A hobble (also, and perhaps earlier, hopple ), or spancel , is a device which prevents or limits the locomotion of an animal , by tethering one or more legs. Although hobbles are most commonly used on horses , they are also sometimes used on other animals. On dogs , they are used especially during force-fetch training to limit the movement of a dog's front paws when training it to stay still. They are made from leather , rope , or synthetic materials such as nylon or neoprene . There are various designs for breeding, casting (causing a horse or other large animal to lie down with its legs underneath it), and mounting horses.
9-406: "Western"-style horse hobbles are tied around the pasterns or cannon bones of the horse's front legs. They comprise three basic types: The above patterns are unsuitable for training, as they can tighten around a leg and cause injury. Western hobbles are normally used to secure a horse when no tie device, tree, or other object is available for that purpose; e.g., when, if traveling across open lands,
18-461: A horse accept pressure on its legs in case it ever becomes entangled in barbed wire or fencing. A hobble-trained horse is less likely to pull, struggle, and cut its legs in a panic, since it has been taught to give to pressure in its legs. (a sound in the range of [ tʲ ] to [ tʃ ] ) ( Egyptian numeral for 10) Hobbles date at least as far back as Ancient Egypt . Two Egyptian hieroglyphs are believed to depict hobbles. A hobble
27-414: A previous bad experience may have given a horse reason to fear a specific situation, requiring a form of systematic desensitization to gradually overcome its fear. A typical method to desensitize the horse to things like plastic bags is to begin in a step-by-step process with a mildly worrisome object, such as a towel or blanket. A handler reduces the animal's wariness of a strange object by showing it to
36-433: A rider has to dismount for various reasons. Hobbles also allow a horse to graze and move short distances slowly, yet prevent the horse from running off too far. This is handy at night if the rider has to get some sleep; using a hobble ensures that, in the morning, they can find their horse not too far away. Hobble training a horse is a form of sacking out and desensitizing a horse to accept restraints on its legs. This helps
45-454: Is a method used by horse trainers to desensitize a horse to potentially frightening situations or objects. It is a process that, done properly, teaches a horse to not fear certain objects or situations, and, over time can be used to teach a horse to stop and listen to its handler in any potentially frightening situation, thus, in effect, to assess the situation instead of immediately acting upon its fight or flight instinct . An example of
54-400: Is illustrated on a silver vase excavated from a 4th century B.C. tomb at Chertomlyk in modern day Ukraine . The Persians were also known for their custom of hobbling. In Anabasis , Xenophon claims "a Persian army is good for nothing at night. Their horses are haltered, and, as a rule, hobbled as well to prevent their escaping as they might if loose." Sacking out Sacking out
63-402: The animal learns to not fear items that a human handler presents to it. There is controversy over various techniques. Some training methods advocate putting only slight pressure on the horse, allowing it to gradually become accustomed to a frightening object, while other methods sometimes advocate techniques that are based on the operant conditioning principle of flooding , for example, waving
72-455: The horse in increasingly vigorous ways, first by simply allowing the animal to sniff it, then to touch or rub it gently over the animal until it shows no sign of fear, then, ultimately to flap it and wave it about. Through multiple sessions, the horse will first become accustomed to a specific object, then, as the horse is introduced to additional stimuli, including large blankets, plastic bags and other potentially frightening but harmless objects,
81-468: The need for desensitizing training is when an object, such as a plastic bag, suddenly blows across the path of horse and rider, which, if the horse has not been properly desensitized, could result in spooking. Spooking is potentially dangerous, as it can result in fallen riders or horses bolting into danger. Another example would be the need to desensitize a horse to the sound of traffic, music, loudspeakers and other stimuli seen at public events. In some cases,
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