How to Tie a Tail Rope

On occasion, several bareback horses have to be moved at once along a trail or from one place to another. Horses tacked out with riding or pack saddles can be linked, one horse behind another, by tying the halter lead ropes to the saddles. When bareback horses need to be moved and kept together in a string, a method referred to as "tail tying" is used. Each horse is haltered and its lead rope is tied to the tail of the horse in front.

Things You'll Need

  • Halters with a 10-foot lead rope
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Instructions

    • 1

      Tie the lead horse by its halter rope to a solid object, such as a fence rail or tree.

    • 2

      Walk the second horse up behind the lead horse. Stand at the lead horse's left hip and gently take the horse's tail in your hand. Smooth the tail down and locate the tail bone just below the base of the tail.

    • 3

      Double over the end of the second horse's lead rope so there is 12 inches of doubled rope. Lay the bend of the doubled rope vertically on the back side of the tail, 6 to 8 inches down from the top of the tail. Keep the end portion of the doubled rope toward you.

    • 4

      Hold the doubled rope tight against the horse's tail with one hand and pick up the end of the rope with the other hand. Begin wrapping the end half of the rope away from you in a clockwise direction around the tail.

    • 5

      Wrap the first turn over the single strand of lead rope that's going back to the second horse. Wrap the second, third and fourth turns around the doubled rope working up toward the tail's base; pull each turn tightly around the tail. At this point, you're holding the rope in place on the tail with your left hand; the end of the rope is in your right hand; and there are four turns of rope around the doubled rope and the tail, leaving a loop sticking up out of the wraps.

    • 6

      Push the end of the rope completely through the loop sticking up out of the wraps. Push up on the wrapped rope and take hold of the rope leading to the second horse; pull the rope, pulling the loop into the wraps until it closes over the end rope that's through it. The horse is now tail-tied.