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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Halter Hits and Misses

8/5/2013

 
Hello. My name is Karen, and I am a halter snob. 

Most people will tell you that I am pretty down to earth. I don't think I put on airs, although who would admit it even if they did, and I am far more into function than aesthetics. I am not into name brands, and I am not into bling or flash. So what's the deal with halters?

I know, weird thing to have a "thing" about, huh? I am guessing my obsession with good halters and lead ropes stems from having ridden some really green or naughty Arabs. So here is where my snobbery makes its appearance:

I HATE nylon web halters.
Picture
Like this one
What's to hate? you ask. Well, they get stiff when wet. The metal tab on the crown piece can get get hung up as you buckle and unbuckle and with no end buckle, the end piece frays. They also start to smell when they get wet. The worst problem though, is that horses can easily lean on the thick straps and happily ignore you as they drag you all over the place.

As much as I hate nylon halters, I hate the typical poly nylon lead ropes that tend to go with those halters even more. 
Picture
Not that anyone would choose this color with that halter.
I know I am seriously offending 99% of the horse loving world. These are the halters and lead ropes that virtually everyone uses. I just can't help it. I hate how those leads and halters feel in your hand.

Instead, I use clinician style rope halters and 10 - 12 foot leads. I don't necessarily buy my halters and leads from Parelli or Clinton Anderson, although I have. More often, I buy my stuff from Pat Fredrickson, also known as The Halter Lady. 

What makes Pat's halters and leads so useful is that she uses rope designed for boating, or yacht rope. Marine grade rope can withstand a lot of moisture and never gets stiff. It also has a comfortable amount of "body" in the line that makes it easier to communicate with your horse. With yacht rope, you don't have a limp rope. Instead, the line stays "alive" which gives you a feel of steady contact.

Her halters, and others of the same quality, encourage horses to be responsive and polite on the ground. The well placed knots teach a horse to give to pressure rather than leaning into the pressure. Since a good quality rope halter won't break, it's important to use a tying system that will give under pressure; I use the Blocker Tie Ring or cross ties with a panic snap.
Picture
Sydney sporting his black rope halter and yacht rope lead attached to the Blocker Tie Ring
Picture
Same halter and lead, different view. BTW, this halter and lead combo are from Charles Wilhelm.
When I first got Sydney, more than two years ago, I tried to use a regular nylon halter. I even bought that cute black, yellow, and red Rambo halter, but he learned that he could ignore me on the ground with it. Within a very short time, less than a month actually, I had him in the rope halter. He's a pretty big boy, and when he wants to be naughty, I know that a sharp jerk on the line gets him back in line.

And then there's my Speedy pony. Speedy went in a rope halter for quite a few years. Eventually, his ground manners got nearly perfect so I switched him out to my Zilco halter which is a bit more traditional in style. It also fits perfectly under his Zilco trail headstall. The Zilco halter is a synthetic, but it looks like a flat web halter. The main difference is that the material is very thin and strappy, which gives it a bit of an edge when I need to get his attention. On occasion, I toss a rope halter on him just to keep him sharp.
Picture
Thin and strappy look nice on his smaller Arabian head
But ...

Sometime recently, Speedy managed to leave some chew marks across the nose piece of his halter. Zilco is actually a nylon product that has a plastic seal around the outside. Once the coating cracks, or gets chewed up, the plastic can start to have sharp edges. So far, Speedy's halter isn't causing him any harm as the teeth marks are just indentations, but before too long there will be some "erosion" of the plastic.

The halter is nearly as old as Speedy and has been used on several horses already. It's time for a new one. While I love my rope halters, I also like the look of leather halters, but there is no way I am going to use a leather halter as my day in and day out restraint. My halters get dropped in the dirt and sprayed with the hose regularly. I hate to condition and clean my bridles; there's no way I am doing that for a halter.

So ... I've ordered the Tekna Padded Breakaway Halter from Riding Warehouse. I have a Tekna bridle that is well (enough) made so I am hoping I like the halter. I am about 50/50 on whether or not I'll keep it. After all, I am a halter snob. If it's too thick or stiff, I'll send it back and go back to a rope halter for Speedy.
Rebecca
8/5/2013 12:04:12 am

Thanks for explaining your take on halters. I haven't been happy with the nylon lead ropes at all. My only concern is using a rope halter in cross ties.

