I’m watching the run up to the Derby and they are showing clips of thoroughbred mares and foals in paddocks. They all have halters on. I’m sure they’re all breakaway but it still strikes me as sort of hazardous. Why do they do this? Why not remove halters when they are turned out? The foals are handled from birth so why not halter for periods of time when they are worked with?
Baby halters are very light. I could break one pretty easily with my hands. At many TB farms, foals start wearing halters very young (a couple of days) for ID purposes.
Plus with many horses, a few people and not enough time, it’s easier to hook on instead of haltering a bunch of horses especially foals everytime you have to bring them in.
I leave lightweight leather halters on foals. I haven’t ever had a problem, and as mentioned, even I could break one. With very young foals it can be difficult for the first while rehaltering foals to lead them. Leaving it on is a simple solution.
Mares and foals are always turned out with halters. A lot of breeding farms also use neck straps with their names on it. In case a halter comes off in the field.
As others have said they are turned out in large groups and it would be irresponsible for them not to have halters on in case a pair had to be caught quickly for a multitude of reasons.
Though farms generally have “dedicated” people in the various broodmare barns it’s not so easy to learn the names of all the different mares turned out together just by looks. Then there are “swing staff” that cover for those that have a day off. Can’t expect them to visually know every mare and foal on the farm.
Certainly wouldn’t want the wrong mare to be bred because someone swapped halters by accident.
All halters are leather on the majority of farms. There is no bases in fact that turning horses out with leather halters is inherently dangerous. Doesn’t take much to break them.
Horses can and do get loose even at the best farms. It can be a huge PITA to catch one without a halter on.
Besides breeding the wrong mare, heaven forbid you put the wrong foal with the wrong mare. It wouldn’t be pretty.
[QUOTE=spotted draft x filly;8653839]
Besides breeding the wrong mare, heaven forbid you put the wrong foal with the wrong mare. It wouldn’t be pretty.[/QUOTE]
WHAT??? Seriously? That wouldn’t happen even without halters name/number tags
Yeah it has happened. I haven’t seen it or done it but I have heard stories of people who have. Not always are the foals glued to their mothers side when it’s time to come in. I’ve had to track down a few dodging in and out of other mares to catch the foal.
I’ve boarded at barns where foals were wearing leather halters during the day out in fields with wooded areas. I thought it was dangerous. I did once buy a horse from a woman who had put a halter on her foal. The foal had gotten the halter caught in a piece of farm equipment and pulled the equipment over on her, killing the foal. So it can be dangerous.
My adults horses can break their crown pieces on leather halters. But I do not leave the halters on in the pasture. I do know a woman whose horse flipped in crosswise and the horse died.
Those pastures in KY do not have a bunch of trees and farm equipment for horses to get hung up on.
Exactly - leaving farm equipment lying around would be a recipe…
Foal halters should fit well because they are very good at the three legged scratch of the jowl area…
I also like the little tag under the chin of the halter to grab the little brats
as they try to sneak under their moms to get away.
Mixed up identities - there was the story of two horses who were picked up and travelled across the country to the east coast. The wrong halter was put on the wrong horse and delivered to the wrong address…one new owner thought she had bought a horse that did not live up to its reputation, the other thought the horse was very much nicer than what they expected. Neck straps would have saved the confusion!
[QUOTE=gumtree;8653799]
Mares and foals are always turned out with halters. A lot of breeding farms also use neck straps with their names on it. In case a halter comes off in the field.
As others have said they are turned out in large groups and it would be irresponsible for them not to have halters on in case a pair had to be caught
quickly for a multitude of reasons.
Though farms generally have “dedicated” people in the various broodmare barns it’s not so easy to learn the names of all the different mares turned out together just by looks. Then there are “swing staff” that cover for those that have a day off. Can’t expect them to visually know every mare and foal on the farm.
Certainly wouldn’t want the wrong mare to be bred because someone swapped halters by accident.
All halters are leather on the majority of farms. There is no bases in fact that turning horses out with leather halters is inherently dangerous. Doesn’t take much to break them.
Horses can and do get loose even at the best farms. It can be a huge PITA to catch one without a halter on.[/QUOTE]
Not only that but I have seen - as surely other CoTHers have - one horse purposely, systematically remove the halter of another.
