A picket line is a horizontal

rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...

along which

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

are tied at intervals. The rope can be on the ground, at chest height (above the knees, below the neck) or overhead. The overhead form is usually called a high line. A variant of a high line, used to tie a single horse, is a horizontal pole attached high on the side of a

horse trailer A horse trailer or horse van (also called a horse float in Australia and New Zealand or horsebox in the British Isles) is used to transport horses. There are many different designs, ranging in size from small units capable of holding two or thre ...

. The attachment is designed so that the pole can be removed or folded against the trailer when not in use.

Picket pin

The word ''picket'' (meaning sharp point) in this context refers to one of the pins that are used to secure the line. Picket pins were originally pointed wooden stakes hammered in to the ground. A more modern type of picket pin is the

screw picket A screw picket is a metal device which is used to secure objects to the ground. Today, screw pickets are used widely to temporarily "picket" dogs. They are also used to graze animals such as sheep, goats, and horses. Screw pickets are also used t ...

. These devices are metal bars twisted into a corkscrew shape. They are screwed in to the ground rather than hammered, and are not pulled out so easily as stakes. To secure a single horse, only a single picket pin is needed to which the horse is attached via a length of rope attached to a hobble on one leg. In forested areas, a picket line can be erected without the use of picket pins by stringing the line between two trees. It is considered good practice to place sacking between the tree and the rope in order to protect the tree from damage."Animal care and handling"
''Horse Sense on National Forest Pack Trips'', US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region, 1984

References

Horse management {{Horse-stub