movement that is pushy or could be dangerous.


In the beginning, I'm just looking for the head to come down a bit. It may come down slowly and they may be bracy at first, but in just a few times that improves much. And like I said, in between the asking for softness, I do the rubbing and petting. Again, this is where you can encourage or preempt pushiness. A horse will likely turn his head towards you and you need to be prepared to block that. You want your hands and forearms in a position where you can block that. So one or both hands and forearms are always between your face and the horse. This is especially true if your horse likes to put his lips on you, nibble or even bite you. And I told MH that while it feels good to us to pet and rub on a horse, our enjoyment can't be the primary purpose.....it has to be good for the horse and used to relax the horse and change his thinking to create a window for learning. You can feel that change when the tension or rigidness goes out of them....that's the time to get out of there, before they get bracy.

I remember a very well known and universally respected horse trainer who said never rub or pet on your horse while they are feeding. I disagreed then and now, with the caveat that it's how you go about doing it. While a green or new horse is relaxed and feeding, I'll use that time to touch and rub him to see if he has any trouble areas. Sometimes a horse will pull his head up, turn and look at me, but they rapidly go back to their feed. By the time I pull that horse to do ground work or saddle him, he has already been touched about everywhere.

The often repeated saying. “There’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man”, which has been attributed to various sources, including Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan, to me isn't necessarily limited to riding a horse. The feeling we get, and especially the joy that people new to horses get, is just good for our souls. When riding back from open country and crossing a road to see a vehicle stop and people watch me, I never hesitate to ride over to them and have a chat which almost always results in the people getting out to pet my horse. One of my favorite stories was when I saw a car stopped and rode up to find a lady, probably in her late 30's, with her elderly mother to had Alzheimer's in the front seat. She said she was just driving her mother around to change her routine and decided to drive into the country. Her mother was wheel chair bound so she couldn't get her out of the car on the shoulder of the highway, so I asked her to roll down her window. I rode around to the passenger side and had my horse stick his nose into the car. I'll always remember the look of joy of that elderly women's face as she raised a hand an touched my horse's nose.

So yes, petting and rubbing on horse's is good for us and it can be good for the horse. Make it so.

Tying Up Young Horses

Sometimes people will contact me and ask about the Functional Tie Rings, sometimes just to make sure they are still available or they are skeptical about ordering on line. Having been scammed before, I get it, and I always enjoy those conversations anyway. I always follow up a phone call with a email to lessen the chance of our conversation being taken out context, especially when it comes to using a Tie Ring or addressing other issues with horses. So in that vein I am including most of an e-mail response I sent to a lady named Colleen who was asking "when is it appropriate agewise to use a Tie Ring on a horse?" Apparently she was told that it is generally okay to start tying up young horses so they can get used to stand being tied. And although she has a Clinton Anderson tie ring, she has not used it yet nor does she know anybody in her circle who uses tie rings. The horse in the photo at right is tied using a Functional Tie Ring, but for the first 6 months or so of saddling him, I did not tie him at all, instead I would lay the lead rope over my arm or simply lay it on the ground as in ground tying. I highy valye a horsee that is comfortable at ground tying so I work at this. So bottom line is that I would highly suggest never saddling a green horse when he is tied.

Unfortunately it's pretty routine to see tying mistakes. Some of the common one's are: hard tying to non-anchored points like temporary panel fencing; hard typing without a quick release; and, hard tying horse's who have never been tied much nor stand tied well - and this can be a tragic mistake when a young horse's seeming calmness belies his lack of experience. I have seen or know about several young horse's that were hard tied and pulled back flipping over or falling and injuring themselves badly.

And I can't talk about tying horses without this story. I was doing a demonstration and clinic a few years ago at an indoor arena. I entered the arena and hard tied my horse (with a quick release) to the permanent rail fencing. He was the only horse in the arena. Shortly, a rider attending the clinic entered and tied her mare up just feet away next to my gelding despite having plenty of room to tie elsewhere. Her mare started turning her butt towards and trying to kick my horse. The rider returned to move her horse but ended up tying the mare to a long hinged gate on wheels. Her horse started pulling back and pulling the gate towards herself. The rider got in between the gate and her horse and every time she reached for her horse, the horse would pull back and slam her with the gate knocking her down. This happened a couple times until she was able to get to the side of her horse's head. Anyway, could have ended up with more than just embarrassment.

It's not the age of a horse that dictates when they are ready to be tied, either hard tied or using a tie ring, but their ability to understand coming off of pressure. When a horse pulls back, or even when we pull on a horse from the front, the biggest part of that pressure they feel is from the halter (rope or web halter) on their poll - on the neck behind the ears. Again your horse needs to come off of pressure from the halter before you tie him up, so at a minimum this would be if you pull the lead rope taunt and the horse changes his body weight forward or takes a step forward towards you, to relieve the pressure. I'd like them even much better than this, so when they feel that pressure it's always a step forward to obtain their own release. And even then I like to use a Functional Tie Ring for weeks or months before I start hard tying.

If you are beginning to lead your horse and you have to bump on the lead rope until he starts moving forward, he is not giving to pressure very well and you need to do more work on getting him to follow the feel of the lead rope willingly and in a timely manner. Sure, in the beginning of ground work on a green horse you will likely have to bump him some to follow the feel, but you don't start right off bumping him. Instead, you would draw a loose lead rope taunt slowly and allow a chance for the horse to understand before you start bumping him.

The Clinton Anderson Tie Ring, previously known as the Blocker Tie Ring will work just fine. Just remember the hinged center bar falls away from you. If you insert the lead rope with the hinged bar rotating towards you then push the bar up to the magnetic lock, a small amount of pressure on the lead rope by the horse will pull the hinged bar down and the horse is loose. Should not be a problem to remember to use it correctly and with any tie ring you have to be concerned of where your fingers are if the horse pulls back when you are securing the lead rope! I know two people who have lost the tip of a finger tying a horse and having the horse pull back. One of them owned up to not paying attention, the other guy blamed a pretty girl diverting his attention. The results were the same, loss of a tip of a finger and it could have been the good finger that you use to clean your ears out with.

The sequence of photos above (click on the photo to enlarge) show: Figure 1 - Normal hookup of the lead rope using the Functional Tie Ring. This allows for the rope to feed through the tie ting if or when the horse pulls back. The lead rope I am using in the photo is a Double Diamond standard lead rope and it will start moving through the tie ring around 15-18 pounds of pressure. Figure 2 - the arrows depict pulling the bite of the lead rope that is through the tie ring around the bottom of the tie ring which creates a girth hitch and a hard tie. This is wrong if your intention is to tie a young horse or any horse who has pull back issues. Figure 3 - using a girth hitch on the lead rope with a tie ring, again, creates a hard tie. Make sure if you use it this way that your horse is good about being hard tied.