Leather halters

[equinelibrium]

Thanks @beowulf! I think she’s pretty adorable too, not that I’m biased or anything.

@enjoytheride

This is very helpful! I’m a little crazy about where the halter should be buckled. To me it doesn’t fit if it’s on the very shortest hole.

I know how you feel. I’m the opposite, if it’s on the tightest hole I don’t think it fits. My pet peeve is halters that are way too loose, so I error on the side of too small rather than too big! I thought about ordering a replacement crown in cob so it would have a bit more space, but decided if it really bothered me I could use the crown from her old halter. It never bugged me too much so I kept the new one, and now that it’s stretched we’re on the 2nd and 3rd holes on each side.

I just re-read your OP and saw you’re looking to fit large ponies/Arabs. My girl is 14.2 and 1/4 Arab and has what I would guess is a typical Arab head - big jowl and small nose, if that helps!

[enjoytheride]

perfect

[Posting_Trot]

Smith-Worthington has nice quality halters at a good price:

https://www.smithworthington.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=32&pg=1

[enjoytheride]

ok! Here are the halters I have. Halter with name plate is a Albright’s turnout $58 including shipping (same leather as their sales halters but no stitching and a different finish). Halter with rolled nose is a special order Albright’s sales halter ($71 including shipping)

The leader’s worldwide is the halter with the white stitching. I ordered it Thursday, got it Saturday. It cost $50 including shipping. I don’t feel it compares leather quality to the Albrights, but it’s way above my Chicks junk halters. I do feel like it’s too big for my mare, so it’s definitely more of a large cob halter.

[Montanas_Girl]

Late to the party, but, for nice leather halters that actually fit Arabian heads (most of the brands mentioned here absolutely do NOT, in any size), you just can’t beat the Tack Shack of Ocala custom Arabian halter. They’re a bit over the OP’s price range, but not by much, and hopefully this tip will help others looking for similar halters for Arabians, ponies, or horses with refined heads.

For size reference, these mares are 13.2 (purebred) and 13.3 (Half Arab) and wear the “two year old” size IN the Arabian style, with the crown pieces on their smallest holes. They’d need smaller than yearling sizes in a different style, I’m certain.

I would not use these (or any triple-stitched style) halters for turnout, though. (a) The leather is too thick to break if the horse gets caught. (b) They’re too pretty for that! I don’t turn out in halters at all, ever, unless I need to use a grazing muzzle. If you’re going to, though, I recommend finding the cheapest single-layered leather halter you can find and maybe even partially cutting the crown piece to ensure that it really will break in an emergency. Do you have any local Amish or Mennonite communities in your area? If so, you can probably have something like this made for a very reasonable price.

[TheJenners]

@enjoytheride

Again, I’m shopping for budget halters. Not bridles, no matter how nice they look they are out of my price range and again, shopping for halters!

OK no one else mentioned these so I wanted to throw them out. I love these for turnout halters and have them for grazing muzzles as well. First one last about six years before he hung it on something and broke it, like it is supposed to. Rain, shine, rolls in the mud, he lives in unless in his stall I also got one for the 13.1 pony for her grazing muzzle so the cob is a decent smallish size.
https://www.horseloverz.com/horse-equipment/horse-halters/leather-halters/gatsby-adjustable-padded-leather-halter

@Montanas_Girl

The leather is too thick to break if the horse gets caught.

Agree on this comment for triple stitched for turnout.

[Scribbler]

When I was an idiot and opened the butt bar first my mare easily broke the crown piece on her brand new triple stitched Walsh halter.

[Simkie]

Yeah, my horses also have no problems breaking a “nice” halter. I keep a few spare crowns around just in case.

[Montanas_Girl]

I once had a horse snap the throat of his leather halter to the wire mesh on his stall door in the 30 seconds it took me to walk halfway down the barn aisle. Horse pulled back and broke the mesh on the door and the snap on his throatlatch, but the halter itself did not give. And it wasn’t even a particularly nice/thick leather, either.

[Scribbler]

The weakest link will give first, that might be hardware or crownpiece or cheeks or it might be the fence or twine horse is tied to. Also I expect angle of pull affects what breaks.

[Montanas_Girl]

Agreed. But I’d prefer that the weakest link be as weak as possible if I must turn a horse out in a halter. And high quality leather is not at all weak enough for that purpose, was my point.

[Peggy]

@Montanas_Girl

I once had a horse snap the throat of his leather halter to the wire mesh on his stall door in the 30 seconds it took me to walk halfway down the barn aisle. Horse pulled back and broke the mesh on the door and the snap on his throatlatch, but the halter itself did not give. And it wasn’t even a particularly nice/thick leather, either.

This is why you should always fasten, if possible, so that the part of the snap that opens is against the horse instead of facing out.

My lease horse’s halter doesn’t give you this option so there’s that. And, horses being horses, they can probably find a way to snap themselves to something even with the snap facing inwards.

[beowulf]

@Peggy

This is why you should always fasten, if possible, so that the part of the snap that opens is against the horse instead of facing out.

It drives me nuts when I see manufacturers that have snap fasteners facing out. Some of us clearly weren’t Pony Clubbers or didn’t have a horse that had a knack of showing them firsthand there was only ONE right way to do things – and many, many wrong ways to get hurt.

[Montanas_Girl]

@Peggy

This is why you should always fasten, if possible, so that the part of the snap that opens is against the horse instead of facing out.

The snap was facing in. That horse was just incredibly talented at getting himself into odd situations. He also once managed to get the surcingle fastener on his turnout sheet hooked into a woven wire fence…no idea exactly how long he stood there before we found him and “rescued” him, but it was a while, based on the manure pile behind him.

I now only use either leather halters without throat snaps or rope halters. Problem solved. Fool me once and all that…Lol.

[Peggy]

Some are extra specially talented.

[Laurierace]

Remarkable Leather Goods sells a crown piece that looks exactly like the rest of the triple stitch halter but is actually only a single layer. It makes it safer to use our very sturdy halters for turnout without sacrificing appearance.

[Bristol_Bay]

Oh, well this sucks.

https://www.smithworthington.com/index.php#

Smith Worthington is out of business.

[Posting_Trot]

oh, that does suck. Their store/workshop was such a lovely place–totally unexpected in its setting in the middle of Hartford.

I guess it’s not a surprise, but still, it’s sad.

[MAW2018]

I second this. I just ordered custom halters from them and I am waiting for them to come but I am excited to see them

[clanter]

Quillins are the ones we use,

For my daughter’s young horse to be shown in-hand they without making a big deal of it customized sized the halter making it to fit the specific horse.

All in all, with whatever else a horse has the cost of halter is not a deal breaker especially for something that can be around for decades without a problem