Guest post by Louise Dando of In Due Horse.
Baling twine is something that every horse owner has in abundance. During my many years of being an equestrian, it has come to my attention that there are so many ways you can use it.
Here are my top 10 ways to reuse all that spare baling twine!
1. As a DIY sweat scraper. Forgotten your sweat scraper? Not a problem just bend some baling twine into a loop and scrape it as you do with a plastic sweat scraper.
This is particularly good for those hard to reach bits like the inside of the hind legs that the scraper is too big to reach or too hard to use on normally.
2. Make a grab strap for your saddle. Just tie the baling twine to the D rings at the front of your English saddle like a handle and you have that little bit of reassurance that you have something to grab onto to if you lose your balance. A cheaper alternative to a neck strap!
3. Use it as a knife. This is particularly good when you don’t have anything to use to open another hay bale. Just use one length of baling twine, place it under the twine you would like to break and use a fast back-and-forth pulling motion. The friction from this should break the other string.
4. Handy makeshift rug strap. Now it’s always a nightmare when you bring your horse in and they have broken their rug. But of course, you can use your trusty baling twine to create a makeshift rug strap.
You could simply tie the rug in place with the twine or you could plait it to make it stronger if you are using it for a strap under the tail to stop the wind blowing the rug up.
5. Anti grazing reins. Now I don’t know about you but most of my childhood horse riding pictures are of me on a cheeky pony with baling twine grazing reins on!
Just tie the baling twine to the bit and then to the D rings on the front of the saddle and they should stop your pony from putting its head down too low and unseating their little rider!
6. Baling twine is also really good for tying stuff down or for hanging stuff off. You can hang your hoof picks, brushes, or head collars off your twine or you can tie down your electric fence posts and tie your horses up to it it’s just so versatile!
7. As a zipper! Well, not quite as an actual zipper. But if your zipper breaks you can attach some baling twine to it and use it to pull it up or down.
8. It’s an excellent hay net repair. If your hay net gets broken. You can just tie some small pieces of baling twine to hole in your net and fill in the holes
9. Makeshift lead rein. Baling twine would be a perfect makeshift lead rein or dog lead. Just tie it to your headcollar or dog collar.
10. Make a hammock! Now if you have got some spare time it is possible to actually make a hammock entirely from bailing twine.
Just google baling twine hammocks and there are loads of guides on how to make one! You could even make one for your barn!
Of course there are so many more ways you can use baling twine, Let us know in the comments how you use it too.
Louise writes the Equestrian lifestyle blog In Due Horse. Louise is English but these days is based in France. Louise has ridden since she was 5 years old and has loved horses since then. A self proclaimed Horse Nerd! To follow her adventures in France or check out her other articles follow her blog at www.induehorse.com and on facebook and instagram @induehorse.
I use bailing twine to section off different grazing areas for my horse. Just make square knots onto each end of each string until you have the lengths you need then secure them to step in posts. Then when you need to move them, just pull the posts up with twine and resection another area. However, must have a horse that will respect that line.My mare wont even cross the twine until I pick it up and move it.
I’m going to dye my baling twine (already dyed a test batch – purple – and it took!) and weave a rug. Will probably start it this winter – can’t wait to see the finished product!!!
Did you actually do this? Would love to see/hear your results!