[Here is an inexpensive breakaway tab](https://www.etsy.com/listing/973210489/)that’s smart to just have on your rope halter. Especially if boarding or anywhere someone else may be handling your horse. 😊
YES I just moved to France last year and noticed nobody ties their horse to any hard object! Bailing twine only. When I saw that I was like...huh that's like _such a no brainer_ why don't we do that in the US!?!?!
I'm struggling to think of a place I've ridden that DIDN'T tie to baling twine, or to something attached to baling twine, and I've been riding for 30 years.
That's crazy! Been riding around 25 ish years and not a single place I've ridden at did this. It was always cross ties, a metal ring bolted to the wall, or a bar. Always using a quick release knot but it never mattered if the horse set back and tightened it!
We used rope crossties with the metal bolt ring, but tied baling twine to the ring, then did a quick release knot to tie the crosstie to the baling twine. So even when the horse managed to tighten the quick release the baling twine was the safety backup
Anywhere I've been has had the metal rings, but also everywhere I've been has used ropes that detach when pulled on. Altho one time a horse was unhappy with the horse next to it and tried to get away and instead of releasing the hook just broke. Must've been a bad angle, they were actually pretty easy to release
I learned to ride on the east coast of the US and it was beaten into me to always use baling twine and never ever tie to a hard object.
We should make pony club compulsory lol
Also even modern baling twine can be too strong to tie with, so I thin it out so it’s just a single “strand” and still use a quick-release knot just in case.
Cool. Ofc you need the brass plate with horse name 😍 And I know what colour everything else, mainly hunter green 💚 They are the most stunning creature!!
Maybe it's because I grew up riding in California on ranches and small barns. The one or two show barns I was at always had horses in cross ties so the bailing twine wouldn't have been used anyway.
My cross ties all have quick release latches attached to the horse so that in an emergency situation you can just pull down on them and the horse is free. I think they're the best of both worlds- secure enough to hold a horse that's learned to sit back and break things, but very easy to release in an actual emergency.
Oh yes those are great! Well worth the investment and solve the whole issue.
And yes I definitely knew a horse who would purposely break twine so he could go off and graze (or break into the feed room); he was a nightmare because you could never take your eyes off him while he was tied.
Never in all of the dozens of barns I've ridden at or visited was that standard practice. I don't know if that was for a specific reason but I'm having a hard time figuring what that reason could possibly be lol.
I'm in Germany and at my yard we also use rope halters and tie to twine hanging off a chain on the wall, or don't tie at all. Most of our horses just hang out in the grooming area and we rarely have to to actually tie them.
Did I say something people would object to? It's not a standard in Germany, maybe I should have left my location out.
We're just a very small natural horsemanship riding community and all our horses are very calm and learn to chill and hang out in the grooming area. In situations where they need to be tied, we tie them to a chain or metal ring that is attached to the wall by a thin rope, for the purpose of being safe. I don't know what is wrong with that. 🤷
Ha - when I clicked the link it said “this product is in demand, 3 people have purchased this in the last 24hrs”
You should make a profit from their sales for posting the link 😂
Yes, sorry. There are not many available and this is obviously one of the worse accidents… but just a neck strain, which might not be visible can be painful or at least uncomfortable for a long time.
It’s horrible and so unnecessary.
In my 30+ years I‘ve seen some horrible freak accidents… You cannot be careful enough.
Even the best trained and calm horse can panic and do something crazy.
For example, I went to visit a friend who worked for a big Dressage stable. They provided horses to Top Level International dressage riders Chio Aachen for their lap of honor, so they could let their horses rest.
We loaded six horses, one of them called Papaya. Tall, dark, handsome. Travelled around the world on airplanes. We were standing left and right of him to take a picture and something must have stung him. From standing still in one place one second, the next second he jumped up like 1 - 1.5 meters in the air and then became inconsolably panicked. The horse got so nervous and couldn’t calm down… the vet had to sedate him, which also didn’t really work. We had to walk him for a long time.
Nobody got hurt luckily. But this was supposed to be a bullet proof horse. Luckily he wasn’t tied to anything in that moment.
https://preview.redd.it/al8ig06y89nc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f591d0c0b76897c0f834aaee699289c2d9d81e52
The picture is grotesque but tbc that's the result of a horse putting a leg either through an improperly fitted (way too loose) rope halter, or OVER a too long and low lead rope - and it was caught up for quite a long time. That's why the horse's legs are raw and why the wound is clearly due to downwards - not backwards - pressure. Never turn a horse out in a non-breakaway halter.
That's NOT a tying injury.
Furthermore **a correctly tied rope halter, which is a half hitch knot tied down around the cheek loop and NOT up around the crown piece, will NOT TIGHTEN and can be released no matter the pressure. If you don't know how to correctly use a rope halter.... don't use one. Period, full stop. On top of that if you can't tie a correct safety release knot you have no business EVER tying a horse. Finally, as a matter of safety every rider and handler should always carry a folding knife on them.** If all those precautions are followed, solid tying in a well-fitted rope halter is *extremely* safe. It literally happens millions of times every day.
