Karen Kopp DuTeil with Marvin Walker for EQUUS

This type of tie-training is practical if your horse is relatively sedate and reliable. Pain or anger on the part of the pupil can destroy any tie-training lesson quicker than rain can spoil a picnic. Therefore, before you head out and run a stout rope from the ring on your horse's halter to the nearest tree, consider the amount of force he can exert once he has begun to fight the line.

Make a safe and systematic lesson plan when schooling a horse to stand steady. Tie training is as essential a skill as you can ever teach your horse. After all, failing to perform a perfect piaffe or rollback will never jeopardize his well-being, but breaking through a hitch may put him, you and others at serious risk of injury or even death.