Leaving a horse tied for hours?

I understand what you are saying. My point is that you are better off tying a horse solid to begin with. Teach them what they need to know but at the end of the day if they get loose they will keep testing it.

Horses will keep testing the rope whether they are tied to something solid or not but if they are not prepared and you tie them to something solid then that is abuse. Now some horses like your really nice Pocos may be fine; however, there are plenty of other highly reactive, uneducated horses (which I believe are being called spoiled) that will likely kill themselves.

I used to train a lot of Arabians and most of them came to me thoroughly spoiled by people that told me "you can't do this or that with him" etc. They had been taught that they had no boundaries because they were Arabians.

I also used to get a number of big, stout TBs in to break after the yearling sales every fall in KY. Most of them, too, had not been tied outside of in their stalls where they could not set back.

I trained all of them to stand tied solidly and to go correctly on a hot walker. I did not kill any of them and did not injure any of them and they were very 'reactive' kinds of horses. Many went on to great show records and noteworthy race records. The trainers at the track always liked to get horses that I started because they were so well mannered and never threw fits at the gate or in the saddling paddock.

Being a 'hot-blood' does NOT mean that a horse cannot be trained to have good manners including being tied however long you want to tie it.

I am not sure I would use the term world class trainer and the horse (if we are talking about the same situation) had known issues with being tied and said trainer knew it.

I do not believe tying horses for an extended period of time is cruel either. I saddle break horses, and if I get one who is really impatient I'll tie him or her up. It's a good training technique and look at it this way most horses stand up all day in the pasture or stall so besides being "stuck" to something it's not all that different.

Not sure why TLO you think that Pocos are not reactive horses and why that the horses I have are not reactive. A good reiners is very reactive. They are just taught to control it.

Reiner - I am pretty sure that you teach your horses to tie before you tie them to something solid - right. As far as the pocos go - they are easy compared to the other breeds I have worked with that is what makes them desirable. Of course they need to have some get up and go but compared to a hot warmblood I will say it again - easy!

You are all focusing on just tying them up and leaving them for hours. In contrast I am focusing on teaching them to tie before you tie them up and walk away. Do guys realize how many people out there hear what you are saying and then just tie them to something solid and hope for divine intervention. Lots of people and that is why so many horses have issues tying.

Cherie I read some of your posts and I think that you are more than likely quite effective with your horses but I also think that you are not communicating what it is that you do to teach a horse. Instead you focus on what it is that the horse must do for you which should be your goal (as it is I'm sure) but having a goal without discussing how you arrived at it is not very useful. Sadly this leads a lot of people to just drag their horses to the nearest tree and leave them. Guess what happens they learn how not to tie.

I have a pretty diverse herd of horses and guess what they all tie and all have great manners and I don't force them and I don't abuse them.

I teach my horses to tie from day one. It starts but teaching them to lead. It is a progression from there. However once they actually start to tie they get tied solid even when they are tided as weanling.

Boy you have not worked with my Poco Bred horses at least ones with Poco close up when crossed with Doc Bar horses and then add in some Peppy.

Then lets talk about Dun It horses. What makes they great is the fact that they are very responsive up horses.

The difference is that they are taught to control that from day one. At least the good ones are. I do not keep laid back lazy horses. Had one once and sold him. They do not work well.

I actually find horses that are responsive way easier to work with and I am 100% sure that I would have no problem working with your horses whatsoever. What I find more complicated is horses that appear slow (or lazy as you call them) and then they are extremely reactive. I have never seen a quarterhorse act like that. I know a women here locally that works with warmbloods and she says that when someone sent her a quarterhorse she thought that she should pay them to work with the horse because it was soooo easy. I know some AQHAs can be a bigger challenge than others - of course - but in general and comparing to other breeds especially warmbloods these little AQHAs are a piece of cake. I can assure you that I have worked with lots of AQHAs.

Just my personal opinion here, but you are WAY over generalizing breeds here

To ASSume that all AQHAs are "a piece of cake" would just be ignorant on your part.

We have several top quality show horses (including both AQHAs and Warmbloods) at the barn I board at and some of the Warmbloods make the AQHAs look like basketcases.