Think Like A Horse - Natural Horsemanship
Horse's love it when their owner's understand them; Rick Gore Horsemanship
Horsemanship is about the horse teaching you about yourself.
Tying A Horse:
A good tying horse is very important for the safety of your horse and others. You never want a horse to break away and escape once you tie him. Every time a horse
escapes 
when tied, he will try to escape harder next time. Remember a horse learns when he gets release of pressure, so if he pulls and gets release of pressure, then he thinks the right answer is to pull. I like using a good rope halter with no buckles or snaps and a good rope with no snaps. With a rope halter, a horse will not try too hard to escape since the rope pulls behind the ears and is not comfortable to the horse. He learns that when he pulls, pulling hurts and when he stops pulling, he stops hurting. A rope halter is also called a cowboy halter or natural halter. Long ago, before snaps and fancy buckles, halters were tied. These halters do not break easy and are very strong. Always tie a horse high and short to a non-movable object when teaching to tie. After he learns and 
is proficient at standing tied, then you may tie him to tree limbs, rope lines and other things for short periods, since he knows how to tie and how to give to pressure. I see people using a stud chain to lead and some even tie with it. Not good. If this horse does get really scared and pulls hard he would cut himself with the chain or may break his jaw or nose, depending on how the chain is put on. You want a horse to feel uncomfortable if he pulls, but you never want him to get hurt. I also see people put fur, cotton or sheep skin under halter so it will be soft and comfortable to the horse. Not good and this sets the horse up for failure. Again, if the horse pulls you want discomfort so the horse is motivated NOT to pull.
Never tie to a fence or panel that can be pulled down. If a horse pulls the panel down, the horse will drag it and think it is chasing him, which could cause the horse to run blindly with fear into a fence, road or over a cliff. I like putting a good strong tie ring about five feet up on a pole. This is high enough so a horse cannot reach it or chew on the knot without stretching his neck. This also is away from his eyes and prevents him from getting his leg over the rope. Then I tie with a "bank robber knot" (slipknot). This horse is tied with a slip knot, however it is tied to a panel that could possibly be pulled over. He is also tied too low. He could get his leg over the tie. If this horse puts his head down to get a snack, the rope could go over his ears or across his eye and if he gets spooked, you have trouble. Notice the snap on the lead rope. This is where this tie will break if the horse gets scared or panics and tries to run. When a snap breaks, it does so with great force. This sends pieces of metal flying, into your eye or a horse's eye, it also causes the rope to sling-shot and snap which causes pain and more fear to the horse. Not much good comes from a horse breaking free from a tie. So be aware and do yourself, your horse and others a favor, teach your horse to tie and tie him correctly and safely.
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Tying is keeping a horse where you left him. Most horses learn to "tie" simply because
they find it easier to stand quietly than to fight (if they do not get away). A key point is "IF THEY DO NOT GET AWAY". All horses should be taught to stand tied and should not be considered trained until they do so. Being tied uncomfortably or in an unsafe area can teach a horse to be a puller or fear being tied. If a horse is tied properly and comfortably, they will find comfort and calmness when tied. They learn to relax, drop their heads and even take a nap.
You can help prevent halter pulling with a lariat rope or other soft rope. This rope can be placed around the girth of a horse with the standing part of the rope extending forward to the halter ring from between the front legs of the horse. The end of the lariat is then tied to the same fixed object as your original tie point. As the horse backs up, the lariat loop or soft rope tightens around the horse's
middle and the rope through the halter pulls the head down in a straight line, without injuring the neck. It usually takes only a few short sessions before the horse learns to stand quietly. Another option is to place a soft rope around the neck, behind the ears, through the halter and tie with original tie point. This will take some pressure off you halter but will still apply pressure to behind the ears, if the horse pulls. It is important to keep the horse from dropping its head down and stepping over the rope. The horse must, however, be able to hold its head at a normal height where it is comfortable, when he is not putting pressure on himself. Sacking out a horse while tied helps train him to stand even when spooked or scared.
The snaps on halters and ropes will always break first, so by using a rope halter and ropes without a snap you ensure the horse will not get away once tied, provided you tied him to a strong tie point. Horses have also been 
injured when a buckle breaks and snaps back. It can take out an eye or cut the horse. Make sure you tie the horse to a solid pole that will not give or break. The worst thing that can happen is to tie a horse, and then when they pull, fight or get scared, they get away. Always use a proper slipknot in case of an emergency or if the horse gets into real trouble. Tying short means that you only leave about two or three feet of rope from knot to horse. I only leave enough rope so the horse can hang his head comfortably and look side to side. Tying is about keeping the horse where you leave. In order to have a good tie you three things. A good strong rope halter (or other halter that will not break), a good strong lead rope 
with NO BUCKLE, and a strong tie point that will not pull free. If any of these three things are weak, the horse will get free and he will learn to pull and test. Once YOU teach a horse
to pull, I say you since only bad tying can teach a horse to pull, you cause the horse pain and set him up for failure. Don't do this. Don't allow others to tie your horse wrong. The photo on the right shows a new tough steel tie ring that clips on, the problem is the horse is still only being held by the 29 cents snap on his halter. So no matter how good your tie point, your tie is only as good as your weakest point, so your halter, rope and tie point are critical. If any break, your horse is free.
