Hobbles

 Edited to add another informative post

We got the hard frost I was waiting for- the last 3 nights in a row now. It has slowed the flies down but hasn't completely sent them packing. 

I worked with Ruby the other day.  She and Velvet came in one day all covered in either bites or hives, I suspect ground wasp or biting flies because there were bald patches under the swellings, and those triangle shaped biting flies were horrible for a while. 

Looks worse because I had covered the bites with an ointment I got from my sister:

It definitely helped. Plantain is considered a weed but it is so very beneficial. 

Since these bites are in the cinch and saddle area, riding isn't an option until they go away, should be soon though. So it was hobble training time. 

I start with getting them to lead by the front feet. With a green colt I would take longer doing this to make sure they are solid, but with Ruby it was plain that she had done this before. 

A couple of times with each foot, then I moved on to the rope around her legs. I use a soft cotton rope at first, and tie with a fair amount of width between their feet  to begin with, to see how they handle it. 

Note that I tied the quick release knot with the wrong end.... but I fixed it. 

Next, make the distance between the legs shorter. 

 Once again, Ruby was fine with this.

Nuthin' to see here folks, just a hobble broke horse!

Since Ruby originally came from a cowboy home, I am thinking they did hobble train her. However, since she's a double swirl horse, I will do this a few times just to make sure she's solid . 

I was asked about the steps to hobble training. Here is a list I borrowed from Mills Consilient Horsemanship facebook page: 

* Ground tying.
* Confident responses to halter pressure forward, back, and to the side.
* Tying with the tie ring with 1 wrap, then 2.
* Tying solid.
* Leading by the feet.
* Hobbling with a loose wrap and making sure the horse can steer from the hindquarters and small step without feeling unbalanced.
* Hobbling with a tighter wrap
* Hobbling with a quick release.
* Hobbling solid.

The 1st 4, I usually do by the time the horse is a long yearling. I usually do the lead by a foot in the fall of their long yearling year, as well as any other rope work. I haven't hobble trained for many years, but the rest of the list is the method I use, but I put the quick release there right from the first loose wrap.

EDITED to add a link to a more in depth post on hobble training for those of you who are interested. 

From Good Horsemanship-Ross Jacobs