Page 21 - The Pocket Guide to Equine Knots

Dragging with a loop and half hitches.

Elmer tightened Brownie’s cinch and told me, “When you do this, when you cinch him this
tight, make sure you loosen it a notch again after the pull.” Elmer mounted up, and I handed

him the rope. He carefully took two “dallies” (wraps) around the saddle horn, warning me
that when doing this you’re always to keep your thumb in the air, never turning your hand
downward. “Too many ropers,” he said, “are missing a thumb!”
I watched as he eased Brownie forward, taking the slack out of the rope, then as

Brownie arched his neck and lowered his body into the pull. The rope tightened, and then
each half hitch tightened as well, compressing the bundle into a neat package, finally
beginning to move. Then Brownie dragged it the needed fifty yards without a single wet
board escaping the pile. The series of half hitches had worked in concert to compress the

load and keep it together. I was impressed.
This method is an excellent one for dragging firewood logs to camp or a group of corral
poles to a work site. I’ve used it behind a Belgian work horse to drag several small logs,
trimmed of branches, out of the woods together. You can use it on a single pole to teach

your horse to drag, one of the handiest skills he can learn for backcountry use. He
experiences the rope against his hip, the sensation of pull from the horn, the rearward view
of an object moving mysteriously behind him. Perhaps the rope at some point gathers under
his tail. When he’s comfortable with all this he’s likely to be ready to pony a pack horse.

Rolling Hitch
Although I’ve haven’t seen it used frequently in the horse world, the rolling hitch is one

worth knowing. It somewhat resembles the clove hitch, but its purpose is different. The
rolling hitch allows attachment to another rope or to a pole and is strong when the pull is in
line with the point of attachment, rather than perpendicular to it. So, if you wanted to
supplement the pull of one rope with another, the rolling hitch would work well, and it, too,

could be used to drag a pole into camp. In such a use it is much more secure than a clove
hitch.