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Topic Closedhobblin a horse / mule

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Spot shooter View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: hobblin a horse / mule
    Posted: 25 June 2003 at 15:16

Don't you tie up a horse when you hobble it?  Sorry fer the dumb question, but I read where a guy said he hobbled his horse to let it graze in a pasture? 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2003 at 17:11
You don't generally tie when you hobble. Otherwise, why hobble? This will restrict thier movement until they get used to them, then the durn things can travel nearly as fast and as far as without. You can cross hobble, ( front and back, longer hobble)or Spanish hobble(soft hobbles above the knees) them also, but they eventually figure these out, too.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2003 at 23:45
I generally hobble a couple, picket a couple, leave one loose, an' tie one to a tree.  Hobbling will cut down on their mileage, but they can still leave in a hurry if they take a mind to.  Best to know the personality of the critter yer dealin' with to know what to do with him/her.  My biggest horse Tonka, needs a lot of groceries, is a chicken shit, but won't go far from my daughter's arab mare.  So I picket the mare at night an' hobble Tonk.  He gits his fill an' I don't have to worry 'bout him headin' back to the trailhead.  Mules are trouble in this regard.  More likely to head home by themselves with hobbles or without.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 June 2003 at 04:26

The reason you hobble your stock is to let them graze.  Hobbles are generally put on both front pasturns.  A picket hobble is a single hobble attached to one front pasturn and has a rope attached and tied to a stake or log so the horse is secured but able to graze a small area.

It's a bad idea to hobble all the horses... it'll be a long walk back to the truck and you'll be cussin' every step of the way.  It's a good rule of thumb to always have one horse tied up.  But I never follow that rule because I never let the horses graze over night or when everyone is off hunting... so they have limited time grazing.  When I get back to camp I let them all out to graze until I go to bed.  In this case, it is a good idea to have at least two horses picketed cause shit happens.  

At least one horse from each owner should be picketed or tied up.  Horses that are unfamiliar with no bonds to secured horses are more likely to head out of Dodge.  It's always the other guy's knot-headed horses that cause the trouble... but your trusty, level-headed top hoss will probably follow the knot-heads back to the truck, even if his buddy is tied up.  Them kind of deals is enough to take all the romance out of packin'.

 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 June 2003 at 06:31
I picket to the halter, rather than use a leg strap.  They seem to adapt better an' don't git hurt as much thet way.  The smart ones will bob their head to work the rope loose from a hind leg or get slack to reach a tasty bunch of grass.  Mules an' arabs seem to get the hang faster than mos' other equines.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 June 2003 at 06:58

I don't picket at all. One out of a 100 times if they gett caught up, you end up with rope burn at minimum and a lot worse can happen. Just to much of a chance losing an animal as to what I got tied up in them in time and money.

The older gelding mules are real bad about leaving you. Seems after they pass 15 or so, they don't  care where they go and it might not be back to the truck or trailhead. My old mule has to use a 3 legged hobble. Even then he can cover  a lot of gound. With only two legs hobbled, he can run faster than I can. I only do this if I want them to graze at mid day, when I'm taking a lunch break rfom hunting

I high line my mules all the time. At night they get hobbles on too. They may get cut lose one at a time for a few bites, but after 15 minutes of grazing, your'e looking at trouble.

I's rather pack in food and count ribs rather than count tracks

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 June 2003 at 07:58

I generally ride to my hunting locations, so I picket the saddle stock while I'm hunting.  I know all the best meadows with trees to picket to, an' I've only come back to find one horse tangled up, and that was a lug head of the outfitter's.  That horse had a hind leg tied to his ear, and the other feet pulled together like a drawstring.  Don't know how long he was like that, but it musta been dam uncomfortable.  He was real case of poor stock breedin' with poor stock. 

I don't like to picket to stakes unless I'm right there.  Those stakes pull out too easy.  Rope burns come with picketing.  Some horses won't learn until they get one, then they seem to wise up.  I learnt that a picket rope should be 44 feet long.  Too short an' it rides too high an' creates more of a hazzard.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 June 2003 at 09:47

I ain't ever tried to picket to a halter 'cause I always heard it was more dangerous.  I got 10' chains on my picket hobbles to eliminate rope burns... but those chains do a number on the horses hind legs if he breaks loose after getting whipped with the stake and runs down the trail at a pace that would win the All American Futurity.

One good thing about getting horses broke to hobbles, especially a picket hobble, is when they get caught up in barbed wire or something, they're more likely to keep a cool head - stay put and wait for help... than to fight it and make a wreck out of it.  That's how I got it figgered anyway.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 June 2003 at 18:40
Full time Ideeho folks sure got some peculiar notions.  First its "mules need shoes", then its "picketing to the halter is the mos' dangerous".  I ain't never seed a critter bad hurt from a halter picket.  But I did see a ruint horse thet got hisself hurt bein' broke to a leg picket.  I got 3 like new leg picket straps, double leather, good steel hardware.  Yer welcome to 'em.  Figured I could re-use the chains on some hobbles by attachin' them straps to 'em.  Then I decided those chains kept me awake too much so I got only figure 8 hobbles now.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 June 2003 at 00:51

Wow, I got a whole lot to learn bout horsemanship.  Probably gonna start classes in late July.   What are you guy's callin a picket, when do you use it....

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 June 2003 at 06:14
Its a board you make fences outta.  Good to hit horses with when they act up.  No, jus' teasin'.  We're talkin' picket ropes.  Horses gotta eat, so you tie one end of the rope to the end of their lead rope (attached to their halter or to a thick leather strap on their leg), and the other end to a stake or a tree.  Some horses tie themselves up, especially if there's obstacles to wrap the rope around like rocks or bushes.  I weave a loop in one end of my picket ropes to make tyin' to the lead rope faster an' easier.  Really helps when the hands are cold an' the knots froze.  This is were a bowline knot becomes indespensible.  Yer seein' some differences in handling horses here.  Everbody's got their own pet peaves an' problem ponies.  Its largely a trial an' error approach to see what works in yer country with yer stock.  In bear country, I won't trust lettin' 'em graze at night or leavin' 'em on a highline.  I tie high to a tree.  So no maraudin' bear will spook off my stock or get 'em hurt with ropes. 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 June 2003 at 09:41

Yeah Spot, things is done a lot differnt once you cross over the line from Idaho into Wyomin'.  Wyomin's elevation is quite a bit higher so's they don't get enough oxygen to their haids.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 June 2003 at 16:20

hmmm, didn't think you could tie a horse on a longer line without them gettin into trouble.  Do horses act different at higher elevations?  Say I were to win the lottery, and get me a hoss, and a couple of mules to take to the mountains an go elk hunting.  Other than the difference in the terrian, what else would I have to worry about.

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