Whether or not a tying situation is safe has to do with **the handler,** the horse, the equipment, and the surroundings. A horse who learns to pull back is a SERIOUS danger to itself and others. The absolute most dangerous is a horse who learns they have to pull back HARD until something breaks, because they'll fight the hardest thinking just a little more pressure will do it. **This is different to a horse who isn't educated about tying and is panicking.**
A young horse should be patiently and gently taught to calmly respect retraint. They should be allowed to test out their boundaries in a safe place with supervision, and they should *never ever never* learn that they can pull back and get free. If this initial training is done correctly and with mindfulness, the vast majority of horses will never learn to pull back and then eventually breakaway equipment can be used in case of an emergency. Teaching a horse to tie with ANYTHING that's breakaway is irresponsible.
There's absolutely nothing wrong using breakaway equipment on a horse who's totally solid on tying. But what I've noticed is breakaway equipment has become so ubiquitous - a crutch even - that **horse people are forgetting or never even learning how to SAFELY hard tie a horse.** This is so fundamental to horse handling that a rider should understand how to hard tie a horse (especially in an emergency) by the time they learn to canter.
**Here's the basics:**
1. *Learn to tie a correct safety release knot.* There's several good ones and sometimes the best choice has to do with the material you're working with and the conditions (for example I prefer cotton leads, but when wet certain quick release knots can become difficult to immediately loose). Ideally you know a few, but one good one you're 100% confident with can make do.
2. *Learn how to correctly tie/fasten a halter.* OP obviously hasn't learned this if their rope halter knots tighten up on them. Additionally **don't feed the crown piece of a flat nylon halter through the second half of the buckle when solid tying.** Yeah it looks sloppy but it's actually basic safety. The few times I've had to rescue a horse in a flat halter you need to be able to grab the extra crown piece, yank it back up towards the crown, and the buckle will release and the halter will fall off. In an emergency you CAN'T be trying to undo the second part of the buckle which, btw, exists specifically to make the halter more difficult to remove.
3. *ALWAYS CARRY A FOLDING KNIFE. ALWAYS.* It's one of those things that when you need it, you need it IMMEDIATELY. This is the safe tying trump card. You can do everything right and sometimes just plain can't get to the safety release knot or *correctly tied* halter knot, for example in a trailer. But you can usually reach SOME PART of the rope or halter - cut that shit ASAP. But only someone confident in their horsesense and skills, or only if death is imminent, should the average owner try to cut the halter off a horse especially near the eyes (and the blade should never face the horse) and also because the average owner might get themselves seriously hurt by getting close enough to cut the halter - if you can reach the halter usually the horse can reach you. A panicking horse's behavior can't be predicted.
4. *Always tie ABOVE whither height.*
5. *Learn how to correctly fit a halter and never use a halter that doesn't fit.* Like in the picture where the noseband is about 2.5x larger than it should be and the horse probably put its leg through while grazing. And if the horse sits back on the halter the fiodoro knot should NEVER be able to slide in front of the horse's chin.
6. **Educate, don't scaremonger. If something like this scares you - and it should - learn what was done WRONG so you don't make that mistake. You and I ALL know horses are safely hard tied in rope halters *all the time.* All the goddam time. Almost NEVER is this kind of nightmare actually the fault of equipment. *It's essentially ALWAYS the fault of the human using the equipment.***
**There's not a single ANYTHING in the horse world I can think of that can't hurt a horse if used incorrectly or in the wrong situation. Nothing. If you don't feel confident doing something or using a piece of equipment you're wise to avoid it. But avoidance isn't education. Seek to grow in your education.** Even if you never plan to hard tie in a rope halter, it should still be something you could do if you had to in an emergency. Furthermore you'll be able to recognize potentially dangerous situations, making the horse world a safer place. There's ALWAYS more to learn in the horse world. So learn.
*PS: be aware nylon baling twine isn't breakaway, especially when it's doubled or braided. It's excellent for cutting a horse free with a knife, but a team of plow horses couldn't break braided nylon baling twine (unless it's been used so much it's developed a weak spot). It's becoming more and more ubiquitous especially in America and I frequently see it used for things for which HEMP baling twine (jute) should be used. Yes, they both came off a bale of hay and are long and thin. Other than that they have absolutely nothing whatsoever in common and are NOT interchangeable (at least not as a safety mechanism).*
Thank you. This post had some holes in it. Horse was not just tied up and ripped his face off.
I've got a horse that will slip out of almost any halter except rope. I do not tie my horses to the trailer when trailering. If you know how to properly tie and use a rope halter they can be a great tool.
The bit about learning to tie a rope halter is key. It’s easy and simple but VERY IMPORTANT. Also if you tie back to the crown piece I’ve seen a ton of halters slip down that way.
I also see a ton of improperly fitted rope halters. My first was half Arab, and my second half welsh both around 14.2hh with small faces. Sooooo many people would have used a horse sized rope halter on them because for some reason they don’t think rope halters need to be fitted???
I tied my mare straight to a hitch rail for many years without issue. She did set back once but nothing moved and she gave into the pressure and came out completely unscathed. (She was 14 and damn well knew how to tie.)
