knee-halter, verb transitive and intransitive

Forms:
kneealtre, kneeaulterShow more Also kneealtre, kneeaulter, kneehalt.
Origin:
Calque formed on South African Dutch kniehalter.
To hobble (a horse) by tying the bridle to the knee or to the foreleg above the knee, thus allowing the animal to graze freely but preventing it from straying; knee-band.
1827 G. Thompson Trav. 124Our horses were hastily knee-haltered (i.e. tied neck and knee to prevent their running off) and turned to graze till the night closed in.
1833 Graham’s Town Jrnl 14 Feb. 4If his (sc. the Pound Master’s) right to knee-halter be established, it is high time that some laws are enacted to compel him to apply proper reins, and not such as cut the legs of horses to the very bone.
a1858 J. Goldswain Chron. (1946) I. 32Found they Horse kneealtred his head made fast to one of his frunt legs with a strap.
a1858 J. Goldswain Chron. (1946) I. 38As soone as I had taken sum refreshmen I on (sc. un-) kneeaulter my Ox and returned to the Bush ware I rived jest at dark.
1860 A.W. Drayson Sporting Scenes 68When a traveller halts in Africa,..he takes off the saddle and bridle, and knee-halters his horse;..fastening the animal’s head to its leg, just above the knee.
1882 Lady F.C. Dixie In Land of Misfortune 317The horses were at once watered, knee-haltered, and turned out to graze.
1884 B. Adams Narr. (1941) 193We..‘kneehalted’ them, which is done by fastening the head to within about 18 inches of the knee by means of a rhiem — strip of hide — just allowing them sufficient length to reach the grass to eat.
1900 B. Mitford Aletta 119‘Don’t have him put in the camp’ as a Hottentot came up to take the horse. ‘Just knee-halter him, and let him run.’
1907 J.P. Fitzpatrick Jock of Bushveld 308Horses are differently treated when ‘offsaddled’; some may be trusted without even a halter, and can be caught and saddled when and where required; others are knee-haltered.
1919 R.Y. Stormberg With Love from Gwenno 64Pieter knee-haltered the horses, and then we proceeded on foot to where the grass gives way to a kind of platform.
1931 G. Beet Grand Old Days 93He knee-haltered his horses as usual and left them feeding on the veld.
1963 S. Cloete Rags of Glory 519Some burghers out of habit had knee-haltered their mounts.
1977 F.G. Butler Karoo Morning 84His hunting was almost ruined by the carelessness of his Hottentot grooms, who let some of the horses graze without knee-haltering them.
To hobble (a horse) by tying the bridle to the knee or to the foreleg above the knee, thus allowing the animal to graze freely but preventing it from straying; knee-band.
Derivatives:
Hence knee-halter  noun, a hobble; knee-haltered  participial adjective (and quasi-adverb); knee-haltering  verbal noun, the method of hobbling a horse by tying a thong from neck to foreleg.
1839 W.C. Harris Wild Sports 69Knee-haltering is the colonial method of securing a horse when turned out to graze; a leathern thong attached to the neck, is passed round the knee, and tied.
1849 E.D.H.E. Napier Excursions in Sn Afr. II. 16The ‘knee-haltered’ horses, and out-spanned oxen, were busily engaged.
1862 E.L. Price Jrnls (1956) 87The horse was grazing quietly and knee-haltered.
1908 Animal Management 126The practice of grazing may be taken advantage of to accustom horses to knee haltering.
1936 P.M. Clark Autobiog. of Old Drifter 80Oxen, tied to the trek chains, stood or lay all about, with knee-haltered horses in great number.
1963 S. Cloete Rags of Glory 464There was no need for a knee halter. They were very tame and too tired to wander far.
1991 Best of S. Afr. Short Stories (Reader’s Digest Assoc.) 150Tying the bridle to the foreleg of a horse — knee-haltering — prevents it from raising its head fully.
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18271991
knee-band, verb transitivev.knobby thorn, noun phrasen. phr.
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