Re: Dangerous practices !!!
Um.
You know...when they came up with tying your horse to a piece of string...that was way back when they used to use sisal baling twine. Sisal will rip.
Baling twine (the nylon kind) is designed not to rip. My other half has used the stuff to pull aircraft undercarriages into place at a museum. That ought to tell you how much force is needed to rip baling twine.
I've seen horses rear back and pull the ring out of the wall -- and the "safety string" never broke.
And if you must tie your horse to a piece of string, why not have the string at the headcollar, rather than the fence/wall? If your horse pulls so hard that it rips loose (if that string actually breaks, which is debatable if it's a new string), it'll be tearing around with a rope attached to the collar, and that rope will have an almighty knot at the end. Or worse, a piece of fence / metal ring, if the string doesn't break.
Think about it.
If that rope gets caught in *anything* (and chances are it will, thanks to the knot at the end), how are you going to get your horse loose? I don't fancy having to cut a rope being yanked on by a panicking horse -- do you? You certainly won't be unhooking the damned thing, at least not with the hooks that are sold in the UK on a standard lead rope.
I use a "Panic Hook", it's designed to open if there is a really HARD yank on the rope. (It has to be really sharp to open - but if used wrong, it *can* open when you don't want it to.). I tie to a pillar or a fence, not a piece of string. I had to special order them (hard to come by over here, but possible to get), and the rope my horse was delivered with went in the bin five seconds after I got him off the lorry.
Even my Parelli rope has a panic hook on it. I had it made specially with that. Bit more expensive but well worth it to me.
www.lyndashorsewear.co.uk/images/catalog/panic_clip.JPG
Grew up using them, and never had a problem with them. Even if the horse practially sits on the floor, even if the hook *doesn't* open (steady pull, etc) one quick slide and the thing is off, whether 3lbs or 3 tons are hanging on it.
The piece of string tying seems to be a purely british thing, btw.
I'm not saying you're all wrong. I'm just questioning where that piece of string is attached, and the hooks used in the UK.
Personally?
If I *have* to use a piece of baling twine -- then I'd tie it to the collar, not the post. I'd much rather the horse is loose with just a headcollar, than have a rope with an impossible to open catch attached and get caught -- because then you're in REAL trouble.