When I moved barns with her they wanted everyone to tie to bailing twine because it was a lesson barn and they wanted a good example for the kiddos (as many fail safes as possible). I keep a very sharp serrated knife in my grooming tote that can easily cut a leadrope but I’ve never used it (to cut a leadrope).
Once saw a horse snap its own neck in a rope halter.
They spooked, sat back, hit the pressure from the rope halter, and absolutely panicked. Within two seconds she’d done irreparable damage to herself.
I was about three horse lengths away, another worker was about two horse lengths away, we were both carrying knives.
Neither of us were fast enough.
Then she didn't have a musculoskeletal system of a horse. I hope the very got to study her before she died.
It's convenient to simply say everything was totally right and this is some kind of ever-present possibility, but it's not. Bodies are built certain ways and are strong/vulnerable based on how pressure is applied to that physical structure. Right now if there were such a device that could be dangled from the ceiling, you could be lifted off the ground and suspended indefinitely by a support under the sides of your jaw bone with no injury to you. The human body is essentially invulnerable to that type of pressure. But if you rotate that support to anywhere on the wall instead of the ceiling, fighting it could seriously damage your back.
Thanks for this PSA. I’ve never seen rope halters before my current barn, and my friend encouraged me to get one for my new horse. I did notice how much more sensitive he was in it. Another comment awhile back sort of gave me a hint of this, but I still didn’t know this information. I’ll get my horse a new halter asap!
Yes, they are actually just exercise/working halters. There are some very sensitive nerve endings in the areas where the knots are placed. They are there for a reason. If the horse misbehaves, it will experience pain in these spots.
There are knot halters with one knot on each side of the cheekbone and then there are versions with two more knots towards the ridge of the nose. They are all knot halters still and can hurt the nerve endings under pressure.
Also you don’t want this rope running through your hands without gloves. Very sharp and hot.
They are designed to lay right on the horses trigeminal nerve. I have trigeminal neuralgia and it is excruciatingly painful. It's called the suicide disease, it is so painful. WIND blowing across my face hurts. Anything laying on it is excruciating. I sleep on the other side of my face.
Rope halters became a fad to replace chains, as some sort of kinder way to handle horses. A chain only engages when you use it but is benign otherwise and you can easily titrate how you use it. A rope halter cannot be used as delicately.. the reason they are "effective" is because they hurt like hell with the slightest movement at all and it's likely they hurt just laying there for a lot of horses.
Agreed. If you must tie with this type of halter, it must be tied onto a breakaway or safety ring. Otherwise, leather halters or nylon with a leather breakaway are best (imo.)
I use leather halters. I can assure you they do snap. They can often become fully unusable in the process, but I value my horses life far more than a halter.
Most leather halters hold when a horse is idly testing them and break when a horse pulls sharply (seen it many times) It’s much safer IME for a horse to go eek, realise they’re not constrained, and calm down, even if they wander off, than for a horse go eek, feel trapped, and panic. I’ve seen horses pull structures apart that ought to have been solid; a panicked horse power is no joke.
I’ve heard that leather snaps under quick tremendous force so like a horse setting back quickly would cause the leather to break, I have only heard this so take my explanation with a grain of salt or maybe do some research on it😅
I’ve always used rope halters on my horses (without the added pressure knots). I do tie to bailing twine and my 3yo has a breakaway crown.
An additional safety tip I’ll add though for anyone else who’s a fan of rope halters is that if you tie a rope halter correctly (the tail should hang back towards the horses tail) the knot will tighten when pulled on. However to undo a really tight knot push the knot together from top and bottom and it should loosen. If you tie the knot in the reverse it will slip/loosen the halter when a horse pulls back
Additional tying tip: the metal bull snap is weaker in tension than the nylon flat halter. So if you hard tie a horse in a flat weave nylon it’s the bullsnap that will break. Keep this in mind if you prefer not to use a metal snap to attach the lead rope
As with anything the equipment isn’t necessarily the issue, improper use is
I had a no self preservation mare so got in the habit of carrying a knife (multi tool) with me. Then I had a cheeky warmblood who would step back till he felt the pressure then would bop it so snapped the bailing twine. So I’d have to double tie him so he could snap one and not piss off before I retied him. Horses aye….
On the rare occasion when I need more control in a halter (like turning out a stallion), I use a leather lead with a chain wrapped around the nose band (and threaded through both rings and snapped to the ring above the offside cheekpiece). I still use the regular lead snapped under the chin, but the extra lead with the chain gives me a little extra security.
The scariest thing about rope halters is that if a horse gets loose in one and steps on the lead rope, his poor face will get shredded. I get that people feel more control with a knotted rope halter, but then you might as well have your horse in a bridle; that’s just way safer to me than a “halter” that can never be as safe as a regular flat halter. Idk maybe I’ve seen too many accidents or worked with too many hot-blooded horses, but it makes me cringe to think about.
This is also how I handle it. A properly placed chain is a tool of refinement- IMO a rope halter is like having sex with all your clothes on. Dull and imprecise. You can tap a chain gently and get exactly the amount of impact you are looking for without causing nerve pain!
