How to tie up the horse in a cross tie in a safe manner?

A traditional crosstie setup has two ties attached, one on each wall.

The ends of the ties have carabiners, which are fasten to the horse’s halter on each cheek piece.

The result is the horse held in place by two lines.

Handling horses is considered more dangerous than other types of sports.

Handling an animal that weigh 500 kg or more, can kick with a force of nearly 1 ton and run at speeds of 65–75 km/h is definitely a challenge.

In addition, horses are less predictable than a motorcycle or a race car when the flight response kicks in.[2]

Safe behaviours around horses are associated with safety training (formal and/or informal).

Findings revealed a general acceptance of danger and imminent injury during horse interactions.

This may explain why some respondents in studies de-emphasise or ‘talk-down’ the importance of safety-first principles. [3]

We think the safety-first is of high importance.

Before you train the horse to use a tie up system you’ll have to find a safe space to do this.

There are a few things to keep in mind to find that spot.

The area must be cleared of any obstacles or potential hazards (such as forks, shovels, brooms, brushes, wheelbarrows, or other equipment).

The area should be wide enough for the horse to comfortably walk into and fully turn around.

A solid barrier behind the horse, like a wall, restricts the horse to move away backwords and is a safer place to use.

The floor should have a non-slippery surface, such as a rubber floor.

Slick surfaces (such as concrete or stone) can get slippery and create a dangerous situation if your horse loses his footing.

If the rubber floor is ending in front of the hoof of the horse, it should have a lot of distance, so the horse can’t get caught with the shoe when taking a step back again.

Never connect a tie up system to something that is movable (like a stable door).

The eyebolt, rings or bars must be fixed so it doesn’t break away.

Accidents have i.e occurred when the horse is attached to a beam that’s not solid enough, and the force from the horse made the beam collapse over the farrier resulting in a hospitalisation.

The tie-rings should be attached to the wall or post at a distance higher than the withers of the tallest horse.

This prevents the horse from yanking the ties out of the wall if he rears or pulls back.

The length of the ties should be just enough to prevent your horse from getting tangled up or turn around and still being able to have a range of motion of the head and neck.

When using crosstie, attached them to the eye bolts.

The crosstie carabiner should cross over each other with at least 15 centimetres in the middle (30 cm in total).

We use a formula that takes the width of the area, the height of the attachment place, the height of the horses halter and then you get the appropriate length.

If possible, adjust the cross-ties so if the horse backs up, it’ll hit the wall before the cross-ties tightens.

This will prevent him from fighting the cross-ties or feeling restricted, trapped and panics.

A little bit of movement is necessary for the horse to communicate what feels good.

Make sure the tie up solution is as light as possible and of good quality so it opens in the right places.

For instance, accidents when the horse is panicking and the heavy and stiff tie up solution breaks away from the wall, the tie up projectile can break the nose of the handler or hit the horse in the eye.

The halter should have a wide surface on the neck and be in good quality and you should always close all the buckles, so the throat snap doesn’t hurt the horse in the eye when they shake their head.  

The ties themselves should consist of a non-elastic tie without a flexible, elasticated tie up.

Some horses push on so much power in the flight response, and due to that it doesn´t let go and are elastic, the horse can bungee back with loosened balance.

Some horses have broke their neck this way, crushed their withers and pelvis etc.

The crossties should also have quick-release straps on each end at the eyebolt, which will release if the horse pulls back or struggles in emergencies.

If you see someone using an old-fashion baling-twine directly tied to the halter, please make sure it’s removed so the loop doesn´t get caught in other items so horses don’t break their jaws.

Make sure the carabiner has just soft edges (not old fashion once with sharp edges), so the horse doesn´t get cuts and bruises on sensitive areas such as eyes or mouth.

It is important to have a tie up system where the horse and halter is connected in good way, even though the horse moves around and fiddle with the head.

Some systems do release to easily where the horse gets loose with just a sharp head turn.

A number of people argue that the horse should not be able to get loose when in fear, but we have another opinion.

The horse must be able to get loose in a real panic situation, without hurting itself or its surroundings.

Some horses, especially those who had a bad experience, prefer less release-pressure.

For most of the horses, a release pressure around 90 kg is good. 

If the panicked horse is freaking out in the cross ties – it is not safe to release any quick release snap if it is attached close to the halter.

It is better to be able to use a releasing system where you have a safe distance and doesn’t have to be close to the horse to release it or fiddle around with a knife etc to get the horse free.

Where in the halter should I attached the tie-up?

When using a crosstie, the horse should be centred in a grooming/washing area, providing easy access to both sides of the horse.

Some horses like being tied by a single tie system better than crossties, but if they are relaxed, they adjust.

Each horse is different, and some horses accept being cross tied and for others it takes a bit longer to get comfortable with it.

Like many of the things we teach our horses, cross tying comes with a risk, instilling fear or bad behaviours and can lead to scary situations if it isn’t done properly.

So, make sure you take as much time as necessary to train the horse to have a good behaviour.

If a horse pulls back, flips over, or hurt itself when tied up they will remember that experience, and takes a lot more time to teach and show the horse that being tied up is actually a great place to be. 

The lower cheek piece is the most common place to attach the tie.

But for easier handling and for horses that have different behaviours like crib-biting etc, it might be better if the tie is attached to the higher halter rings closest to the neck.

The person does not need to bend over/lift the ties as much when crossing under and the horses don´t bite the ties as easily.