Ariel and the crossties

[PaulaO]

This girl is sometimes too much. Last night was bodywork night and of course she was dirty. I calmly put her in cross ties, the good breakaway ones. Took off her blanket, started currying. Her face was pretty dirty and I know she can tetchy about it, so I caaaarrrefully brought my hand up and started hand currying. FREAK OUT. Pull back, go mental, one cross tie quick releases, the other snaps at the baling twine. She runs into the nearest open stall with one cross tie and her lead rope hanging. It was a miracle I remained so calm. I got the cross tie off, picked up the lead rope, let her settle, and we went back into the aisle where she stood without being tied.

Body worker said last night her poll was very sensitive and I don't know if it was sore and she reacted to my touch, or it was sore because she pulled back. Anyway. That's the second set of ties she broken out of. I am going to work on grooming her without being tied, but she is nosy and likes to move around.

She is such a trial. The other night she did not have her manners on, and I told her calmly, "look, if you want this to be a permanent relationship, you have got to act nicer (she picked up her leg and kicked when I girthed her). This isn't a done deal and if you don't behave, you will go back to the livery and be a school horse." I swear she understood me and she got the "I'm sorry" look on her face and behaved perfectly the rest of the night.

And yes, I girth her one hole at a time.

And yes, everyone knows it will be a done deal.....

[kande50]

That's the second set of ties she broken out of. I am going to work on grooming her without being tied, but she is nosy and likes to move around..

I wonder if those blocker ties might help her?

[TeresaA]

Blocker ties are a good idea. Teaching her to ground tie is good too. Teaching Carmen to ground tie made her so much easier to work with. She was very reactive when being groomed. I do find that she is very wary about her face- in a way that makes me think she has had a bad experience in the past. I have to come towards her face slowly and from underneath and she will now let me brush it without flinching.

Good luck with your clearly temporary and not here for long horse.

[Imperini]

I bought blocker tie rings for Pallie after the 3rd halter she killed. I thought to myself they were just a silly gimmick but I was also tired of buying halter parts so figured what did I have to lose. They are great and we haven't had an issue since I got them. If you're interested in trying something different I would definitely recommend them though I hear some horses get savvy and slowly free themselves I haven't had that yet and P is pretty smart.

[Hayburner]

I groom both of my horses in their stall. Everyone else grooms in the aisle/cross ties. I find it more relaxing for me and my horses to do it in the stall, we aren't in anyone way, and they can enjoy the session by stretching and bending more in the stall. I use the hands on gloves and my mare just melts into them. Grooming is a part of our bonding and I want it to be a positive feeling for her, she never minds being groomed on any part of her body.

My aged gelding hates having his face cleaned - I've actually given up in cleaning it..I think with his cushings and his cataract his' more sensitive around his head. There are also days where he just doesn't want to be groomed at all - this time of year there could be a small amount of static that zaps him, I can't feel it but maybe he can.

Maybe it's where you stand and groom her face that she doesn't like. When we clip my old guy we have to shield his eye when we clip his neck otherwise he flips out. It's the shadows that bother him.

As for the girth - why not lightly tighten it - walk her around the arena, stop and take the extra notches up after a few steps. I find that works well for my mare. THough, she doesn't really mind her girth - I do it out of habit...

[Josette]

Ditto - I would groom her in the stall and learn what is her trigger vs on the crossties. Some horses can be very sensitive or have an old injury that sets them off. I always girth my guy slowly as he can be quite girthy with the tail and teeth going. No harm in taking a few extra minutes and doing it gradual with a walk around before final tighten. I even ride at a walk too and tighten one more hole before actual work. Each horse is different...

[galopp]

I only will cross tie in a stall which is closed behind (on three sides), but when doing the head (esp with a horse is do not know) I would only have a shank on (and never use a curry). Many horses are more tense in the atlas-axis area because they are precipitously flexed. As far as being goosey (I tend to only use long girths with double elastic on both sides), I stop any leg action with a shank as well (esp with off the track horses in which it is often a learned behavior).

[PaulaO]

I will not do her face in ties from now on. Sometimes she loves it, sometimes not. Here is our girth routine: Saddle on, girth on one hole on whatever side. Girth then gets put on one hole on the other side. She pins her ears, snaps and maybe lifts a leg. Now girth is on one hole each side. We walk to the arena, I go up another hole on each side. She is fine. We walk into the arena and do a lap and the girth goes up another hole on each side and she is fine. It's the first hole. Daniela (bodyworker) worked on her girth area last night and I hope to see an improvement, but I really think it's an ingrained/learned reaction. P.S. Girth is a long one, with elastic on both ends.

[piedmontfields]

Paula, this is the spring sillies time of year that I remind my mare: You don't drop me--ever--and you have a great retirement! You do---and all bets are off :-0

I bought blocker ties for my last barn because I was tired of seeing other horses struggle with other cross ties. They are a super useful tool. But agree that grooming in a stall or a 3 side area is much easier and more supportive for many horses.

[StraightForward]

Ditto the blocker ties. Our barn has crossties set on posts outside, and they are too low and close together, so if a horse spooks, they get more panicked because when they head goes up, the crossties get even tighter. I always use at least one Blocker in those ties so the horse gets some slack if they pull back, but they don't learn that pulling back gets them totally away from the situation. Well, I use them on the regular barn aisle cross ties too, but they're not as vital there. Also, you don't end up with a flying hunk of metal like when a quick release snap releases (FWIW, Obie shredded an elastic cord tie that was on a quick release, so that tells you how reliably those quick release snaps work. He also busted a double stitched leather halter crown in that episode, which lead to much more diligent use of the Blockers).

[PaulaO]

Blocker Tie Rings question: Do you use two (one on each side of the aisle, as in cross ties) or just one? Miss A. likes to move around unless she is in ties. I've watched a few videos on the Blockers. Does the Blocker allow the lead rope to come out, or does it provide enough slack so the horse doesn't panic but is still connected? I would have to purchase these (the barn wouldn't pay for them and I don't expect them to).

[Imperini]

I use two blocker tie rings so they act as cross ties. They allow the lead rope to come out, but you do have to apply some pressure for that to happen and there are a couple of different ways you can put the lead rope on for less pressure or more pressure for the lead rope to slide through. So when the horse ends up at a point where they would normally start pulling back in regular cross ties it release a little and they don't get that panic that kicks in from being restrained, then you can step them forward adjust the ties back to where they were if needed, and you're good to go. Since I got them though she's not even gotten to the point of pulling them through even when she was all fidgety right after our barn move. I think part of it is that even if she steps back where she's going to get that extra poll pressure since I know she's not going to flip out and hurt herself or break something I'm more relaxed about it too.

[Kyra's Mom]

When I had to cross tie, I definitely had a Blocker on each side. I'm not a big fan of cross ties and the barn I am at currently just has a tie wall...but Blockers in both spots .

I put them all over our barn. They have fixed two of my horses from pulling back. I had one mare that pulled in the crossties and pulled through all the holes on a heavy nylon halter . I quit cross tying her after that...no back wall as gallop describes and she was just too claustrophobic. Over time and with a bunch of work with the Blockers, she was much better.

That said, I don't leave home without them. I have a set in the trailer for travel.

Susan