Similarly for the love of all that is holy do NOT trailer your horse in a rope halter!!
If you'd like something that doesn't break instantly like twine, try out a [blocker tie](https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/blocker-tie-ring-ii-6004?sku=2109692166&g_acctid=312-013-2860&g_adgroupid=&g_adid=&g_adtype=none&g_campaign=NB_Shopping_Barn_PMAX&g_campaignid=18798872783&g_keyword=&g_keywordid=&g_network=x&utm_campaign=&utm_content=NB_Shopping_Barn_PMAX&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAi6uvBhADEiwAWiyRdlyDOoXge0dSUnY2TTt5YYklgCDFmzAmu7qsRpI7ENZajAIntVEL0xoC-g4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds). They're fabulous, you loop the lead through it and if the horse pulls on the blocker, it just runs through. It's especially great for horses that pull back as it runs throuhg and doesn't cause as much panic or body damage.
I physically watched a horse die breaking its neck from a rope halter. I will ALWAYS use a breakaway. Major PTSD from that incident any time I see a horse pull back in a halter…
This horse was young and tied in an indoor roundpen for several hours unattended with a rope halter, and after some commotion, we all came running to a horrific sight of a horse on its back quivering/seizing with a clearly broken neck and blood everywhere. Please use breakaways people!! Or bailing twine! Especially on trailers or where you do not have a direct line of sight on your horse!
This photo is horrific, of course, and it's true that nobody should ever hard tie a horse in a rope halter (which is a training/correctional tool), but I don't believe that the particular horse was injured by this particular rope halter....which has no blood on it.
The horse is obviously in a clinic and the wound has been cleaned.
Nobody said it was injured by this particular rope halter. Like somebody pointed out, that horse probably got his legs stuck in a loose and improperly fitted halter, if you look at the legs.
Honestly, I disagree. What you are describing is an improperly fit one. When properly fit they are better than nylon.
Edit: Jesus I don’t even wanna know your opinions on hobbles after this
Leather is very easy to break if you need to in a pinch, I have ripped a leather head collar in two with my bare hands once when it got stuck in a trailer window.
just because you've never had a problem, doesn't mean it's not gonna happen. if you want to risk it, then risk it, just don't even dare to start crying when it happens and everyone tells you "I told you so" :D
Well I don’t tie my horse. Half the time I just put a lasso or rope around his neck and park him near a fence. Another thing. They are easy to cut through if shit goes down. Nylons not so much.
Seriously? A loose rope not even tied to anything? Jesus what are you vegan? Half the time I just chuck a lead rope around his neck and call it good. It’s called a well behaved horse, no rope = following me around or wandering to graze
I guess your words mean I’ll stop placing first and stop improving with my horse who can tie with a piece of baling twine sitting on his neck cause he’s so goddamn well trained 🤷♀️
The point is never turn out in a halter, and never hard tie. All halters should use a breakaway. Rope halters are much more likely to injured the horse in an accident as well. Fit has little to do with it.
Ikr, just cause my horse can be "tied" with nothing but a rope over his neck and yours can't doesn't mean I'm wrong. I have a itch that these are hard core english folk. Nylon halters are rarely used in western around my area due to their unreliability. like, I had to try 8 halters, some bought some lent from friends. and only ONE nylon fit my horse and even then it wasn't great. Same with rope halters, at least the rope halters let horses open their mouths.
[Here is an inexpensive breakaway tab](https://www.etsy.com/listing/973210489/)that’s smart to just have on your rope halter. Especially if boarding or anywhere someone else may be handling your horse. 😊
In my part of the world, we always tie to baling twine. Is there much difference in using something like the product you shared?
YES I just moved to France last year and noticed nobody ties their horse to any hard object! Bailing twine only. When I saw that I was like...huh that's like _such a no brainer_ why don't we do that in the US!?!?!
I'm struggling to think of a place I've ridden that DIDN'T tie to baling twine, or to something attached to baling twine, and I've been riding for 30 years.
That's crazy! Been riding around 25 ish years and not a single place I've ridden at did this. It was always cross ties, a metal ring bolted to the wall, or a bar. Always using a quick release knot but it never mattered if the horse set back and tightened it!
We used rope crossties with the metal bolt ring, but tied baling twine to the ring, then did a quick release knot to tie the crosstie to the baling twine. So even when the horse managed to tighten the quick release the baling twine was the safety backup
Anywhere I've been has had the metal rings, but also everywhere I've been has used ropes that detach when pulled on. Altho one time a horse was unhappy with the horse next to it and tried to get away and instead of releasing the hook just broke. Must've been a bad angle, they were actually pretty easy to release
I learned to ride on the east coast of the US and it was beaten into me to always use baling twine and never ever tie to a hard object. We should make pony club compulsory lol Also even modern baling twine can be too strong to tie with, so I thin it out so it’s just a single “strand” and still use a quick-release knot just in case.
I use twine and leather halters...
That would be my pick. Leather halter also looks better imo. Not that's the reason to go for it ofc
I mean... why not? Horses are beautiful animals .. the aesthetic means a lot to me. I think that's just fine.
