Hobble Trained!

The place where we have our horses in central Texas has almost no grass in the corral. We simply don't have the cross-fencing needed to establish pasture, and on top of that, rain comes in short spurts or not at all in the past few years. I knew that Tex needed grass to put on weight- he prefers it over hay, and sometimes will skip his grain to gaze longingly over the fence wishing for the grass that grows in the "people space" around the barn. That's what made me decide to hobble train him. It would allow him the freedom to graze in the people space without me having to worry too much about him running off.




Hobbles are a leg-restraining device that does not hurt the horse at all. Once a horse learns to accept hobbles around his/her legs, the horse can walk, but not trot or run.




One thing I'm learning throughout this training process is that I don't have to spend the money to get the "Official AQHA Sponsored Equipment Whatevers." I did a quick internet search about making your own hobbles to find out that I could make a pair with an old piece of cotton rope. We just happened to have one! It looked easy to twist and make the hobbles in the pictures online, but when I started trying it myself, it wasn't quite that easy. I decided (for now) to tie them the best I could and not worry about being perfect.




Tex learned to accept hobbles in about 2 total hours, split between two weeks. I started by letting him graze with his rope hanging down. He seemed to not mind at all when he stepped on his lead rope, as long as he could still eat. The next day, I used the old cotton rope to wrap around one leg at a time and pick up his feet with it. Not only did it teach him not to fight the rope around his feet, but it also helped with his feet-picking-up behavior. The next time I worked with him, I began to tie the two feet together. He freaked out one time, came close to falling, but then realized, "There is grass to be eaten- why worry about these feet restraint thingies? Who cares-I'm hungry." I supervised that first tying day. Yesterday was the 2nd tying day, and he seemed to remember that it was no big deal. You can see in one of these pictures that he's walking, having his foot restrained by the hobbles, and there is no effect in his behavior.



After watching him for a little while, relaxing in the grass (with Jade, our border collie/blue heeler) while he grazed, I decided to leave him somewhat unattended while I went to fix some supper. It was a very happy success for me and for Tex. TM