Hi! My soon to be 25 year old Hunter is still sound and we enjoy walking on trails. He had his teeth done last week and two teeth are eroding. I have ridden him in a halter with two lead ropes before and he was perfect. I want to start using a hackamore so he no longer needs a bit in his mouth. I know nothing about them though. How do you evaluate them and any recommendations? Thanks!!
You have a bunch of options.
A side pull is basically a noseband and rides like a more stable halter. You can direct rein in it.
A mechanical hackamore is a leverage bit. It’s like a curb. You can get varying lengths of shank. You cannot really use direct rein or contact its more for neck rein.
A Dr Cooks put pressure on the poll and is not a nice option IMHO.
A bosal is a specialized rawhide Western thung and you don’t want that.
2 Likes
If you can, borrow a few different types to see how he reacts.
If he’s well behaved in a halter, you probably dont need much, if any, leverage, and some horses dont react well to hackamores with shanks.
I haven’t tried enough types of non-leverage hackamores to be able to provide useful information about how the different types compare.
2 Likes
The Tory leather hackamore is my favorite
2 Likes
It really sounds like you just need a side pull. I know a lot is older horses (or even younger ones that have a very good set of brakes off seat alone) that go very happily in one. As the precious poster said, try to borrow any if you can. If he was always in a D as a hunter though and goes happily in a halter then it’s unlikely you need the leverage of a true hackamore and it might confuse him unnecessarily
2 Likes
As others have suggested, I would start with a side pull. My horse goes well in the one from thinline. Just one thing to look out for, make sure your bridle’s cheekpieces can be shortened. Mine were already on the last hole with a snaffle bit, so I got cob sized cheekpieces for the side pull.
2 Likes
I would also recommend a sidepull on an English horse. Also learn a one rein emergency stop and you can generally take their head away and halt in an emergency.
1 Like
Thank you everyone! I ordered the Thinline one. I remember seeing Lindsay Partridge (the designer) at the Thoroughbred Makeover!
Since he goes well in a halter, I’d try for a side pull.
I really like this one: https://equizoneonline.com/products/la-cense-bitless-bridle
If you can find one with that design, a bit less expensive, it should do the trick. I am happy with mine but for a $230 bridle, it already has cracking along the browband and its less than a year old.