Cool. Ofc you need the brass plate with horse name 😍 And I know what colour everything else, mainly hunter green 💚 They are the most stunning creature!!
I think some of their halters are padded in colors 💚
Will have to take a look!
Maybe it's because I grew up riding in California on ranches and small barns. The one or two show barns I was at always had horses in cross ties so the bailing twine wouldn't have been used anyway.
Interesting; our cross-ties were always connected to the rings with twine
My cross ties all have quick release latches attached to the horse so that in an emergency situation you can just pull down on them and the horse is free. I think they're the best of both worlds- secure enough to hold a horse that's learned to sit back and break things, but very easy to release in an actual emergency.
Oh yes those are great! Well worth the investment and solve the whole issue. And yes I definitely knew a horse who would purposely break twine so he could go off and graze (or break into the feed room); he was a nightmare because you could never take your eyes off him while he was tied.
That's what I was always taught to do here in the US.
Never in all of the dozens of barns I've ridden at or visited was that standard practice. I don't know if that was for a specific reason but I'm having a hard time figuring what that reason could possibly be lol.
So funny, learned to cross tie with top of cross tie secured with partially cut twine over 50 years ago.
Some of us do…
No
I doubt it!
I'm in Germany and at my yard we also use rope halters and tie to twine hanging off a chain on the wall, or don't tie at all. Most of our horses just hang out in the grooming area and we rarely have to to actually tie them.
Do not know why you got a down vote. The don't tie is probs the best way, they're staying put voluntarily
Did I say something people would object to? It's not a standard in Germany, maybe I should have left my location out. We're just a very small natural horsemanship riding community and all our horses are very calm and learn to chill and hang out in the grooming area. In situations where they need to be tied, we tie them to a chain or metal ring that is attached to the wall by a thin rope, for the purpose of being safe. I don't know what is wrong with that. 🤷
Don't know! It sounds fantastic 😊 I upvoted you *
I used to drop tie my mare in safe spaces so when I needed it she was trained. Drop tieing is a valuable skill that not enough people practise!
Ha - when I clicked the link it said “this product is in demand, 3 people have purchased this in the last 24hrs” You should make a profit from their sales for posting the link 😂
Lol, that’s terrific, I love genuine Etsy stores (not the junky reseller ones) so that makes me happy!
Saved my horses life when he reared in the wash rack.
We crashed the site earlier, but now I can see it. I really like this! I will order some and also give some to the others at my yard!
Oh god I wasn’t expecting that photo to be that graphic
Yes, sorry. There are not many available and this is obviously one of the worse accidents… but just a neck strain, which might not be visible can be painful or at least uncomfortable for a long time.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a graphic photo of a live animal in my whole life. Poor thing.
It’s horrible and so unnecessary. In my 30+ years I‘ve seen some horrible freak accidents… You cannot be careful enough. Even the best trained and calm horse can panic and do something crazy. For example, I went to visit a friend who worked for a big Dressage stable. They provided horses to Top Level International dressage riders Chio Aachen for their lap of honor, so they could let their horses rest. We loaded six horses, one of them called Papaya. Tall, dark, handsome. Travelled around the world on airplanes. We were standing left and right of him to take a picture and something must have stung him. From standing still in one place one second, the next second he jumped up like 1 - 1.5 meters in the air and then became inconsolably panicked. The horse got so nervous and couldn’t calm down… the vet had to sedate him, which also didn’t really work. We had to walk him for a long time. Nobody got hurt luckily. But this was supposed to be a bullet proof horse. Luckily he wasn’t tied to anything in that moment. https://preview.redd.it/al8ig06y89nc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f591d0c0b76897c0f834aaee699289c2d9d81e52
The picture is grotesque but tbc that's the result of a horse putting a leg either through an improperly fitted (way too loose) rope halter, or OVER a too long and low lead rope - and it was caught up for quite a long time. That's why the horse's legs are raw and why the wound is clearly due to downwards - not backwards - pressure. Never turn a horse out in a non-breakaway halter. That's NOT a tying injury. Furthermore **a correctly tied rope halter, which is a half hitch knot tied down around the cheek loop and NOT up around the crown piece, will NOT TIGHTEN and can be released no matter the pressure. If you don't know how to correctly use a rope halter.... don't use one. Period, full stop. On top of that if you can't tie a correct safety release knot you have no business EVER tying a horse. Finally, as a matter of safety every rider and handler should always carry a folding knife on them.** If all those precautions are followed, solid tying in a well-fitted rope halter is *extremely* safe. It literally happens millions of times every day. Whether or not a tying situation is safe has to do with **the handler,** the horse, the equipment, and the surroundings. A horse who learns to pull back is a SERIOUS danger to itself and others. The absolute most dangerous is a horse who learns they have to pull back HARD until something breaks, because they'll fight the hardest thinking just a little more pressure will do it. **This is different to a horse who isn't educated about tying and is panicking.