I had a farrier tell me not to tie a horse solid and let the rope just hang so if the horse pulls it would not feel trapped. As I watched her work on the horse, the horse would pull and move back and the rope would slide back. She would stop and pull the rope through the tie ring, move the horse forward and try again. As the horse learned that he could pull away and walk away, he did this more. Then the farrier got frustrated and tied the horse solid and short. The problem was the horse was just taught that he could pull away so when he tried to do this after tied and was trapped, he panicked, reared and broke the snap on the lead rope and got away. I watched a horse get trained to pull in around 10 minutes. To a horse, since he was allowed to pull several times, he thought that was the right answer. So when the rules changed, by tying him right (except for the snap), he went into a panic and pulled harder and with more force. Then when the snap broke, the horse was told again, the right answer is to pull in order to get free. Very bad lesson and very confusing to the horse. This horse was not set up for success. I happened to know this horse knew how to tie and would stand quietly, without pulling, when tied properly, yet in one farrier session, he was taught to be a puller. Fortunately, horses learn fast and this could be fixed by a couple of sessions of proper tying without snaps. Luckily no one and no horse was hurt by this. Just another example of where trying to be nice to a horse teaches a bad lesson and puts the horse in danger.
While doing research for this page, I ran across an article by a woman that advocated not to tie a horse where it could not get away. I had to laugh when I saw this. Her solution was this Picture to the left. I could not stop laughing when I saw this. It is hard to believe that someone could be writing an article, as some sort of expert and would give out such poor advice. She suggested that you tie hay string to a pole and then tie your horse to the string. That way if the horse pulled, it could break free without stress. Her theory, like a lot of women in the horse world, was to be kinder and gentler to the horse, she believes you should not make your horse feel any discomfort if he pulled. 
This is someone who does not understand a horse. This sets a horse up for failure and teaches him to pull for relief and teaches him to test all ties. This horse will end up getting hurt or killed when he breaks away. I see this all time, people try to be too nice, treat a horse like our other pets and end up doing more damage than good. Soon, any horse tied this way will learn, and will have been taught, that when I am tied, all I have to do is pull and I can get free. Bad lesson.
If you want to train your horse to pull, break away and never stand calmly and
politely, use the above technique to tie him. And if you choose this technique, I might also suggest you use break away reins when riding your horse and use a string to secure all gates that hold your horses. Make sure you have good running shoes, you will need them to catch your horses. This picture to the right show a new fancy type of tie ring that is being sold as kinder for horses that pull. This is a slip tie and gives the horse release when he pulls. Bad lesson. This tie ring teaches a horse to pull for release so when you tie a horse solid, like it should be, he will pull expecting release and when he does not get it, he will panic, feel trapped and pull harder. This ring sets the horse up for failure. Teach your horse to tie correctly and you will not need new and improved tie rings.
Once a horse successfully breaks away from being tied, it may get into the habit of pulling 
or become frightened of being tied. If you
horse pulls back, stay calm and move to the rear of the horse. Urge him to go forward with pressure (clap hands, rope, bag, etc) this will cause him to move forward, away from you and towards his tie point. The horse will move forward to release the pressure you are putting him from behind and he will release the pressure on the rope and tie. I see a lot of people run to the tie point, in front of the horse, so they can untie or try and pull on the horse's head to stop him from pulling. They are putting more pressure on the head, causing the horse to pull harder and not helping the horse.
Tying a horse too low will allow the horse to get the rope wrapped around his leg and cause potential injury. On the other hand, tying a horse too high puts a strain on his neck and encourages him to fight or get free. In this picture the rope is too long and the horse is already in trouble with his foot over the rope. However, this horse could be such a good tying horse that he is used to stepping on his rope and has learned not to panic and understands how to calmly release his own pressure when he steps on his rope. Which is why I suggest that you allow your horse to walk about the round pen or other small area with his lead rope dragging. He will learn that when he steps on his rope, it is no reason to panic and will learn to release his own pressure by picking up his foot off of his lead rope.
to do more sacking out. If you just keep steady pressure on the rope and his hips, until he moves the right direction he should learn to move away from pressure. Do not pull hard, scare him or force him. Let him work it out and figure how to move away from the rope pressure. Remember, once he moves just a little, stop the pressure and let him know that is the right response. If you have taught the horse how to move by other means, then you will not need to use the rope. If you have done your ground work well, you should be able to look and point at his hips and he should move them away you.
trouble. I like tying my horses together so they learn to stand together. You have to teach them this slowly so they do not fight and possibly hurt each other with a kick or bite. You can tie them a few feet apart. I stand in between them, since I know they respect me as the leader and will not kick or bite at me. Then I groom them, pick their feet and do some sacking out. That way if they feel the need to show the horse dominance, I can stop it and show them not to do that when tied.
Good Knots to know:
This first knot is the Bowline. This is the most useful knot to know. It can hold heavy loads and will still untie easy. You can pull cars, have horses drag things or connect things together. There is an old story to help remember this knot: First you make a loop in the rope and then you take the end of the rope that is hanging and call it the rabbit. The story goes like this. The rabbit comes out the hole, runs around the tree and then back down his hole. If you learn only one knot in life, this is the one to know. **Click here to see knot tied**
This knot is called a square knot. This will also look familiar from the rope halter page. If the red rope was the loop of a rope halter, then the blue rope would be your lead rope. This knot can be used to attach two ropes together or to attach one rope and one loop together. **Click here to see knot tied**
Whipping the End of a Rope: Here is a good way to whip the end of a rope. If the twist are wrapped tightly, this will last longer than the rope itself.
Good Knot Sites to Visit:
Great Knot site with video on how to tie. (Click Here)
Making a hay net out of bailing twine. (Click Here)
Many good Knots to know. (Click Here)
A quick release knot for tying a horse. (Click Here)
Horse Terms. (Click Here)
Another quick release knot for tying a horse. (Click Here)
Another quick release knot. (Click Here)
Cowboy Dictionary (Click Here)
Nice Knots to Know with good examples (Click Here)
