Rope burn under tail?!

Thanks! I'm not going near that trainer again! I don't know why she though it was a good idea. She's a younger trainer, (maybe around twenty?), and she said that she is a show jumper, but idk what to look for in a trainer. My family just moved, so I'm unable to go back to my beginner-friendly barn. I was able to take my horse with me, and I have a safe pasture and shelter on our property.

Ok ok hang on here a second people. Some of you obviously have never had the experiences others have had.

It IS certainly a good idea to teach a horse to allow a rope or anything like that under their tail and not freak out. I have experienced this personally trying to pony one horse that normally was an angel with a small child on it. That pony bowed up and tried to go round a mud puddle strangely in a bad situation and the horse I was on turned as I was trying to get things reorganized and get the pony's lead under his tail in a split second. He clamped his tail down on it before I could drop the lead and jump off and proceeded to freak out with the dang kids lead under his tail.

To be fair, it wasnt my horse as mine all know how to wear cruppers, but he was normally reasonable and I was not expecting him to act like that at all. But he did. Had someone simply took 10 minutes to desensitize him previously in his life, that child would not have been scared to death as well as me having a heart attack trying to get the situation under control ASAP. And I am VERY experienced with both ponying, riding and leading children on trail rides. We are lucky no one was hurt all for the lack of a simple desensitization session. It certainly taught ME to make sure the horses I lead on are ok with it!


Also it teaches them to wear a crupper. I use a soft rope to start the desensitizing process. Here in the mnts, many horses benefit from one. You do NOT want to just put a crupper on and go ride unless youd like a rodeo on most horses. They are pretty funny about it.

BUT I would not have used a lariat rope! OUch! Way too rough. A soft cotton rope is what you use.

Totally agree Trinity, however, OP should be learning how to ride and handle her horse properly first and foremost, and not sticking a lariat under her horses tail while longing because she may possibly pony another horse someday in the future. That can be left for a future lesson, IMO, when she progresses past beginner status.

Seeing how the information we have is limited at best, I don't think we can judge the whys and wherefores of this particular trainers methods not having been present. Alot of you are making some big decisions based of a very little bit of information. The only thing we can judge is the trainers poor choice in rope for the lesson.

I start by placing my hand under the tail. The horse will usually clamp down hard the firt few times but learns to relax it. Since one's head is close it seems to trigger a fair amount of gas from said animal. Should you think that one day you may pony another horse, you can wait until then to teach your horse to stay calm. Normally if a rope goes under the horse's tail, he may squat a little or tighten his tail and it's under there for only a few strides as you stop and remove it.

your not stupid.. as long as you learn from a mistake and improve and your horse is ok you are fine..

Unless you have a horse who panics, humps up and kicks out towards the small child, crow hops and clamps down on the rope so hard he drags a small child along with him. Or bolts forward. That happened to a friend of mine. Its a very bad accident waiting to happen. I wouldnt wait. You just never know. My horses all know how to have a rope anywhere on their body at any time and to yield and relax to it. JMO.

Thank you so much every one! The rope burns are not as bad as I though they were, (when he had it under his tail he did't kick, bolt or spook at it, he only clamped it a little, but he relaxed eventually). I have been rinsing the rope burn off and applying Neosporin twice a day, and I will continue doing so until it heals. I won't attempt any exercises like that until I have much more experience under my belt.(And I don't ever want to touch a lariat again, I have no need to anyway)

I always desensitize the horses I train to having a rope (yes, a lariat because it has a different feel and it has more body so I can control it better from a longer distance) up underneath their tail, but like someone else said, start with something soft like your hand or a softer rope. While I know that I can keep it from happening when I'm riding, others may not be so lucky and it's best that the horse knows how to react when it does happen.

I've seen lots of times where someone riding an "old, broke" horse gets their butt planted because they had a brain fart and ended up with a rope under their tail.

Proper handling of the rope can often prevent a horse from getting rope burned, but sometimes it does happen. Keep an eye on it and let it be, it'll heal up just fine.

Just remember that you are your horses advocate, question anything and everything that doesn't seem right to you. In the end, if you don't like the way someone is handling your horses training, care, or your own training you have every right to quit right there and find a different trainer. There are just as many bad trainers out there as good ones, not saying that this particular trainer is bad, she may have just made a poor choice in tools, but in the end it is up to you to decide.

A quick question though, was your horse acting like he didn't want anyone messing with his hind end/under his tail at all, like ducking and pinching a long line under there, and that's when she decided to make a lesson of it? Or was it more out of the blue, "today we're going to desensitize with a lariat" type deal? I'm just curious...

Glad the rope burns aren't as bad as you thought. If its not too bad I would be more inclined to just do a quick swipe of a clean warm cloth daily and allow a scab to form.