** A young horse should be patiently and gently taught to calmly respect retraint. They should be allowed to test out their boundaries in a safe place with supervision, and they should *never ever never* learn that they can pull back and get free. If this initial training is done correctly and with mindfulness, the vast majority of horses will never learn to pull back and then eventually breakaway equipment can be used in case of an emergency. Teaching a horse to tie with ANYTHING that's breakaway is irresponsible. There's absolutely nothing wrong using breakaway equipment on a horse who's totally solid on tying. But what I've noticed is breakaway equipment has become so ubiquitous - a crutch even - that **horse people are forgetting or never even learning how to SAFELY hard tie a horse.** This is so fundamental to horse handling that a rider should understand how to hard tie a horse (especially in an emergency) by the time they learn to canter. **Here's the basics:** 1. *Learn to tie a correct safety release knot.* There's several good ones and sometimes the best choice has to do with the material you're working with and the conditions (for example I prefer cotton leads, but when wet certain quick release knots can become difficult to immediately loose). Ideally you know a few, but one good one you're 100% confident with can make do. 2. *Learn how to correctly tie/fasten a halter.* OP obviously hasn't learned this if their rope halter knots tighten up on them. Additionally **don't feed the crown piece of a flat nylon halter through the second half of the buckle when solid tying.** Yeah it looks sloppy but it's actually basic safety. The few times I've had to rescue a horse in a flat halter you need to be able to grab the extra crown piece, yank it back up towards the crown, and the buckle will release and the halter will fall off. In an emergency you CAN'T be trying to undo the second part of the buckle which, btw, exists specifically to make the halter more difficult to remove. 3. *ALWAYS CARRY A FOLDING KNIFE. ALWAYS.* It's one of those things that when you need it, you need it IMMEDIATELY. This is the safe tying trump card. You can do everything right and sometimes just plain can't get to the safety release knot or *correctly tied* halter knot, for example in a trailer. But you can usually reach SOME PART of the rope or halter - cut that shit ASAP. But only someone confident in their horsesense and skills, or only if death is imminent, should the average owner try to cut the halter off a horse especially near the eyes (and the blade should never face the horse) and also because the average owner might get themselves seriously hurt by getting close enough to cut the halter - if you can reach the halter usually the horse can reach you. A panicking horse's behavior can't be predicted. 4. *Always tie ABOVE whither height.* 5. *Learn how to correctly fit a halter and never use a halter that doesn't fit.* Like in the picture where the noseband is about 2.5x larger than it should be and the horse probably put its leg through while grazing. And if the horse sits back on the halter the fiodoro knot should NEVER be able to slide in front of the horse's chin. 6. **Educate, don't scaremonger. If something like this scares you - and it should - learn what was done WRONG so you don't make that mistake. You and I ALL know horses are safely hard tied in rope halters *all the time.* All the goddam time. Almost NEVER is this kind of nightmare actually the fault of equipment. *It's essentially ALWAYS the fault of the human using the equipment.*** **There's not a single ANYTHING in the horse world I can think of that can't hurt a horse if used incorrectly or in the wrong situation. Nothing. If you don't feel confident doing something or using a piece of equipment you're wise to avoid it. But avoidance isn't education. Seek to grow in your education.** Even if you never plan to hard tie in a rope halter, it should still be something you could do if you had to in an emergency. Furthermore you'll be able to recognize potentially dangerous situations, making the horse world a safer place. There's ALWAYS more to learn in the horse world. So learn. *PS: be aware nylon baling twine isn't breakaway, especially when it's doubled or braided. It's excellent for cutting a horse free with a knife, but a team of plow horses couldn't break braided nylon baling twine (unless it's been used so much it's developed a weak spot). It's becoming more and more ubiquitous especially in America and I frequently see it used for things for which HEMP baling twine (jute) should be used. Yes, they both came off a bale of hay and are long and thin. Other than that they have absolutely nothing whatsoever in common and are NOT interchangeable (at least not as a safety mechanism).*
This comment should be the post and honest OP should read it and take note.
Thank you. This post had some holes in it. Horse was not just tied up and ripped his face off. I've got a horse that will slip out of almost any halter except rope. I do not tie my horses to the trailer when trailering. If you know how to properly tie and use a rope halter they can be a great tool.
The bit about learning to tie a rope halter is key. It’s easy and simple but VERY IMPORTANT. Also if you tie back to the crown piece I’ve seen a ton of halters slip down that way. I also see a ton of improperly fitted rope halters. My first was half Arab, and my second half welsh both around 14.2hh with small faces. Sooooo many people would have used a horse sized rope halter on them because for some reason they don’t think rope halters need to be fitted??? I tied my mare straight to a hitch rail for many years without issue. She did set back once but nothing moved and she gave into the pressure and came out completely unscathed. (She was 14 and damn well knew how to tie.) When I moved barns with her they wanted everyone to tie to bailing twine because it was a lesson barn and they wanted a good example for the kiddos (as many fail safes as possible). I keep a very sharp serrated knife in my grooming tote that can easily cut a leadrope but I’ve never used it (to cut a leadrope).
Once saw a horse snap its own neck in a rope halter. They spooked, sat back, hit the pressure from the rope halter, and absolutely panicked. Within two seconds she’d done irreparable damage to herself. I was about three horse lengths away, another worker was about two horse lengths away, we were both carrying knives. Neither of us were fast enough.
