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The characteristics of a ride and tie horse
| May 25, 2015 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
It’s amazing how sixty post drafts does not mean a blog post is actually forthcoming. But then I saw this link on the characteristics of a great endurance horse, and I knew I had to post about the lesser known ride and tie horse.
Oh yes, ride and tie horses have skillz. What do I mean? Just take a look.
A great ride and tie horse…
- Does not walk off until it is untied
- Does not trot until the butt hits the saddle
- Does not canter until both feet are in stirrups
- Does not laugh when the rider falls off as they try and mount from the off side
- Stands quietly to be tied and untied and does not smear unsuspecting rider with poison oak
- Does not test out the break points of the tie system.
- Does not untie itself in search of better trail goodies when its runner is late
- Does not have a last straw that she is aware of even if the stupid rider doesn’t remember to hold the tie rope for the umpteenth time while riding off and it swings wildly, wrapping around legs and belly.
- Is too polite to mention that her rider has gained weight but instead offers the option of a mounting assist in the form of a large rock or stump.
- Is also too polite to point out nine hours into an LD distance that perhaps another sport would suit her riders better…
- Is remarkably tolerant of reins and leads being snapped to the wrong parts of the bridle, or not to the bridle at all….
- Is immune to cussing and death threats in the heat of the moment.
- Actually thinks the whole thing highly amusing and fun.
Ha ha! I was actually thinking about this while on a training ride yesterday. I think my next goal might be to consider trying a ride and tie. But… Cartman is almost 16.3 hands and I’m 5’5″ 🙁 How do you find a horse that will stay there tied? I have nightmares about losing my horse in the forest and can’t imagine tying him up and running away??
I didn’t do it with Farley until I was ninety nine percent confident she wouldn’t test it. And risk is something we accept everytime we do something. And I got to the point where I felt the risk was small enough and the reward great enough.
I think ALL of our horses need a sense of humor…. as do their riders/owners….
I confess to thinking Willow is laughing at me when I get frustrated- like yesterday- with the trail antics,
and my “words” are echoing thru the canyons….but it’s only slightly funny in retrospect.
(And- i think she might welcome being tied to a tree- and watching me run away….sigh.)
what is amazing to me is that these horses are mostly content to be tied to anything, sometimes a twig or a blade of grass practically!