Hobbles; The Portable Corral

 

Copyright 1990 truth-or-consequences
Published in The Western Horse
Non-Fiction

 

Have you ever wished you were seventeen feet tall, weighed twenty nine tons, had the muscles of Godzilla and could just pick your ornery horse up with one hand and have a lengthy heart to heart? Sooner or later we all get tired of trying to outsmart some foolish equine and wish there was a shortcut in the gentling process of a new or obnoxious colt. And so there is.

I like hobbles. They sometimes accomplish what I'm not strong enough to accomplish-- the relative containment of a snooty colt. In decades past most folks thought of hobbles as a pair of cuffs that were secured around the two front legs. This had the effect of slowing the critter down somewhat. But anyone who has camped and left a wayward horse "at large", thinking that pair of hobbles was going to keep the beast around, has often awakened in the morning to a mild surprise. Some horses can really cover ground on a pair of two way hobbles. In fact it hardly slows them down.

Many outfitters and western suppliers are now offering three way hobbles-- that's a standard pair which connect the two front legs, plus a third that connects a single back hoof with a strap to the front two. This is certainly a step in the right direction and will keep the horse closer to camp. But if three way hobbles are good, then four way hobbles must surely be better. Right? Right!

Four way hobbles are not only useful for preventing a horse from straying too far at night, they can be a valuable aid in training and gentling a rambunctious colt. Safety is everyone's first concern, and flying hooves are often a threat to that safety. Even the saltiest and wariest of old bronc busters can find himself in a compromising situation with a surly colt and the blink of an eye can mean disaster. But when a horse is outfitted with hobbles on all fours, there's little mayhem he can accomplish.

Sacking the unpredictable steed becomes almost a pleasure when he's hobbled four ways. Remember that the idea of sacking is not to scare the horse with new and unfamiliar flapping objects and then to hope he gets over his fright; it is to prove to him that he has nothing to fear in the first place. Every little icon of fear that a horse learns must be unlearned, and that takes twice as much time and fortitude on the part of the trainer (or rider) as having the patience to keep him from becoming afraid in the first place. But even the best of intentions can run amok and an edgy colt can blow up at some seemingly insignificant provocation. When the horse is secured by four way hobbles, however, any tantrum becomes manageable.

The first few saddlings of a rank, green pony are made painless when the horse is hobbled four ways. Of course if the ground work was done properly in bringing the colt along there should be no blow up due to the stress of the initial saddlings anyway, but sometimes even the best trainers get surprised and move too quickly, too soon.

I like to tie a particularly strong and snorty colt to a good snubbing post and hobble him on all fours before easing in and out of the saddle those first few times. If he does blow up he'll usually be less violent and will stop sooner if he's hobbled this way-- which translates into fewer bad memories being implanted in his "blank chip" of a brain. Knowing the horse cannot get overly vicious means less stress for the rider too, and that, in turn, translates into less perceived stress for the horse, which, in turn, makes it that much easier for him to learn these initial lessons.

The vast majority of horses will take injections well enough, but occasionally we run into a personality who has probably been conditioned into thinking that injection time is an awful thing, and will throw a fit even before you stick him. Four way hobbles will guarantee that the situation cannot get out of hand.

Floating teeth can be made easier for the horse who violently objects.

And a set of four way hobbles can make the handling of feet on a green and overly sensitive colt almost completely painless for the trainer.

Certain medical procedures such as simple suturing or wound treating can be made safer by using hobbles in this manner, as they are almost as effective as a set of stocks.

Clipping the ticklish stud is transformed from a wrestling match of broken halters and cracked clippers, to a calm and professional undertaking.

A set of four way hobbles can best be fashioned by buying four individual hobble cuffs, and then affixing spring snaps to each (see fig. 2.3) (Note: Graphics not available at this site).

Leather will survive the longest. Nylon is the least durable. Cuffs lined with "hospital felt" seem to produce the least amount of chafing as long as they're kept clean and out of the mud, though many lining materials are available, and different horses seem to have different experiences with various materials. Very soft and well-oiled leather with no lining at all, like you might find in use in a crupper, is best of all. Still, whatever works best for your horse, works best for your horse.

It's easiest to put a cuff on each foot, and then to snap them together so that the front pair are connected together, then the hind pair are connected to each other, and then the front pair is connected to the back pair. Leave enough slack in the straps so that the horse can move around, lay down, get up, etc.; and if it's a mare, be sure to leave the back pair slack enough so that she can comfortably use the ladies room. Otherwise, when adjusting the lengths of the connecting straps, remember that the effect of the hobbles is to keep the horse from (1) getting away from you, and (2) to keep the horse from kicking or striking out. Any more restraint than that is overkill.

Remember, too, that it is absolutely imperative to do your hobble breaking in the softest ground possible. Deep sand is good, as is equally deep sawdust. If you think your ground might be a little on the hard side, then it definitely is, and you should seek out another spot.

Remember that your horse will almost certainly lunge when first hobbled. He may go down once-- or several times. But you'll also be surprised at how fast most horses catch on and begin "baby-stepping" to their destinations around the paddock.

Hobble breaking is a worthwhile lesson for your horse to learn, and four way hobbles teach it to stand quietly no matter how tangled it might become in old fencing wire or rope. That might save your horse's life someday, or even your own. It has saved several horses of mine, out on the range. It also tends to make a jumpy horse much less prone to panic-kicking. This benefit has been evident in situations where small children have surprised a horse underfoot.

The uses of four way hobbles are as varied as the imagination, and they can make the care and ownership of a somewhat silly horse so painless and convenient as to make it worth keeping the critter around after all. While four way hobbles are not the answer to every training issue or every problem involving obedience or manners, they are a genuinely useful tool in the hands of a caring and compassionate horse handler. They can often give you the edge and the leverage you need to overcome a particularly difficult phase of training, and a set should be always kept on hand for emergencies. The trick is to know enough to put them on before they're really needed.

 

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