Rope halter for dressage groundwork

[quietann]

I use a Double Diamond rope halter with my mare. It’s a nice halter, more on the soft side. A trainer I used to work with, though, had a hand tied halter made for one of her horses by an old cowboy… and that thing was perfect. She says it’s in her will, left to a specific, lucky client.

When my hand got bad, I discovered that a heavier rope was easier for me to handle. I got a 14 foot yacht rope from Knotty Girlz. They also have a variety of rope halters and will do custom sizing.

My mare’s everyday halter is leather with a rolled leather noseband. The noseband gives me a little more control without having to go to a chain. Not that she really needs it these days!

[eightpondfarm]

i prefer a more limp rope for an everyday halter and a more stiff one for initial halter training. Most of all, i like COLOR!!! The lead rope …for my hand, has to have some heft to it. Heft and silkiness.

This is the training halter i made for Steve, (his stiff one) The knots are adjusted specifically for his face. I tape each horse’s name on their halters because they are all custom fitted.

[J-Lu]

This! My rope halter is from Half Circle Ranch and I purchased some other things from them. I don’t use the Clinton Anderson rope halter my horse came with the two extra knots over the nose because he doesn’t need the extra knots. Even when he was a crazy 4 year old. The rope applies enough directed pressure. These days, my halter is super-soft from use. The lead doesn’t have a snap, it attaches to the halter via a loop. I like this, personally.

[MidlifeCrisis]

Where are you getting your rope? I need to make my horse a new halter and he has an odd sized head so I custom tie it like you.

[BigMama1]

I’ve been seeing this rope halter trend grow more and more and it makes me wonder…why? Are that many people having they much trouble teaching their horse manners on the ground with a regular halter?

[quietann]

Not everyone “reads” a horse well. Rope halters are a tool.

I can tell you that by the standards of most dressage barns, my mare had excellent manners before I ever put a rope halter on her and stuck with it. (She had had a little bit of rope halter work before I bought her, but not much. And I had done 1 or 2 short NH clinics with her, but not really followed up.)

But excellent manners, by the standards of these barns, meant she doesn’t need a chain over her nose to be led, she won’t run you over, she doesn’t kick or nip (people, anyway), she gets distracted by grass but wouldn’t drag you over to it, she’s easy to catch and easy to turn out, she will stand still if asked to, and she is easy for the vet and farrier. She is very smart and can be dominant, but she has a basic understanding of how to behave around people. She does not withhold her opinions, but she is incredibly polite about them.

I can tell you that almost every time I am handed another horse to lead, I realize how lucky I am that she has those good manners as a foundation.

I started doing more with rope halters, NH concepts, etc. after I stopped taking dressage so seriously. I make a lot of mistakes, but we are more connected now. It’s more of a conversation with her, rather than a bunch of orders from me. That probably sounds “woo-woo.”

(One thing that does bug me about the rope halter crowd is that I hate when people hard-tie a horse in a rope halter. I do want something that will break if things go really sideways, and had a couple of times where she might not have survived if her halter had not broken. I do ground tie her in the rope halter – it’s still a work in progress.)

[Bogey2]

LOVE this one as well!

[endlessclimb]

I think it refines the communication. They float better than a flat halter.

I also think it gives some people (the same ones who say EvErY HoRsE ShUd gO iN a SnAffLe nO MaTteR wHaT) the ability to handle a fractious horse without using a chain shank, so they can sleep better at night for having done it that way.

I got kicked off a facebook group for pointing that out - concentrating pressure is the same for the horse, whether you do it with a chain or with a rope. Whoops, sometimes the truth hurts. (they responded by attacking my profile picture at the time, which had my late mare in a 3 ring waterford, with the reins on the snaffle ring… classy!)

At any rate, rope halters are great for some things. One of the things they are not great at is being able to leave a halter on safely or turn out with a halter on. For that, the breakaway flat halters come out. And, in general, I use a flat halter unless I’m actively training. The rope halter always is awkward on cross ties, and is in the way when grooming - I can unclip the throat snap on a flat halter, to get it out of the way.

[sascha]

@BigMama1

I’ve been seeing this rope halter trend grow more and more and it makes me wonder…why? Are that many people having they much trouble teaching their horse manners on the ground with a regular halter?

Because the “Natural” Horsemanship people came along and told everyone they were doing it wrong and chains are bad and blah blah woof woof. Just like with The Travelling Horse Witch, people who were looking for easier answers to basic horsemanship questions they didn’t have the background to deal with or to get a better night’s sleep (see endlessclimb above) glommed on and boom, the marketing juggernaut took flight.

My favourite story about rope halters is arriving at a western clinic with my dressage horse. Oh, the first half of the day is in hand? Ok … but I’m not effing swinging a rope at my horse so don’t even ask! I parked myself near the back of the group so as to not upset the rope jigglers with my mean chain shank and my pointer stick (dressage whip).

As it turned out, the clinician’s dad (a very accomplished horseman) decided to join the morning session and parked himself next to me. We watched each other’s horses work quietly and willingly through the exercises, mine with a chain shank and his with a rope halter, while some of the other folks struggled with what I would consider basic manners.

At the first break, “dad” said something very complimentary about my horse followed by, “you know, I wouldn’t have a chain shank in my barn, but your horse does well with it.” I shot right back, “I wouldn’t have a rope halter in my barn, but your horse does well with it.”

