Page 65 - The Pocket Guide to Equine Knots
P. 65

Even if the horses don’t paw excessively, during an extended camp stay the ground under
  a  highline  is  likely  to  become  trampled  and  disturbed.  Building  the  highline  on  high,  rocky

  ground  can  lessen  the  impact,  but  if  possible,  move  the  highline  periodically.  When  you
  break  camp,  scatter  manure  and  use  your  camp  shovel  to  level  the  disturbed  ground,
  repairing any damage as best you can.
     Where  grazing  is  allowed,  hobbling  and  picketing  become  practical  methods  of  horse
  restraint.  Training  for  both  hobbling  and  picketing  by  the  front  foot  were  discussed  in

  chapter 2 (see page 39). Normally you’ll use a hobble half for picketing to a front foot (on a
  horse so trained). Do not picket with a rope to the halter. It’s dangerous, should the horse
  spook  or  fall.  There’s  also  a  chance  the  horse  can  catch  a  hind  foot  in  its  halter  while

  reaching up to scratch, and that can be disastrous.
     Even while the animal is picketed by a front foot or hobbled, the halter should be removed
  and  kept  in  camp  so  your  horse  won’t  catch  a  hind  foot  in  that  fashion.  There’s  another
  benefit too. When a horse isn’t tied, he’s free to try all sorts of tricks to rub his halter off. If
  he loses it in tall grass, you’re short a halter.



  Tying a Rope Halter
  But if you lose a halter, all is not lost, even if you’ve forgotten to include an extra in your

  packed gear (always a good idea). You can make a lariat loop-type halter with a piece of
  rope. Tie a honda knot in one end and create a loop that goes over the horse’s head and
  rests on his poll, behind his ears. Then insert a half hitch around his nose, as shown on the
  next page. This halter works well for leading an animal, but is dangerous for tying because

  it will tighten around the poll should the horse pull back. In effect, this type of halter creates
  something  similar  to  a  “war  bridle,”  a  high-leverage  halter  that  should  be  used  only  for
  careful training, not for tying.























                                 Rope halter, bowline around neck with full twist around nose.

     For a rope halter safer to use for tying, I’d tie a loop around the top of the animal’s neck

  with a bowline, then make a loop around its nose by twisting the rope twice. Pulling back
  will  result  in  some  tightening  above  the  nose,  but  there’s  less  chance  of  strangling  the
  animal or hurting the sensitive nerves in the poll area.


  Hobbles
   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70