Why does the trainer tie horse's lead line to tail

I recently moved to a new barn where they train show horses. Today I noticed one of the trainer's tie a green horse's lead line to his tail and leave him in the round pen. I did find this a little unsettling. I am not a trainer and I've never seen this before at any other barn. Is this a common practice and what are they trying to accomplish?

A lot of people do this to "teach a horse to give to the bit"

I can imagine how it could teach a horse to resent humans.

My thoughts exactly.

Can you maybe ask her about it? Maybe we're all missing something...are you sure she tied the head to the tail, she didn't have training equipment on him that you could have mistaken?

It is not all that unusual, especially for trainers with too many horses and too little time or good assistants. It will teach a stiff, resistant horse to 'follow its nose' , but I personally think there are better ways.

Even more trainers tie a side rein to a girth or surcingle. I would think this trainer is much more moderate (if that is the right word) if he tied the lead from the halter noseband rather than a rein attached to the bit.

The one positive thing it does that tying a side rein to a girth or surcingle does not do is it encourages the horse to bend its whole body as opposed to just bending and giving its head and neck.

I have seen unattended horses flip over if they fought this hard enough. There are better ways.

I like taking a long lead-rope and bringing it behind a horses rump and pulling the horse around to 'un-wrap' itself. It works very well to teach a horse to follow its nose and you can put as much pressure or release it as you do it.

It's actually pretty common. We have done it a time or two, although I wouldn't tie to the tail anymore, I spend to much time keeping it nice !

I love doing that.. I joke around and tell everyone "its separating the dumb horses from the smart ones" ;)

Ground driving is also another great way to teach a horse to give to pressure before starting.

We tie the head to the side of the saddle to teach to give.....and then from there follow up with give and relise...OLD tricks..

^^That's what I do too. It frees up some of my time to do other things or ride other horses while said horse is figuring out how to give to the bit. Of course, this is something that should never, ever be done on an unattended horse and never without reins that will break in an emergency. I don't necessarily agree with tying their head to their tail, but the principle is sound and very effective.

We've done it to Legacy reins to a western saddle a couple times. It helps her get off her bad side and follow through with her body. Old tricks work!

Did you proponents of this ever consider that the horse's neck gets in a crick on one side, & overstretched on the other, at the least?

It's like doing a yoga posture waay too long - OUCCHH!