Karen
8/5/2013 05:50:23 am

Hi Rebecca! If you use a rope halter in the cross ties, you need a quick release system like the panic snap that is on one end. :0)

Karen
8/5/2013 05:52:23 am

Oh - forgot to mention: even with a nylon halter, the part that breaks is almost always the lead rope's snap and not the halter. I had a CONFIRMED puller and even he never broke a nylon halter. It was always the lead rope snap.

Tracy @ Fly On Over link
8/5/2013 01:04:49 am

Make sure to post a review of the Tekna! Sounds like it might be a good day to day option for me as well. I prefer the look of leather, but I don't want to clean it! Haha

Karen
8/5/2013 05:53:57 am

I definitely will, Tracy. I am hoping I like it. Sydney still needs to be in a rope halter, but Speedy is so broke to the halter that it doesn't really matter which one he is in. I hope it doesn't feel thick and clunky. We shall see. :0)

mia link
8/5/2013 01:06:57 am

I hate the nylon halters and leads too. Mainly I don't like the halters because they won't break and my horse tends to get turned out in hers (I don't have control of that). I bought her a nice leather halter to wear, but paid so much that it kills me to see her wearing it in the pasture. Haha.

And the nylon leads offer absolutely no grip. My dad used to make me leads from rope he twined together into a lead. I used to scoff at them (stupid kid), but they were far superior to anything I can buy today.

Karen
8/5/2013 05:58:22 am

Mia, I actually think I am more of a lead rope snob than a halter snob! I do hate those flimsy, lifeless lead ropes. I want to really FEEL the rope in my hand. Your dad no doubt knew exactly what he was doing! :0)

My horses don't get turned out in pasture, and when they are turned out in the arena, we always hang the halters on a nearby bucket or in the dirt (that's usually me!) If mine got turned out WITH halters, I would probably have to do the flimsy nylon halters with the breakaway piece. It would kill me, too to turn a horse out in an expensive leather halter - money down the drain! :0)

Austen link
8/5/2013 02:15:13 am

Really interesting take on halter preferences. I love the look of traditional leather halters, but as my horse is on 24/7 turnout in the humid and nasty midwest leather isn't a cost effective option to leave hanging by the fence. While I have a leather halter that I use for showing and trailering, I actually use a padded nylon type halter with a velcro insert that breaks at 80lbs of pressure for every day. This is because of my horse's (very rare, but scary) fear of head pressure. In fact, most of the time Guinness doesn't really even wear his everyday halter. He tends to follow me to and from the pasture, and really just wears a halter to crosstie.

I've had some horses with really atrocious ground manners that have benefited from sessions with a rope halter. They are fantastic training tools, for sure!

Karen
8/5/2013 06:02:18 am

There are a lot of halter configurations which is good because everyone's needs are different. I like the rope halters because of the kinds of things I ask my boys to do, but now that Speedy has "graduated," I'd like something a bit more traditional without the headache of leather. :0)

Sandra
8/5/2013 04:56:57 am

Love this post. I too hate when the nylon halters get stiff. I also use rope halters for most of my babies but Varro overreacts so he is in a nylon. I wash his nylon halter on the gentle cycle using just liquid fabric softener every few months or so. It seems to help it stay soft and has lasted me 4 years...

Karen
8/5/2013 06:04:44 am

For overly sensitive horses, the rope halter can be kind of "loud." Varro must have pretty good ground manners if he is that sensitive to the pressure of the rope halter. It sounds like you've addressed all of my dislikes: a well behaved horse and a halter that doesn't stink! :0)

Val
8/5/2013 06:06:32 am

There was a huge debate about halters at the farm where I used to work. Very heated. The staff wanted rope halters for control and manners and the barn manager and vet wanted nylon for the same reason (use of a chain was included with the nylon).

I have worked Harley in a rope halter, but typically use the nylon. I prefer the clinician lead, too.

Karen
8/6/2013 04:37:03 am

Everyone certainly has their preferences, don't they? :0)

Amanda link
8/5/2013 11:39:04 am

I've really come to dislike nylon halters as well. I really love the look and feel of a traditional leather halter. I don't use mine for turnout, though, and I'm a clean freak so wiping it down and keeping it nice isn't a problem.

Karen
8/6/2013 04:38:32 am

I am extremely neat and organized, but my halters do get tossed to the ground during turnout. If I could keep it wiped down as well as you do, I might be allowed to have a leather halter. Until then ... no way. :0)

Karley link
8/6/2013 04:00:33 am

Interesting bit on halters! :)

Karen
8/6/2013 04:48:25 am

There are all kinds of opinions, aren't there?


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

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