Best break-away cross ties for horses?

[littledog]

I loooove Elisa Wallace's videos!

 

[Skye'sDucks]

An alternative to the Blocker Tie Ring is this one:
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=562395F7-7B04-4429-BE72-44297A937B9F
https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/The_Safe_Clip_by_Smart_Tie_/descpage-ECHSC.html
It works basically the same way, is a little bit cheaper. I've heard from people who use & like both.

Thank you for pointing this one out! I didn't find this one in searches before.

I actually was doing some brainstorming, and I thought that I might be able to replicate this same thing, but for way cheaper. I thought if I could get a snap (perhaps a larger sized one, one of the double sided ones) and find a bigger ring or clip to attach to one end of it, I could possibly mimic this same thing. Of course, I'd have to test it to be sure the lead rope will feed through. But I figured I could try and see. Even if I just feed one side of the lead rope through, it might be just enough resistance.

I thought I could try spending like around $10 on my idea, and if it doesn't work, no biggie. Then I'd just have some extra snaps and clips to have on hand. But thank you so much for your suggestion!

Use twine at the top - connect the crosstie to the eye with twine.

I hadn't thought of that! Thank you for the suggestion. I hadn't thought of using twine.

Or, get one of the natural halters, put on a pair of gloves, treats, (and your helmet if you want), take her to a fenced arena, and start ground work with the pressure and release method every day for ten minutes or so, then switch out halters until she gets used to it. It’s used in natural horsemanship and a lot of mustang trainers start teaching that as one of the first steps in gentle breaking. Elisa Wallace (she’s a 5 star event rider who also got into mustangs) has a lot of great videos on halter training with the natural horsemanship halters.

I've never heard of that trainer...now I'll have to go and see her videos! I honestly didn't even think of working on this with Ginger, the horse. Thank you for the suggestion. It would probably really help her, considering she doesn't like the pressure on her face and tends to panic when it happens. (thus this issue with the cross ties)

I had to look up the natural halter (lol didn't know that's what it could be called)...Ginger does have a rope halter, I just never use it. It's pretty soft and isn't stiff. I guess I need to go and do my research myself, but do you think that it would work if I wanted to try this method with her?

 

[Disheygirl]

Twine between the eye and the crosstie is an old school trick…back in the days before they had the fancy quick release options. If a horse goes down or there’s an incident, it breaks, so it works the same (just cheaper)!

The natural halter has pressure points - so it slides (it’s hard to put into words) to apply pressure to the poll if the horse pulls and releases pressure as they stop pulling. It teaches them pressure/release, the same concept that squeezing legs and release teaches them to move forward when being ridden. I’d look into buying one specifically unless the rope halter is the same thing. And watch lots of videos on training with one…you don’t want to crosstie her in it - it’s just a training device (although plenty of people do ground and crosstie horses in them when they’re well broke to it).

Wear gloves. Elisa wears her XC vest a lot when working with new mustangs on the ground, as well as a helmet. But everyone has different levels of risk that they’re comfortable with, so do what works for you.

https://naturalhorsemanshipequipment.com/products/halter

 

[Skye'sDucks]

Twine between the eye and the crosstie is an old school trick…back in the days before they had the fancy quick release options. If a horse goes down or there’s an incident, it breaks, so it works the same (just cheaper)!

The natural halter has pressure points - so it slides (it’s hard to put into words) to apply pressure to the poll if the horse pulls and releases pressure as they stop pulling. It teaches them pressure/release, the same concept that squeezing legs and release teaches them to move forward when being ridden. I’d look into buying one specifically unless the rope halter is the same thing. And watch lots of videos on training with one…you don’t want to crosstie her in it - it’s just a training device (although plenty of people do ground and crosstie horses in them when they’re well broke to it).

Wear gloves. Elisa wears her XC vest a lot when working with new mustangs on the ground, as well as a helmet. But everyone has different levels of risk that they’re comfortable with, so do what works for you.

https://naturalhorsemanshipequipment.com/products/halter

Thank you for the reply! Ah okay, I see. We have a lot of twine so I'll look into using it.

And alright, that does make sense. Looking at that link, her rope halter looks about exactly like it. I'm going up to the barn later today, so I could always take a picture of it and share here to see if it is the same thing.
I will definitely do lots of research (and watch the lady's videos you mentioned as well!) before I attempt doing this with her.

I will definitely wear gloves, too. I'm not too afraid of getting hurt myself, because after over a year of working with this mare, I don't think I'd be in any danger, especially if I keep space between us. She's not really 'explosive' and mostly will throw her head high in the air and back away. I've never seen her rear or anything. The times she has freaked out on cross ties she panics and just tries really hard to get away, but doesn't do anything crazy. Not to say accidents or incidents can't happen, but with this horse I would think they would be low. But I will definitely be cautious and would wear protection if I ever felt I was in danger, with this horse or any other. Thank you for the warnings!