Alternatives to halters?

[endlessclimb]

Yeah, until someone starts a mower that backfires or something. Even my dead-steady old man gets wind up his tail about once a year. Having him in a shoestring neck strap at that moment is a recipe to lose control of him, and then who is responsible for that?

Your horse having a good time over the fence with his friend is not something to be mad about. Yeah, the friend is ripping his fuzzies off but your horse is over there because he enjoys the company. I wouldn’t be taking away my horse’s best friend over that. Secure the fuzzies/flannel/whatever.

They also make fleece breakaway halters, which is what my young mare is in due to rubs. She breaks it probably once a month. I keep replacement parts at the barn, and just fix it when it happens.

Finally, you can make any halter into a breakaway halter. Find one you like, then cut the piece off by the buckle and replace with the “fuse”.

[trubandloki]

@endlessclimb

Finally, you can make any halter into a breakaway halter. Find one you like, then cut the piece off by the buckle and replace with the “fuse”.

You don’t even have to do that much. Just buy this way cool converter that buckles into the current crown piece buckle and provides you with a new place to buckle your crown piece.

Leather Breakaway Halter Converter

Clearly this will not work if your halter only fits on the tightest hole.

[endlessclimb]

That is neat! It takes me less than 5 minutes to convert one with the small fuse/chicago screw, but if I have one that I really like and don’t want to take a knife to, I’ll keep this in mind!

[Shiaway]

I get your point but he just doesn’t get out of control even when he is “up”. I’ve had him for almost 20 years now and even when he was young and getting used to the world he always was respectful of people and leads. Plus he’s very predictable. He goes either to his stall or grass. But of course the barn will probably be of your opinion I’d imagine so I doubt a neck rope will be a viable option.

I believe he is over by the fence because they have put in a big hay hut that spans the fence so the horses have access on both sides. He is quite food aggressive or territorial, I’m not sure what you’d call it. So it’s possible he is even instigating a fight with the other horse. I didn’t really think of that until just now because this horse is young and mouthy and has destroyed his fleeces before the hay hut was there but not with such frequency. I was originally told he would not be turned out much in this area especially because he has a history of colic from over eating. But I guess he is in fact out there all day. Still, I don’t want to risk him losing turn out time because it’s so precious and already so limited so I haven’t said anything.

I personally don’t think just a breakaway is enough. I think every piece of the halter should be able to break away. So that is why I got the cheap leather halter. I will look into the Etsy halter as well since it has breakable pieces.

I think I will first try the flannel and perhaps look for a cheap leather halter that buckles over the crown without a snap so that will hopefully take care of the marks on his cheek.

If these don’t work I will look into a breakaway neck collar like shown above. Or ask how the barn would feel about throwing on and off something like a grooming halter which can’t be much more work than snapping a clip. And again he’s super easy to catch and halter. He small so not hard to reach. He doesn’t bite or anything. He’s a very good boy who is a big people pleaser and very people oriented. There’s honestly not another like him in my not so unbiased opinion of course!

[RedHorses]

A neck strap can be turned into a halter in five seconds by taking a half hitch around the horse’s nose with the lead rope - provided they’re not using really short leads.

[js]

I’ve used this halter for 24/7 turnout. It is a breakaway and is padded so no rubs. I never had any issue with it leaving dye marks on the horses.

SmartPak Fleece Padded Breakaway Halter (smartpakequine.com)

[Paisley_Pony]

It sounds like your guy is a good candidate for a neck collar. Let’s face it, if a horse is determined to be an idiot, even a halter doesn’t guarantee control on a bad day. Since your senior is so well behaved a breakaway neck collar sounds like it would be plenty of control without interfering with his sensitive face.