I got one at Chicks Saddlery for about $30 including nameplate.
Danzig halters are my favorite. Many configurations are available, they come with a big legible nameplate, solid hardware and they last forever in my wet climate. I think they are more popular on the track than anywhere else…have no idea why, they are well made, look nice and as of a couple of years ago very reasonably priced. I only had to replace the last one when it was hung in the wrong spot and a pasture mate chewed the devil out of it. Halter still functioned but the roughened surface hung on to the dirt and drove me nuts…
I actually have six. Two Stubbens, one generic, three M1909 Army reproduction halters.
G.
You haven’t had the right ones. We have a few that hang on the fence when the outside horses are in the field that never get washed and look and hold up great. The inside horses wear theirs out in the paddock and get them muddy. They get hosed when the horses get baths but don’t get cleaned and oiled until the horse is leaving.
Most of the ones we use come from Bartville Harness Shop and cost about $40 (more for the nameplate). All my bridles come from there also and I never wash the schooling bridles and they hold up great at a great price.
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I use Obenauf’s Heavy Duty Leather Preserver for all my weather exposed leather halters. It’s popular with the firefighters up here for protecting leather from water and dirt. My halters don’t look or feel weathered and I have cleaned them far less than is ideal. I live where an unholy amount of rain falls per year so I think this is a reasonable testament to its effectiveness. Starting with good, plain heavy leather halter is key…no decorative stitching, no piping and preferably English chin with a throat snap seems to last the longest. I’ve never had any luck with the cheapo Indian halters, the hardware fails and they break at a rate that made buying a better quality halter more cost effective. Besides there is something to the look of a well cared for, old, leather halter with a patina of age I find rather appealing…could never get the cheap halters to last that long.
All of my leather halters are from Bartville Harness. I’m not usually a fan of the look of leather halters because they are so bulky looking on my Arab and Morgan faces but Bartville has handmade, refined (yet sturdy) ones for under $40.
I agree that you haven’t had good ones if you’ve had to clean/oil/and generally take care of them with any regularity.
I use leather halters 24/7 on all of my horses. First thing I purchase for a new horse, in fact, is a halter with a name plate. All leather halters get left hanging in the barn or out on the gates in all weather at all times. I can’t remember the last time I oiled or cleaned any of the halters. Most of mine are from Quillin, but I have a few from Dover (one in particular is 16 years old, has been cleaned maybe five times in those 16 years and still looks and feels fantastic…the nameplate, on the other hand, is barely legible at this point), one from Smartpak, and maybe another few random brand leather halters that I haven’t liked as much as the others and aren’t in use at the moment.
Quillin is my favorite because their halters are great quality, relatively cheap, and they have the absolute best nameplates. I also love being able to customize the pieces and sizes.
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Dog and pony show carries my favourite halters. Hands down.
Tack Shack of Ocala for sure! Free shipping over $50 and everything is customizable - sizing, leather color, stitching color, rolled or flat throat, adjustable or fixed chin, throat snap or no snap, etc. I was looking for a triple stitched halter with white stitching (looks better than brown IMO) and a fixed chin and was able to get one with everything I wanted and a nameplate for $60 wish through Tack Shack Ocala. The halter is absolutely beautiful and is so soft and the hardware is substantial.
I really like the smart pak halters and they have sales all the time on their products!
Actually, I’ve bought the exact, right ones for my usage! I just don’t hang leather tack outside where it can get wet. That’s just a Bad Idea.
G.
maybe try oiling it less so it doesn’t stretch out like an 80 year old nutsack. Good leather doesn’t need weekly oil.
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I LOLed.
my tack shack halter has been worn every day for almost 10 years (the nameplate doesn’t even have a horse’s name on it, it has mine, so I can keep passing it to the next horse) and I’ve cleaned it once beyond hosing it off in the wash rack.
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Quillin are a bit thicker than what I care for day to day. I really enjoy the dover lined halters and smartpak ones because they are a bit thinner and less bulky.
I’m surprised to see that no one cleans their halters regularly. I wipe down bridles after every ride. Since I already have a damp rag in my hand I wipe down the halter as well. Whenever I give strap goods a light condition, I do the halter as well. That’s always been the standard practice at the barns where I boarded. My mare had a habit of exploding out of halters annually but they always looked gorgeous until they met the force of a determined 1,200 lb mare.
I also have a Danzig halter. It has held up very well over the 10+ years I’ve had it. Note that I don’t use it for turnout. When I bought mine, the name plate was included in the cost of the halter. Bill Danzig was also great to work with. The first halter I received was way too big. Bill took it back and selected another one based on the measurements I sent him.
I’ve had good luck with Perri’s. I use the one with the rolled noseband. It’s hung outside when the mare is turned out, gets very little care and attention, and has worn very well. (It is #3 in 10 1/2 years, the first two having failed in trailer incidents. The one where only the crownpiece broke is my backup halter.)
I get what you are saying…however…
The vast majority or horses where I board are racehorse rehabs, vacations, waiting on new homes and aren’t ridden or aren’t ridden that much. If they are going in the stall, they are put out and brought in by the barn workers this time of the year. They wear their halters while in the field and they are taken off Some waiting on new homes stay out 24/7 when the weather is nice. The Three Bad Boys were in due to the rain and as soon as the weather was nice they went out, rolled, ran around, and pretended they were wild stallions. Those halters are not getting cleaned after the workers spend 5+ hours cleaning stalls when they have water to check, hay to put up, fences to mend, etc.
Most commonly these horses have halter with name plates with either their name or their dam/sire. If they are on vacation or rehab, their halters get cleaned/oiled when they get the bath/haircut prior to going back to race training. If they are in for new homes, their halter goes with them - usually wiped down at the most but they are rehomes, not sales.
This thread reminds me of a fancy hunter barn I very briefly boarded my mare at, where everything had to be matchy-matchy, including the mandatory (VERY expensive) big tack trunks that had to be in front of the horses’ stalls.
I didn’t stay long.
Back to OP, there are plenty of choices in cheap but still ok quality leather halters.
I have had several from Tack Shack and Quillin. They are comparable in workmanship and quality, but I prefer the Tack Shack ones. And the customizable options are endless! Definitely get a fixed chin and throat snap.
I’ve been very happy with my Tack Shack halters. My retired gelding has one that’s 5+ years old and still looks great. I got one for my new horse last year and it’s just beautiful. I do clean it sporadically but we’re talking maybe every other month in the summer while we’re showing. It does live outside uncovered (bad I know!). I’ve found it coated in a layer of ice several times, but once it melts it’s a good as new!
