17th September, 2011 How long is a piece of string?

"Knots weaken the rope in which they are made. When knotted rope is strained to its breaking point, it almost always fails at the knot or close to it, unless it is defective or damaged elsewhere."

When someone asks me how long it might take to get a horse over a particular problem or trained to do a certain task, its tempting to respond, "well, how long is a piece of string?" So much depends on the nature of the string, not just its actual length but whether there are knots and twists in it, how tight they are and how robust and pliable the string is and what it is made from. What was it's intended use?  Is it old and frayed or young and malleable; has it been left out to cope with the elements? Not only that, it will then depend on your dexterity and quiet determination to undo the knots without damaging the material; your ability to undo new knots and twists which it is in it's very nature to acquire if left untended or to its own devices.

The key is to find the very end of the string and to start to unravel it, methodically working your way along it's length and tackling each twist and turn leaving it neatly coiled and not under immense tension. Fortunately most string is readily straightened out and once the first knots and twists are loosened it all gets much easier but sometimes it is like looking at a plate of sphaghetti and you're not even sure there is only one piece of string. The knots may be fiddly and intricate and the string falls easily back into the same kinks through years of habit. Then it can be frustrating and long winded, like working in freezing temperatures with no mittens and blunt fingernails. Nevertheless the same painstaking, methodical approach works rather than attacking it with a pair of scissors and affecting a temporary and weaker repair.