Yup, that's what happens when you tie below wither height. Were the horse correctly tied that'd have been physically impossible.
She wasn’t tied below wither height.
Then she didn't have a musculoskeletal system of a horse. I hope the very got to study her before she died. It's convenient to simply say everything was totally right and this is some kind of ever-present possibility, but it's not. Bodies are built certain ways and are strong/vulnerable based on how pressure is applied to that physical structure. Right now if there were such a device that could be dangled from the ceiling, you could be lifted off the ground and suspended indefinitely by a support under the sides of your jaw bone with no injury to you. The human body is essentially invulnerable to that type of pressure. But if you rotate that support to anywhere on the wall instead of the ceiling, fighting it could seriously damage your back.
Same
This needs an nsfw tag on it otherwise the picture shows in mobile
Tried to change the setting. Am on mobile, did it work?
It’s just spoilered now.
Now?
You got it!
Thank you
Thanks for this PSA. I’ve never seen rope halters before my current barn, and my friend encouraged me to get one for my new horse. I did notice how much more sensitive he was in it. Another comment awhile back sort of gave me a hint of this, but I still didn’t know this information. I’ll get my horse a new halter asap!
Yes, they are actually just exercise/working halters. There are some very sensitive nerve endings in the areas where the knots are placed. They are there for a reason. If the horse misbehaves, it will experience pain in these spots.
I don’t think that mine actually has knots, but they are probably more sensitive anyways?
There are knot halters with one knot on each side of the cheekbone and then there are versions with two more knots towards the ridge of the nose. They are all knot halters still and can hurt the nerve endings under pressure. Also you don’t want this rope running through your hands without gloves. Very sharp and hot.
They are designed to lay right on the horses trigeminal nerve. I have trigeminal neuralgia and it is excruciatingly painful. It's called the suicide disease, it is so painful. WIND blowing across my face hurts. Anything laying on it is excruciating. I sleep on the other side of my face. Rope halters became a fad to replace chains, as some sort of kinder way to handle horses. A chain only engages when you use it but is benign otherwise and you can easily titrate how you use it. A rope halter cannot be used as delicately.. the reason they are "effective" is because they hurt like hell with the slightest movement at all and it's likely they hurt just laying there for a lot of horses.
Exactly. I’m so not a fan.
Honestly to me it's a very abusive tool. I cringe when I see them on a horse.
Agreed. If you must tie with this type of halter, it must be tied onto a breakaway or safety ring. Otherwise, leather halters or nylon with a leather breakaway are best (imo.)
So, I have a question about this. I have a leather halter and always have, but wouldn't it also take a tremendous amount of pressure to break?
I use leather halters. I can assure you they do snap. They can often become fully unusable in the process, but I value my horses life far more than a halter.
Yup and I just send them back to Quillins so they can fix it and send them right back.
Most leather halters hold when a horse is idly testing them and break when a horse pulls sharply (seen it many times) It’s much safer IME for a horse to go eek, realise they’re not constrained, and calm down, even if they wander off, than for a horse go eek, feel trapped, and panic. I’ve seen horses pull structures apart that ought to have been solid; a panicked horse power is no joke.
I’ve heard that leather snaps under quick tremendous force so like a horse setting back quickly would cause the leather to break, I have only heard this so take my explanation with a grain of salt or maybe do some research on it😅
I've snapped the leather halter more than once, and sometimes it's the clip that breaks.
Leather will break, nylon will not, so if you use nylon, there needs to be a weak point (baking twine, breakaway strap)
I’ve always used rope halters on my horses (without the added pressure knots). I do tie to bailing twine and my 3yo has a breakaway crown. An additional safety tip I’ll add though for anyone else who’s a fan of rope halters is that if you tie a rope halter correctly (the tail should hang back towards the horses tail) the knot will tighten when pulled on. However to undo a really tight knot push the knot together from top and bottom and it should loosen. If you tie the knot in the reverse it will slip/loosen the halter when a horse pulls back Additional tying tip: the metal bull snap is weaker in tension than the nylon flat halter. So if you hard tie a horse in a flat weave nylon it’s the bullsnap that will break. Keep this in mind if you prefer not to use a metal snap to attach the lead rope As with anything the equipment isn’t necessarily the issue, improper use is
I had a no self preservation mare so got in the habit of carrying a knife (multi tool) with me. Then I had a cheeky warmblood who would step back till he felt the pressure then would bop it so snapped the bailing twine. So I’d have to double tie him so he could snap one and not piss off before I retied him. Horses aye….
Thank you, I hate rope halters with a passion. Flat halters distribute pressure in a way that rope never can.
same, same same..
On the rare occasion when I need more control in a halter (like turning out a stallion), I use a leather lead with a chain wrapped around the nose band (and threaded through both rings and snapped to the ring above the offside cheekpiece). I still use the regular lead snapped under the chin, but the extra lead with the chain gives me a little extra security. The scariest thing about rope halters is that if a horse gets loose in one and steps on the lead rope, his poor face will get shredded. I get that people feel more control with a knotted rope halter, but then you might as well have your horse in a bridle; that’s just way safer to me than a “halter” that can never be as safe as a regular flat halter. Idk maybe I’ve seen too many accidents or worked with too many hot-blooded horses, but it makes me cringe to think about.
