Last year around this time I shared a post on the Advantages of Ground-tying. In that post I include some suggestions on how to train a horse to ground-tie. However, Fantazia was very easy to train. Jazz, not so much. A post about teaching Jazz to ground-tie gives a much more realistic picture of the process. So here it is… he’s still learning, but he’s also definitely getting it.
Jump to:
Step 1: Let Jazz learn by observation
Step 2: Ask Jazz to ground-tie when he’s by himself (at home and on the trail)
Some details on how I am teaching Jazz to ground-tie
Above: Teaching Jazz to ground-tie has been made slightly easier by his eagerness to eat at almost any time.
Step 1: Let Jazz learn by observation
I firmly believe that horses learn by observing other horses. Maybe they won’t learn to ride just because you put them in the paddock next to your arena. (Or maybe they’ll learn the wrong thing! If I let them get on my back, they’re gonna make me work as hard as Old Toby!) But they do take their cue from older, more experienced horses. Tying a green horse next to a relaxed older horse will help it learn to stand quietly and wait, for example. You can use an older horse to teach green ones to relax on the trail. On the track, we put older, experienced horses in the front to lead the babies. In this case, Fantazia was instrumental in teaching Jazz to ground-tie.
I started by just working around Fantazia ground-tied near by.
At first, I would simply leave Fantazia in the middle of the arena while I rode Jazz. I’d pony him the short distance to the arena, and then change horses. This also seved to keep Fantazia happy. She was very jealous of Jazz at first, and she’s “resting” so I cannot ride her much.
Above: Fantazia standing patiently while I rode Jazz. Actually, in this case, she was being slightly naughty. If you look closely, you will see a white splotch on the ground about 30 feet in front of her. It was a white feather from an egret. Fantazia spent the entire time sneaking up on it. At this point, she had moved about 15 feet from where I elft her, soemthing she never does. But she was very curious and bored that day!
Next, I parked Jazz by Fantazia and left him “ground-tied” next to her.
After a few days, I would dismount next to Fantazia, drop a rein, and walk off. I increased the space between the horses, the distance I went away, and the time I left them alone gradually.
Challenging both of them…
Teaching Jazz to ground-tie also involved challenging Fantazia. She’s great about ground-tying when she’s “working.” I can get off and any time and leave her, even without dropping a rein, and she will stay put. She won’t even eat. Unfortunately, in Fantazia’s mind, working happens when I’m riding. Leading around the place isn’t “work.” So dropping the lead rope has mixed results. She’ll stay, but only if I make a big deal of it.
I started asking them both to ground tie in the mornings when I brought them in from pasture. I had to lead them through a hot-wire gate, so it was easiest to tell them to stay after haltering while I opened the gate.
Horses don’t like to wait patiently when they know they are being led into the barn for grain. I had to insist. After several slow mornings (it would take an extra five minutes to get my morning chores done), they figured it out. They would get to their grain a LOT faster if they were patient while I opened the gate.
Above: Jazz and Fantazia waiting for me to open the hot-wire gate. This picture is actually on the way out in the afternoon, but they are still pissed I’m taking longer to get a picture!
Step 2: Ask Jazz to ground-tie when he’s by himself
At home…
I started in the arena. With most horses, I start dropping a lead while grooming. Fantazia’s sister Lady learned that way. But Jazz is quite naughty in the grooming area if not tied. He gets twitchy and messes with things. He walks off if I go into the tackroom. Teaching Jazz to ground-tie in the arena was much better for my temper.
I did the same with Jazz and with Fantazia. I simply get off and drop a rein, then go do something. (Pick up rocks, poop, go get a whip, whatever.) I increase the distance and time I’m away.
and on the trail
The most important part of teaching a horse to ground-tie is having faith. You’ve got to drop a rein and go away. There is some risk that you will have to walk home, or at least to the next gate.
I always start ground-tying at gates that I have to dismount to open and close. By the time I ask a horse to ground-tie, it knows how the gates work. I get off, open the gate, close the gate, and get on. With some wire gates, I have to tie the horse if it doesn’t ground-tie. There is one where closing it requires climbing up on a rock, for example. So the concept of waiting for me to do the gate is not foreign to them.
Above: The kind of wire gate (some people call them cowboy gates) you have to dismount to open and shut.
It’s a good idea to start with a gate that isn’t the last one back to the barn, going through on the way out. Horses aren’t stupid. They know that if they run away on the wrong side of a gate, they cannot get home without you.
Once a horse is reliable at gates, I’ll start asking it to ground-tie elsewhere on the trail. For example, Fantazia has waited patiently for me to scramble up slopes to see and photograph vegetation, snakes, and pretty views. She’d always rather ground-tie a long distance from a snake than get close enough for me to take a picture of it.
Above: Fantazia waiting patiently at the Fire Mountain Pioneer ride last January. I left her to scramble up may slopes at the Cayuse Endurance ride last Deember (read about my experience in this post).
Jazz isn’t ready to be left alone if a gate isn’t involved yet. But he’ll get there.
Some details on how I am teaching Jazz to ground-tie
- When he moves, I back him up till he’s in the same place I left him. I have to do that quite frequently. Jazz is not a horse that stands still naturally.
- The gate I started with is at the top of a very steep hill. Jazz is tired when we get there, so he’s less inclined to go off on his own.
- It always helps to do something when asking a horse to wait. That’s why I pick up rocks or weed or get the pitchfork, etc., when I’m in the arena. Horses do better when they understand there’s a purpose to their rider’s madness. If you just back up and stare at them, they won’t see any reason to stay there. Other than rider-whim.
- I ride with long split reins. These work best. If you don’t have them, use a heavy lead rope. Fantazia also ground-ties with the mecate lead line.
- It’s basically just repetition, and very similar to teaching a dog to stay.
- Jazz will always try to eat. This is very different from Fantazia who will NEVER eat while ground-tied. But it keeps him busy and eating is good for an endurance horse, so that’s okay.
Abve: Jazz on both sides of the wire gate I started asking him to ground-tie at. It’s about 1.5 miles and 1000 feet up from the barn, with one gate in between on one side and two on the other.