Page 70 - The Pocket Guide to Equine Knots

Sheepshank Knot

Particularly when setting up tents, perhaps using an extra guyline for further strength, you
may find the rope you have on hand is excessively long. We use manty ropes for this
purpose, and we certainly don’t want to cut them. A knot called the sheepshank is a way to
shorten a rope without damaging it.

Make a fold in the rope which shortens it to the length you want. In doing so you’ve
created two bights, one on the left and one on the right (step 1).
On your left in the standing part of the rope, twist to make a half hitch, and slip it over the
end of the bight (loop) on the left (step 2). Now do the same on the right, slipping the

second half hitch over the bight on that side (step 3). Now slowly tighten the rope.
Do be aware that this knot will only hold as long as pressure is applied. If the rope goes
completely slack, the sheepshank can come untied. Thus, the sheepshank is not an
appropriate method for shortening a picket rope or highline, a rope that’s likely to be jerked

around by horses and allowed to go slack, and then be tightened again. But it’s very handy
for a static, temporary use.

Sheepshank knot, step 1.

Sheepshank knot, step 2: half hitch around bight.