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Days in Horse Country – The Escape Artist!
If you have one of these creatures, you know all about them: the escape artists! With dexterous lips and smarts beyond what their equine brains should possess, these Houdinis of the horse world manage to find a way to escape out of being tied up or enclosed more times than not.
Escape artists learned how to untie knots and unhook latches using their lips and teeth the way humans use their hands. To outsmart these wise guys, you need to use superhuman intelligence to out-think them.
If you r horse has learned to untie your usual knot, it’s time to learn a new one. A few different safety knots are suitable for tying a horse, and with a little research, you can get a few under your belt. Ask other horse owners how they tie their horses and learn their methods.
Another approach is to double tie your horse with two lead rops, so if she undoes one, she is still tied up with the other. Of course if both ropes have the same knot, it’s only a matter of time before she turns herself loose completely.
Crossties are another option for horses adept at untying themselves. The top of the cross-tie clips high up on a rail, and the other end clips to your horse’s halter. This way there are no knots for your wily beast to untie.
Horses who undo gate latches are a bit easier to foil. Simply secure your gates with a chain featuring a snap at the end. It’s a rare horse who can unhook the snap on a chain, since this takes two hands for even a human to undo. The trick is to remember to always latch the chain. If you forget to do it once, your horse will seize the moment.
Michael