Pulling back

[Skittled]

My horse has recently developed this habit of pulling back when he doesnt want to do something (ie get onto the float) or when he is tied to the float and cant see his friend.

He has also figured out that he can pull back and escape off to eat grass. Grrrr... Naughty horse.

Any suggestions on how I can re-train him to not pull back? I am at an agistment centre, so my facilities are somewhat limited.

 

[RVP Horses]

I don't think pulling back is the issue with his floating. He doesn't want to go on the float and he has found that pulling back works for him so he'll keep doing it. He is just using this as a tool to avoid the float. If it wasn't pulling back he'd probably try something else. This can be solved quickly by not allowing the pulling back to work for him.

As for the escaping from being tied to the float, this is hard to fix without having good facilities to be able to teach your horse to hard tie. You can teach him to come forward off light pressure which may help, but now he has learnt how to pull away this may not be enough. You need a good solid, safe tie up rail in conjunction with teaching him to come forward off pressure.

 

[wattle6180]

Pulling back is definitely related to not floating. When the horse has complete respect for the pressure/release of a headcollar, they will go where the headcollar goes. If you think of a headcollar not as a leading tool, but the space that the horse's head has to remain within, there would be no pulling back. When the headcollar moves forward (into the float), so does the horse's body follow. When the headcollar is at rest (tied up), so is the body behind it

 

[Skittled]

It is definately not related to floating, he is actually very good to float, he is just being naughty because going on a float means he is going to get worked harder than normal. I was looking into the parrelli method of giving into pressure last night, going to give that one a go.

I might be able to find a tree to tie him to, I wouldnt trust any of the tie up rails at the centre. I have also seen a horse running around with a stable door attached to it. Not pleasant.

Thanks for the ideas

 

[Caroline]

You need a solid tree or other solid high tie point, a rope halter, a strong 12ft lead rope and a neck collar to do it properly. Fred Watkins trains horses to tie solid and very safely if you do not have the gear, facilities or knowledge to do it yourself.**)

 

[jess4dressage]

Get the inside of a car or bike tyre the tube! It very stretch, tie this to the post of the float, then tie the horse to the tube. When it pulls back it gives a fair bit but it wont snap and the horse learns it can pull but the thing wont give way but it also less risk then strong tie where they can't have any give.

If you're really brave and want to take a risk, rope halter, rope lead, neck collar tie to a very strong tree, horse can pull all day but nothing will give, you do risk the horse panicking and hurting itself. I have done this with two horse and once they got nothing gave way they never pulled back ever again.