Hobble (device)

A hobble or is a device that prevents or limits the locomotion of a human or an animal, by tethering one or more legs. Although hobbles are most commonly used on horses, they are sometimes used also 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, and mounting horses.

"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 a rider has to dismount for various reasons. Hobbles also allow a horse to graze and move short and slow distances, 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 he can find his 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 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.

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