A hobble is a device that prevents or limits the locomotion of a human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

 or an animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

, by tether

Tether

A tether is a cord, fixture, or signal that anchors something movable to a reference point which may be fixed or moving. There are a number of applications for tethers: balloons, kites, tethered wind-energy conversion systems, anchors, tethered water-flow energy conversion systems, towing, animal...

ing one or more legs. Although hobbles are most commonly used on horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s, they are sometimes used also on other animals. On dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

s, 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

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

, rope

Rope

A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

 or synthetic materials such as nylon

Nylon

Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...

 and Neoprene

Neoprene

Neoprene or polychloroprene is a family of synthetic rubbers that are produced by polymerization of chloroprene. Neoprene in general has good chemical stability, and maintains flexibility over a wide temperature range...

. There are various designs for breeding, casting and mounting horses.

Types

Western horse hobbles

"Western"-style horse hobbles are tied around the pasterns or cannon bones of the front legs of the horse. They comprise three basic types:

• the vaquero or braided hobble These hobbles are often of a quite fancy plaiting and lighter that other varieties and are therefore only suitable for short term use.
• the figure eight hobble or Queensland Utility Strap is a common style of hobble that stockmen wear as a belt and can be used neck strap, lunch-time hobble or a tie for a “micky”. This hobble is made with three pieces of leather and two rings, plus a buckle fastening.
• the twist hobble is made of soft leather or rope and has a twist between the horses legs.

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 to secure a horse. When traveling across open lands, if a rider has to dismount for various reasons, the horse can be secured. Hobbles also allow a horse to graze and move short and slow distances, but prevent the horse from running off too far. This is handy at night if the rider has to get some sleep so 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 gets caught up in some 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.

Other hobbles

• drovers’ or grazing hobbles have a buckle on a wide double redhide or chrome leather strap and a swivel and 5 ring chain connecting them. They are placed around the pasterns.
• sideline hobbles may be made in the same manner as above, but with a longer chain to hobble a front and back leg. Rope may also replace the chain. They, too, are placed around the pasterns. This pattern may be useful on a persistent jumper or a horse that has mastered the art of travelling in front leg hobbles.
• three or four leg hobbles are made in a similar pattern to the above and hobble three or four legs. Used for securing legs for operations etc.
• humble or one leg hobble is a strap is placed around the front pastern, and then the leg is lifted and the strap is wrapped around the upper leg and then buckled, leaving the horse with three legs to stand on.
• mounting hobbles are knee hobbles that are made with a quick release, on a lead that passes to the rider. They are used to mount fractious horses and when mounted the rider can retrieve them.

• picket hobble is a single hobble that is placed on a front pastern and then attached to a tether chain.
• breeding or service hobbles usually fasten around a mare’s hocks, pass between her front legs to a neck strap. They are used to protect a stallion from kicks.
• a hind leg pull up strap passes from a neck strap and around a hind pastern to draw up a hind foot for shoeing or treatment.
• casting hobbles are the same as the above, but with another rope or strap attached to the other hind foot. When these straps or ropes are pulled up together the horse will fall.
• hopples (sometimes called hobbles) are a piece of equipment used by Standardbred pacers to help the horse maintain its pacing gait.
• cattle hobbles are a strong strap with a metal keeper in the middle and a buckle at the end. They are used on the hind legs for a short period when capturing feral cattle.

History

hieroglyph	meaning
T	hobble rope (a sound in the range of ʲ to tʃ)
V20	cattle hobble, or yoke Yoke A yoke is a wooden beam, normally used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, used in different cultures, and for different types of oxen... (Egyptian numeral Egyptian numerals The system of Ancient Egyptian numerals was used in Ancient Egypt until the early first millennium AD. It was a decimal system, often rounded off to the higher power, written in hieroglyphs. The hieratic form of numerals stressed an exact finite series notation, ciphered one to one onto the...  for 10)

Hobbles date at least as far back as Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

. Two Egyptian hieroglyphs are believed to be hobbles.