Lucky now gets turned out and stalled without a halter (it’s easier to catch him than not) and has a nylon one for leading because he has systematically broken three leather halters of increasing expense (the last was the heavy triple-stitched SmartPak halter with nameplate.) I think the only leather halter I had that he hasn’t broken is his old track halter that has such a stiff crownpiece I need to replace it (it’s buckle-only, not snap, so I have to buckle and unbuckle it taking it on and off.) And those are big heavy halters made for full-grown horses breaking like twine. He’s not a big or strong horse. The baby halters, as mentioned are so teeny it’s possible almost to break them with your hands.
[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;8653985]
I’ve boarded at barns where foals were wearing leather halters during the day out in fields with wooded areas. I thought it was dangerous. I did once buy a horse from a woman who had put a halter on her foal. The foal had gotten the halter caught in a piece of farm equipment and pulled the equipment over on her, killing the foal. So it can be dangerous.
My adults horses can break their crown pieces on leather halters. But I do not leave the halters on in the pasture. I do know a woman whose horse flipped in crosswise and the horse died.
Those pastures in KY do not have a bunch of trees and farm equipment for horses to get hung up on.[/QUOTE]
Be it in KY or any state I assume we are talking about “professionally” run farms, be it commercial breeders or hobby.
Run by people that can easily see “objective dangers” and make sure their property, paddocks, fields, stalls, the general property is horse safe for the types of horses they are caring for and or raising. Their horses are turned out in appropriate places based on age and mental stability.
"The foal had gotten the halter caught in a piece of farm equipment and pulled the equipment over on her, killing the foal. So it can be dangerous."
Not to be snarky but Please. Somebody not to being able to recognize the danger of this happening shouldn’t be raising foals to begin with. Shouldn’t be looking after horses in general.
“Foal halters should fit well because they are very good at the three legged scratch of the jowl area”
IMO and experience these are the ONLY foal halters that should be used until they grow out of them and get a bit of sensibility about them. The ones I use have a wider “Jowl plate”.
I don’t use catch leads on most of them. But it is a good option for some foals.
[QUOTE=Howlin’Wolf;8654248]
Not only that but I have seen - as surely other CoTHers have - one horse purposely, systematically remove the halter of another.[/QUOTE]
yup lol. But mostly on some of my older horses. Total PITA to walk around the field/paddock looking for them.
[QUOTE=gumtree;8654315]
yup lol. But mostly on some of my older horses. Total PITA to walk around the field/paddock looking for them.[/QUOTE]
Yes. I think there should be an option like a GPS device installed in a halter and an App for your phone.
I haven’t turned a horse in a halter in years - sometimes use a neck strap.
But mine would come running when they see me. Because there just ‘might’ be treats! :lol:
I use the very “cheapest” latigo leather halters on our babies to lead and handle…but NEVER leave them on when the foals are out of my control!!! Our mares turn out in 10+ acre pastures with trees…stalls have buckets, tubs…all sorts of things to get hung up in. We once had a customer lose a very well bred foal who broke its neck after getting the halter hung on a water bucket!! NO halters on our foals until they are weaned!! When I see newborns wearing “Hamilton”, nylon, three ply halters it… makes me ill!!!
And another fault is when the foal’s halter is SO much too big that it is an invitation for a foot to get hung up!!
[QUOTE=crosscreeksh;8655870]
And another fault is when the foal’s halter is SO much too big that it is an invitation for a foot to get hung up!![/QUOTE]
Pretty much impossible using “figure 8” foal halters with the cheek plates. They fit snug but don’t “bind”. They should be adjusted weekly.
Do foals need halters? Not really. Depends on one’s operation and numbers.
[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;8653985]
I’ve boarded at barns where foals were wearing leather halters during the day out in fields with wooded areas. I thought it was dangerous. I did once buy a horse from a woman who had put a halter on her foal. The foal had gotten the halter caught in a piece of farm equipment and pulled the equipment over on her, killing the foal. So it can be dangerous.
My adults horses can break their crown pieces on leather halters. But I do not leave the halters on in the pasture. I do know a woman whose horse flipped in crosswise and the horse died.
Those pastures in KY do not have a bunch of trees and farm equipment for horses to get hung up on.[/QUOTE]
And who with any common sense litters their pastures with farm equipment? I know people do, they also tie horses to garbage cans and car mirrors. No common sense.
And how many foals have you had to catch? Not all of them follow their mare like good little kiddies. It is absolutely no fun to hang onto a frantic mare while kiddo demonstrates an independent streak.
