Name Your Favorite Training Tool

Not long ago, my fellow Horse & Rider editors and I had a dialogue about our favorite training tools. "Basic snaffle," said one person. "My work saddle," said another. "Couldn't get by without the riding arena," said someone else.

Those are meaningful training tools to me as well. But my favorite training tool, the one I use each and every day, without fail, didn't make anyone else's list.

It's a heavy-duty eyebolt, screwed to a framing upright in each horse's stall, and used as a place to tie him. Each one is centered on a wall, so the horse can move from side to side. Each horse spends some time tied to his stall wall, almost every day. And is the better-trained horse because of it.

How so?

* He learns to accept a form of restraint--one that's pain-free, but that nevertheless limits his options for doing as he pleases. This is an important lesson for any horse to learn, if he's to be handled safely throughout his life.

* He acquires patience. He can fuss and paw all he likes, but I won't untie him until he's standing quietly and acceptingly, with a hind foot cocked. This reinforced skill comes in extremely handy any time I need to tie him somewhere, whether it's alongside the trailer at a horse show, or during some kind of emergency on a trail ride.

* He learns to respect and obey my commands that move him out of my space. Since he can move freely from side to side, I expect him to step away away from me with his "rear wheels" whenever I cluck to him and step toward him. I reinforce that each time I groom him, adjust a stable blanket, saddle him, or clean his stall. He learns that stepping TOWARD me with his rear end is unacceptable, under any circumstances. It makes him respectfully safer to handle even when he isn't tied to his eyebolt.

* He figures out that I'm the equivalent of a herd's "boss mare." I can control his access to food, water, and freedom of movement. I have the keys to his ability to meet those simple needs, which in turn engenders his respect.

* The final beauty? I can get much of the effect-value from my simple training tool while doing OTHER things around the barn.

Of course, like any training tool, my stall-wall eyebolts do nothing if they aren't put to use. The fanciest training tool in the world can't train a thing if it's left to gather dust.

Which is why, if you were to drop by while I was out doing things in the barn, chances are you'd find several placid horses, tied up in their stalls, and having their learning reinforced without their even knowing it.