Mounted search and rescue

[Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>]

Horse packing outfitters stock picket pins.  There are several
widely available styles:  steel or alumininum, with or without
a swivel at the top, different lengths too.

Raskin, Larry wrote:
>We attach the lead from the picket pin to the halter per the
>regulation.  I have seen the horses "run" in circles on the
>pins.  If you had the lead tied to a leg, you could easily get
>rope burns to the ankle or hock making the mount unserviceable.

Tie to a cuff (half-hobble, one-leg hobble) on the leg.  The
reason to do so is that when the horse gets tangled the first
thing it does is raise its head.  If picketed by the halter,
this raises the rope.  A raised rope is harder for the horse
to untangle and more likely to result in rope burns.  For this
reason, a picket rope should be tied low, eg to a pin in the
ground or to the very base of a tree.

Sometimes I picket using the halter rather than the cuff, for
convenience (the horse is already wearing the halter), but IME
the cuff is marginally safer.

        Una