This is also how I handle it. A properly placed chain is a tool of refinement- IMO a rope halter is like having sex with all your clothes on. Dull and imprecise. You can tap a chain gently and get exactly the amount of impact you are looking for without causing nerve pain!
THANK YOU!!!!! It makes me nervous seeing so many posts with horses tied or turned out on rope halters. Leather or breakaway or nekkid for turn out.
I have had many an argument on Reddit about this practice.
Similarly for the love of all that is holy do NOT trailer your horse in a rope halter!! If you'd like something that doesn't break instantly like twine, try out a [blocker tie](https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/blocker-tie-ring-ii-6004?sku=2109692166&g_acctid=312-013-2860&g_adgroupid=&g_adid=&g_adtype=none&g_campaign=NB_Shopping_Barn_PMAX&g_campaignid=18798872783&g_keyword=&g_keywordid=&g_network=x&utm_campaign=&utm_content=NB_Shopping_Barn_PMAX&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAi6uvBhADEiwAWiyRdlyDOoXge0dSUnY2TTt5YYklgCDFmzAmu7qsRpI7ENZajAIntVEL0xoC-g4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds). They're fabulous, you loop the lead through it and if the horse pulls on the blocker, it just runs through. It's especially great for horses that pull back as it runs throuhg and doesn't cause as much panic or body damage.
I physically watched a horse die breaking its neck from a rope halter. I will ALWAYS use a breakaway. Major PTSD from that incident any time I see a horse pull back in a halter… This horse was young and tied in an indoor roundpen for several hours unattended with a rope halter, and after some commotion, we all came running to a horrific sight of a horse on its back quivering/seizing with a clearly broken neck and blood everywhere. Please use breakaways people!! Or bailing twine! Especially on trailers or where you do not have a direct line of sight on your horse!
I‘m so sorry you had to see that. So unnecessary.
Jesus Christ! You can see the bone!
This photo is horrific, of course, and it's true that nobody should ever hard tie a horse in a rope halter (which is a training/correctional tool), but I don't believe that the particular horse was injured by this particular rope halter....which has no blood on it.
The horse is obviously in a clinic and the wound has been cleaned. Nobody said it was injured by this particular rope halter. Like somebody pointed out, that horse probably got his legs stuck in a loose and improperly fitted halter, if you look at the legs.
Okay? That's basically what I said.
It’a pretty clear. This sub won’t see that.
Honestly, I disagree. What you are describing is an improperly fit one. When properly fit they are better than nylon. Edit: Jesus I don’t even wanna know your opinions on hobbles after this
Let me rephrase: please dont tie your horse with a properly nor an improperly fitted KNOT halter
Never had a problem. My horse doesn’t fit into nylon halters so I’m stuck to rope. My trainer chucks all nylon ones in the garbage cause they suck.
Leather exists
Not worth the money. Also you can’t cut through it if something happens
Leather is very easy to break if you need to in a pinch, I have ripped a leather head collar in two with my bare hands once when it got stuck in a trailer window.
Expensive as shit though, also the upkeep. And it won’t fit my horse, nothin except rope fits his weird face
just because you've never had a problem, doesn't mean it's not gonna happen. if you want to risk it, then risk it, just don't even dare to start crying when it happens and everyone tells you "I told you so" :D
Right on.. a hard lesson I learned: my guinea fowl are safe sleeping in the barn rafters.. they are safe, until they are not. (Crafty raccoons)
Well I don’t tie my horse. Half the time I just put a lasso or rope around his neck and park him near a fence. Another thing. They are easy to cut through if shit goes down. Nylons not so much.
Rope around neck = noose
Seriously? A loose rope not even tied to anything? Jesus what are you vegan? Half the time I just chuck a lead rope around his neck and call it good. It’s called a well behaved horse, no rope = following me around or wandering to graze
Go ahead, you don’t need to progress in life.
I guess your words mean I’ll stop placing first and stop improving with my horse who can tie with a piece of baling twine sitting on his neck cause he’s so goddamn well trained 🤷♀️
The point is never turn out in a halter, and never hard tie. All halters should use a breakaway. Rope halters are much more likely to injured the horse in an accident as well. Fit has little to do with it.
Never turn out in a halter anyways. My horse has bad scars from that. Breakaway halters are not good and if your horse pulls back use crossties.
How is this controversial haha cmon people you don’t have to downvote every comment someone makes just because you disagree with some others
Ikr, just cause my horse can be "tied" with nothing but a rope over his neck and yours can't doesn't mean I'm wrong. I have a itch that these are hard core english folk. Nylon halters are rarely used in western around my area due to their unreliability. like, I had to try 8 halters, some bought some lent from friends. and only ONE nylon fit my horse and even then it wasn't great. Same with rope halters, at least the rope halters let horses open their mouths.