Hobble (device)

A hobble (also, and perhaps earlier, hopple),[1] or spancel, is a device which prevents or limits the locomotion of an animal, by tethering one or more 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.

This helps a horse accept pressure on its legs in case it ever becomes entangled in barbed wire or fencing.

(a sound in the range of [tʲ] to [tʃ]) (Egyptian numeral for 10) Hobbles date at least as far back as Ancient Egypt.