Cathy C,

I had a mare years ago that used to stand tied fine and then for no reason would set back, break ropes, flip over and anything else she could possibly think of. I bought a "Be Nice Halter" It is a rope halter that has metal nubs that are attatched to the poll piece and it is designed in a way that when the horse pulls back even a little these nubs put pressure on the pole area making it uncomfortable. I started out not tying her but having her in hand on a lead, I would work with her pulling her head down towards her knees and teaching her to give into the pressure. When I began tieing her to the fence again I would tie it so that when she did pull back it would give her a little rope but not to much. I also made sure to tie her at least at wither height. It took a while but she eventually quit. We could never figure out why she would set back, we had tried tying her loose, not tying just wrapping the rope, it didn't matter. But with this halter and a nice strong cotton line that was tied on to the halter this way there was no hardware to break. She set back twice with this halter pretty bad too, she pulled hard enough that the rope put a burn mark on the pipe fence. But then as quick as she started setting back she quit. She wore the "Be Nice" Halter every time we put a halter on her for about 6 months. Once in a while she would test it, you could see her pull her head up but then she would lower it back down and just stand there. I tied her up every time I was at the barn and for as long as I was there. She was always tied in a safe place just in case she got loose. But once I started tieing the lead rope on and using the rope be nice halter she never got loose again.

Good Luck and hope this helps.

Oh you could also try tieing the horse up to an inner tube also. Just make sure you use a rope style halter and a lead that ties on. This way they have nothing to break.