A Rope Under His Tail
If a horse gets a rope under his tail, he's going to clamp that tail down over it, effectively jamming the rope where he actually does not want it to be. This, of course, makes things worse as pressure increases and it seems to him that he is being chased by the rope.
Don't panic and don't tug on the rope! Give slack. If the horse is going to the left and has the rope on the right side of his body, coming under his tail back toward you, you'll want to ask the horse to do an outside turn. The rope is now on your side so he will feel much less pressure on his south end, even if he still has his tail clamped. Pretty soon he'll relax a bit and the rope can drop free.
An essential part of rope training is to get the horse accustomed to this inevitable occurrence without letting the situation turn into a wreck.
It's highly likely that a rope will find its way under the horse's tail at some point. Many horses do take offense to this at first. That's when your preparatory lessons will pay off. An outside turn disentangles the horse and slackens the pressure around rump and legs. Forward motion generally helps the horse relax, unclamp his tail, and release the rope. Stay out of kicking range. And remember, if things get western, you can always drop the rope.
Next Steps
For the more advanced exercises, your horse should be solid on round pen control. He must be good on inside and outside turns, and should stop and face you when you ask. He can be saddled or not. Remember to repeat each step until the horse is completely relaxed before moving on to the next.
First, make sure your horse is solid on the basics. After he is comfortable being touched all over by the rope, drape it on the saddle or over his back, but do not attach the rope to anything.
Quietly throw the rope various places on the ground behind you and in front of the horse, dragging the rope toward you as you recoil it.
Throw the rope out in front of your horse and let him walk over it. Throw it over his neck in front of the saddle horn or over his back if he is not saddled. (Note that some stiff ropes can scuff leather, so be careful of "scraping" a rope directly across a saddle.) Throw it under his belly. Do this in both directions.
Eventually you can attach the rope to the saddle, through the fork, which is more likely to ensure that it does not come off and pulls more directly from the top of the saddle. (If you do not have a saddle with a horn, a longeing surcingle can work well.) Yes, we know we said to be careful about attaching the rope to anything, but you are going to leave the other end completely free and untangled. Keep the free end of the rope off the ground, between you and the horse, much like a longe line. Walk the horse. Little by little, let the rope sag, then eventually drag on the ground. Do this on both sides.
Once your horse is relaxed about the dragging rope, swing it, letting him feel it on his hip. Make the swings bigger until it swings fully around, like a big jump rope. If at any time your horse gets nervous, reduce the movement to the point where he is relaxed. Then rebuild the motion more slowly.
Have the horse make an inside turn. The rope will pass along the base of his neck. First while he is standing, then while walking, gradually pull very gently on the rope with consistent, even pressure to get him to give to the pressure, stop and change directions. Your "kiss" cue can be useful here. Do this on both sides.
Let the rope drop a little more so it bounces on his front legs. When he stops easily to that, move the rope to the hindquarters. Let it drag way behind him at a walk. If he trots, slow him back down to a walk. Holding the rope off the ground, let it bounce against his hocks.
Change directions, flipping the rope over the horse's rump to work the other side. Still keep the rope off the ground as you apply the same even pressure to the hindquarters that you did to the shoulders so the horse moves his hindquarters in response to the rope pressure.
If your horse kicks at the rope, you went too fast. Back up a few steps to the point where your horse is relaxed.
Once your horse is comfortable with the rope around his hindquarters, let the rope circle around his chest and bump loosely against the top of his front legs, then down his rump to tap against his hind legs above the hock.
Eventually, circle and wrap the horse loosely in the rope as he stands quietly. (If necessary, he can step out as there is no loop on the ground.) As he relaxes and learns to give to the pressure, you can slowly get him to move his legs closer together. This helps teach him that he does not need to panic if he is ever tangled in a rope.
Unwrap your horse. Do this exercise from both sides. Praise him for being such a perfect horse.
Congratulations! You and your horse will now both be much safer and more confident around any sort of rope.
