Ground tying is a useful lesson to teach your horse. Basically, the point of this skill is to get your horse to stand perfectly still wherever and whenever you need. There are times when you may need to mount your horse or even leave him for a minute without any place to tie him. This is where ground tying becomes a wonderful asset. Patience is needed to teach and learn this skill. You should have already begun your horses training. This is not the place to begin your horses training, by any means. Your horse should already have a solid relationship with you and have the ability to follow voice commands.
To make things easier on your horse, you may want to spray him with bug repellant. No one stands still while being buzzed and bitten. Next, do not begin teaching this lesson in a field of grass or near other horses. It is imperative that you have a quiet, solitary location where you can be the focus of your horse’s attention.
Begin with the horse in a halter with a lead rope attached. Say “Whoa” and drop the rope. See what your horse does before taking any action. If your horse already stands still, praise him A LOT! If he wanders or takes off, quietly take the lead and bring him back to where you started. Make sure your horse is set up square so he will not have to take a step to balance himself. Say “Whoa” again and drop the rope again. Make sure it hangs straight down. If he stands still begin taking a step or two away from him. Remember to reward and praise him for being still. Continue to move farther and farther away from your horse until you are out of sight. The biggest temptation to the horse will come when you are no longer visible. The horse may move, but will most likely learn the lesson to remain still while you are out of sight after stepping on his own lead.
It can take a lot of time to ground tie train a horse. Some horses will learn quicker than others, but it may take a week or longer. Being patient and calm with you horse, not to mention rewarding every positive action, will speed the process. If your relationship with your horse is solid there is no reason this cannot be achieved successfully.
