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The Bowline Knot

© Caryn A. Tate

Probably the knot used most with horses is called the bowline (pronounced "BOH-lin") knot. The reason it is so popular for use with horses is because, when tied correctly, the harder the horse pulls on the rope, the tighter the knot becomes. Unless the knot is untied by pulling on the correct spot, it is virtually impossible to loosen. And so far, anyway, I have yet to meet a horse who was able to untie it, and that's saying a lot!

Imagine that you're getting ready to tie your horse to a fence post. You have the halter rope in your right hand. This is how you will tie the bowline knot:

1. With your left hand, reach around the fence post to catch the end of the rope as you wrap it around the post from the right side.

2. Form a circle in the rope on your right hand side (on the right side of the post).

3. Run the end of the rope (from your left hand) downwards through the loop you formed.

4. Wrap the end of the rope once around the part of the rope behind the loop you formed, the part of the rope that reaches back towards your horse.

5. Run the end of the rope back UPwards through the loop once again. As you do so, form a little loop with the end again, so that when it goes through this time, you catch the loop at the end of the rope. This way, when you release your horse, all you have to do is pull on the end of the rope, and it all comes undone! (An alternative, though, for this last step, is to run the end of the rope upwards through the loop, and that's that. You don't have to form the extra little loop; it's only that it makes for a quicker release when you are untying your horse.)

To form a visual of tying the bowline knot, please take a look at this website, http://www.realknots.com/knots/sloops.ht... The type of bowline that I'm talking about here is the one called The Cowboy Bowline.

Thanks for reading! Please post a discussion thread or e-mail me if you have any questions or comments.

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