Yesterday on FB there was an article posted by a horse publication about the art of tying a horse up to a patience pole. It’s a very common practice in the western world. I’ve seen it many times. Horses are tied to a “patience pole” or a stall door or inside their stall or tied to the ceiling of an indoor… for hours at a time. Some were just ridden for an hour or two, already tired, and then they are tied… to teach them patience. Sometimes they’re out in sweltering sun, sometimes their tack is left on. Sometimes they’re tied so short they can’t move their head six inches. I’m not talking about tying them safely so they don’t get tangled, I’m talking tying them in a way so that they can’t truly rest their head at normal level and they become exhausted. Very prominent trainers in the horse world use this method, there’s no doubt. They swear by it and claim there is no cruelty. Article below by one of the most respected. I know he believes what he’s saying, as do many many of his fans. I don’t think he’s a cruel individual.
I wrote on that post yesterday that I have witnessed the practice many times, and I do feel it is inhumane to leave a horse tied in this way for hours on end and I don’t believe for one minute the horse is standing there contemplating what he was just taught while being ridden. We’re smarter than the horse and if I tethered you to a pole for three hours after putting you to hard work, I don’t think you’d be contemplating what you had just learned. HOURS, as in very long periods of time. That was the jist of my comment.
What followed was backlash from fans of the method who called me stupid, naive, smartmouthed, dumb,just plain lucky that I didn’t have to use that method on my horses yet achieved the result of a quiet well behaved horse. I was asked if I know horses at all, so I explained my background and that I’m not hailing myself as a trainer or calling trainers evil.. I just don’t think some of the methods used are humane. No matter what I said… the name calling continued… without any conversation at all about why they like this training method.
Simple truth – It wears the horse out. That’s the purpose. They are TIRED by the time they’ve been taken off the pole. Would’nt you be? Mentally and physically. Now, they’re not beating the horse while it’s on the pole. Fair enough. I still find the practice cruel.
My point here isn’t so much to talk to you about tying horses to poles for long periods of time. It’s more about the sad state of how we talk to each other when we disagree.
original article below… by a very well known trainer who has much success in the show pen. It’s true, the method obtains the end result they are looking for. His horses do their job. Doesn’t make it right in my book.
—————————Tying a horse up for long periods of time accomplishes many important things in your training. I have a little saying, “End each training session by tying your horse up to the ‘Tree or Post of Knowledge.’” 
When you tie your horse up after a training session, it teaches him not only respect and patience, but it also gives him a chance to think about and absorb what you have just taught him.
The very last thing you want to do after a training session is get off your horse, take him back to the barn, unsaddle him, hose him off and put him in his stall to eat. This puts his focus more on getting back to the barn and eating than on thinking about his job. If you get into the habit of tying your horse up for two to three hours after you ride him, he won’t be in such a hurry to get back to the barn.
Some people will read that and think that I’m being cruel to the horse. But I have to ask, “What’s the difference between a horse standing still in a stall or a horse standing still on a Patience Pole? The difference to me is that if he’s standing tied to a pole, he could be thinking about you and what you’ve just taught him, but I guarantee that in the stall he’s not thinking about you at all.
** my answer to that – the difference between a horse standing in his stall and being tied to a “patience pole” is he can move around freely, drink water, nibble hay, lie down if he’s tired from the workout you just gave him… in short.. RELAX. He can’t do that on the pole. I don’t care that he’s not thinking of me once I’ve gotten off of him. He needs the break after what he’s just been put through in the training.
Notice in the picture he can’t put his head down, not where it would normal be if he was untied. The argument will be that it’s for his safety, tying him high. YES… if you’re tying a horse, you have to be sure he can’t step on the rope or chain or get tangled in it. That’s not the issue. Why tie him for hours at all.
The ONLY answer.. is to wear him out. Mentally, physically, so they’re more pliable in the training.
That’s my take on the practice. I am not a horse trainer. I have been working with horses for most of my life, caring for them here at home and in the show pen as well. I think that qualifies me to form my own educated opinion on what I believe to be inhumane practices.
What would be awesome is if we could all talk to each other without name calling harassment if we disagree. Last night after much back and forth and really nasty sarcastic wise ass comments by a few commenters, I pulled the whole conversation because I don’t think the intention of the Horse publication was to spark that kind of commentary.
