Mustang re-training. Horse wont tie

Question
I bought a 10yr old BLM mustang who can be saddled and ridden but has real
head issues. Bridling can be a pain, but the worst problem he has is he freaks
out when tied.

He pulls back, rears and will eventually injure someone or himself. What
would you suggest I do to gradually get him to accept standing at a hitching
post?  A bit of background on this horse is, he was taken from Nevada as a
baby and is super immature for his age. He's never really been trained other
than "broke to ride".  His headshyness is sort of an issue with bridling too and
I can already tell someone did a number on him because he's sort of afraid of
bits.  I really want to help this horse but also be sensitive to past trauma he's
had.  Any pointers you could offer would be much appreciated!

Answer
Raven -

The head shy issue is only going to get better by being patient and working with him.  Don't spend hours on it, just two minutes each time you see him.  Start with a rub at the forehead, then you can move onto a rub at the ears, then down to a rub by the eyes, then down to the mouth and gums (should eventually help with taking the bit) and then rub his nose and nostrils.  Only patience and constant steady practice will overcome that problem.

Now when it comes to the hitching issue, that can become much more difficult.  The old school method is to just tie the horse up and let what ever is going to happen, happen.  Some people will put an inner tube around a solid post and tie the horse to the inner tube as it gives a little.  I am not a big fan of either method.  What I prefer to do is work the horse with the lead either on the ground or looped through my belt (do not tie it to your belt, it needs to pull free in case of emergency).  This lets me use both hands on the horse, and if the horse moves I have the lead line at easy access to correct them.  Once they can stand still while I groom or tack them with the lead in my belt, I can move on to working on tying them or continue to drop the lead and be happy with a horse that ground ties.

If I move on to tying the horse to a post, what I will do first is put a long lead line on the horse.  With the long lead line, I can run it through an "eye" bolt placed in a secure post and then to me.  That allows me to walk away from the horse for a short moment without actually tying the horse - yet the horse gets the same feel as if they were tied.  That way if the horse freaks out, I can just let go of the lead and they are free.  So you can put the lead through the eye bolt, rub your horse down, then stand a few feet away while the horse thinks about it.  Then step in and rub him down to congradulate him; then back away again.  Eventually he should start to calm about the idea and you can let go of the lead rope and just let it hang through the eye bolt.  As long as he does good, you can try tying him then.

While I teach a horse to stand tied, I much prefer a horse that ground ties.  So basically when I drop the lead or reins they just stand there.  There is no way to know the horse will never act up when tied, so I don't like to do it.  And even with this, patience and constant practice are going to be big factors.  It sounds like your horse may benefit a lot from some good ground excercises - even simple things like haltering and grooming out in the field, picking up his feet (in the stall first, then field).  Simple things like that go a long way to teach them to be calm and okay with being handled.

Best of Luck!
Michael Hockemeyer
Kicking Bear Mustangs