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Horseman's Knots |

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Quick Release Knots:
A knot can be anything tied in a rope from a decoration to a life-saving
tool. The uninitiated would be amazed to know that there exist clubs,
associations, and societies dedicated to the study and practice of tying knots -
thousands and thousands of them.
For horsemen, several handy knots to know are in the family of knots called
"hitches" - used for securing a rope under load to a stationary object
such as a pole or ring. While many knots would do, hitches are best for
the task.
Now consider that a horse can place several tons of pressure against a knot
in a panic situation. With such a load pulling against the knot, most
hitches simply could never be untied - certainly not in a hurry.
Therefore, a sub-class of hitches which are released by pulling on a
"rip-cord" - that is the loose (called the "running") end -
were devised.
You should always tie your horses securely, but in such a fashion that they
can be quickly released by a human under emergency conditions.
Quick-release knots (sometimes called "exploding" knots by the
experts) are ideal for this situation; strong, non-slipping, yet can be released
in a flash.
The "Highwayman's Hitch", as legend contends, got its
name from horse-mounted robbers of bygone eras. They would tie their
getaway steed in some hidden location, do their dirty work, and dash back to
their mount for a hasty retreat. For obvious reasons, they needed a knot
that was both strong (didn't want to come back to find their horse had wondered
off) and quick to release with a single tug.
Two knots that work well for securing horses are presented here. The first
(left) is ideal for securing a lead-line to tie-ring
on a trailer (it is not so good for larger
anchor points such as trees). In certain applications, it has the
advantage that although it unties (explodes) with just a tug, you still retain
some control of the rope... it is still passing through the ring. This
allows you to maintain reasonable control because the rope is still anchored to a
strong object. However, in other applications (the robber's getaway ?) -
having the rope still through the anchor point can be a disadvantage.
For times when you want a rope to instantly come free of the anchor point,
the second knot (below) is very handy - albeit a little harder to learn how to tie.
Another technique's step-by-step view of how to tie this knot can be found at
http://www.iland.net/~jbritton/highwaymanshitch.htm
So, go practice tying these knots and you will have safer horse handling and
quicker getaways!
Have fun ... be safe!
