There have been several comments left about hobbles on the blog. Thank you very much for the comments left. It is very helpful to know what everyone wants to hear about. Sometimes it takes me a little time to get them written, but if you give me time I eventually get them done. Believe it or not things get pretty busy here on the farm.
Hobbles are a big part of our everyday training here on the farm. We use them to fix problems, but also to maintain horses that have already learned to hobble and stand patiently. Our horses are expected to stand patiently no matter what we are doing with them or what situation they are in. Hobbles are way to correct problems without using force. The horse is corrected for bad behavior without the handler having to physically correct the horse. The horse ultimately corrects its self. We feel that hobbles are the safest way to correct bad behavior, because once the hobbles are on the horse the handler can step back and let the horse figure things out on his own.
Here are a few examples of when we would use hobbles:
-When we get a new or young horse they will learn to be hobbled before we will ever get on them. How they react to the hobbles gives us a pretty good idea how they will react to many other training obstacles we go through.
-When a horse paws tied up or in the stall. I am sure everyone knows of a horse that "Paws to China" every time it is tied up. Or when a horse paws impatiently during feeding time. We would put hobbles on a horse that paws immediately.
-If a horse moves when being tacked. We will put hobbles on them in the cross ties.
-All of our riders carry a set of hobbles on their saddle at all times, because if they are ever in a situation were there is no place to tie their horse they just put on the hobbles.
-If a horse does not stand to mount. We mount and dismount the horse repetitively until it stands. Once the horse learns to stand and mount with the hobbles then we take the hobbles off and do the same thing to make sure that the horse understands to stand when mounted.
These are the type of hobbles that we use. We have used many different kinds and these are the easiest and safest to use, in our opinion. They are just the right width between the horses front feet and they have easy buckles to get on and off of the horses legs.
This horse in the following pictures has never had hobbles on. He is a horse that we just got in to train, and before we go any further with him he needs to learn to be hobbled. Hobbling teaches a horse to be patient and not to "freak out" when caught in a tight spot. We have had many times that we have been very glad that we have taught our horses to hobble. Check out the testimony from Martha on our testimonial page on our website www.windyhillfarm.net and read about her experience with a horse that she bought from our farm. Her horse got caught in the fence and if he had not been taught to hobble they would not have been able to free him from the wire fence that had wrapped around his legs. He did not try to kick the wire off when he got caught, he just laid there patiently until they came and cut him free. 
We put this horse in the round pen for the first hobbling lesson. We also start them in our large arena. The main concern for the first time is that they are in a safe secure place. We do not tie them the first time. Give them space to figure things out on there own. Put the hobbles on and go do something else in the barn.
Jordan has a hold of the lead rope to keep control of him until the hobbles are completely on.
Put the hobbles on the opposite leg first and then the leg closest to you. Then throw the rope over the horse's neck or take the halter off completely. Once you get the hobbles on do not take them off until the horse stands there patiently. Sometimes it can take several hours. So, when doing this for the first time make sure you have plenty of time and do not rush the process.
These next few pictures show about a three to four minute time spanned of the stages this horse went through before he figured out that he should stand.
In this picture the horse is figuring out how far he can lift his foot and even walk. There are some horses that learn how to walk with the hobbles on. Just very slow small steps.
This horse figured out what he was supposed to do with in a matter of minutes. He never once fell to his knees in the process. There are occasions were they will fall. If they do fall make sure that they get up, but do not take the hobbles off. They can get back up with the hobbles. If you take the hobbles off before the horse learns to stand then you will teach very bad habits and cause more problems then you are fixing.
Once the horse has learned to stand with hobbles loose in a round pen, or secure area, start to use them to aid with other training issues. Don't be afraid to try hobbles. They will change things for the better between horse and handler. When a horse knows its boundaries it will be a much happier horse. Also, as a handler you must realize that sometimes things get worse before they get better. If hobbles are used in the proper way they can be a very useful training aid. Let me know how things go with your hobbling, and if you have any further questions on the subject. Good Luck. If you would like to buy the kind of hobbles that we use let us know. We sell them for $35 shipping and handling included. You can email us at jshaffertd@yahoo.com
Till next time, Tiffany