We got along just fine after that

[islgrl]

@autumn50

Thanks, everyone! I remembered…I think the brand she mentioned was Double Diamond.

I own this brand - its exceptional

[eightpondfarm]

@MidlifeCrisis

Where are you getting your rope? I need to make my horse a new halter and he has an odd sized head so I custom tie it like you.

https://www.wesspur.com/rope/arborist-ropes.html

[eightpondfarm]

@BigMama1

I’ve been seeing this rope halter trend grow more and more and it makes me wonder…why? Are that many people having they much trouble teaching their horse manners on the ground with a regular halter?

I find them especially useful when teaching a mustang how to be haltered. To them, it’s more normal to have me hang my hand which is holding the rope halter over their poll by the end and reach under their cheek and move and open the nosepiece then the cheek strap up to the end i’m still holding. also, a whole lot faster to just slip in a quick loose knot before they even notice It’s lighter, less bulky and not as scary. We begin all halter work in a very ligyht, very stiff rope halter. And i think, from then on…it is their ‘normal’ halter. The one they learned on. It has a whole lot of good memories (treats galore and lots of praise and scratching) attached to it. We move to a nylon then to a leather sidepull. They learn basic ground driving with the sidepull. And once i climb aboard, it’s the sidepull they ride with. For quite a long time. Getting a bit into an 6,7,8,10 year old feral horse is quite the process. And i go through probably one whole jar of peanut butter to do that per horse! Anyhow, it’s a full cheek snaffle they first bit into. And works similarly to the sidepull…so it’s kinda a natural next step i think.

Another thing about rope halters is that it’s pretty easy to use a (non-noseband) bridle right over a rope halter… If you want to stop on a trail and loop over a limb safely you just take off the bridle, hook on the lead, (or if you’re one of those who just ties the lead rope still attached, then you just untie). About tying… I don’t hard tie (not never but hardly ever.) I start tying with the rope just draped over a rail. Then graduate to one circle around. Then two loops eventually. Always being careful not to cross over so that if they pull it tightens tight. They have those ring things with the little spikey guy now and the process is very similar. At first …not hardly any pressure --just keep walking them back to the tie spot. Pretty amazing to me how even the most uppity horse will so quickly learn to be tied.

GOtta say, i do not teach cross tying. For me, it’s not part of my horseworld… I don’t bathe my horses, (because i’m a farm…they’re free range…i just brush the saddle and girth parts) and generally tack up with them ground tied.

[luvmyhackney]

It’s easier my my non-horsey husband and kids to help with horses. The rope halter is easier than a halter with chain, plus I clean all my rope halters in the dishwasher vs cleaning leather halters all the time.

My horses are good 99% of the time but in the winter I like having the extra oomph in case someone gets a hair up their butt without having to use a chain that they don’t need 99% of the time.

[beowulf]

@BigMama1

I’ve been seeing this rope halter trend grow more and more and it makes me wonder…why? Are that many people having they much trouble teaching their horse manners on the ground with a regular halter?

Yes. It’s not new, though.

I was very grateful for the handful of horses in a sea of hundreds that had ground manners and respected a human’s personal space when I was a WS and later a BM. They were rare.

By good ground manners I mean they don’t pull you to their paddock, don’t barge through you, don’t walk into your space or shoulder you, don’t run you over or bite/kick, and stand as you put on and take off the halter or lead during TO.

Lots of the high end dressage barns lead their horses to their daily 1 hr turnout in a chain shank. I cannot tell you how many times I felt like I was waterskiing off of a client horse’s nose during AM turnout.

Add me to the crowd that is unsettled and/or horrified to see rope halters used in hard tie and/or trailer situations. I have seen horses have to be cut out of wrecks because they can’t get their head loose because it got caught on a cotter pin or their leg somehow got stuck inside the halter. It’s scary. About a decade ago there was something all over the news when I lived in SC where a woman had tied her horse (rope halter) in the trailer and it had somehow flipped out of the back of it while she was driving. The poor horse died because it was dragged to death and nothing gave.

[endlessclimb]

On the flip side of that, horses are horses.

Just last fall my young mare was tied to the trailer with a rope halter on a blocker ring, and was trying to rub her face which I was hollering at her to make her quit. She applied pressure to her cheek to scratch on the rounded back door hinges (nothing to catch on there), took a step back, and snapped the throat part of a not-cheap rope halter. She didn’t even know she did it it happened with such little force. It was bizarre… she must have trapped the rope with her own cheek and maybe the hinge had a slightly sharp inner or something?

I was bamboozled.

[endlessclimb]

@eightpondfarm

Pretty amazing to me how even the most uppity horse will so quickly learn to be tied.

Yes and no. The rubber meets the road when you finally DO have the rope in such a way that they can not pull it out (or it takes a substantial amount of force to do so). That feeling of being “stuck” is where you know if your horse is broke to tie or not - is their reaction to panic and fight, or to step forward to relieve the pressure?

Shows, trail heads, etc. there can be no option of them getting properly loose, or you are endangering everyone else - enough of that happens with downed riders, the trailer-tied horses do not need to add in the mayhem.

[Alterration]

I use both a flat and a rope halter. My horses are all also handled in a regular leather halter without a chain.

I use the rope halter for refinement and teaching. Typically I use a stiff one because of the clarity. It releases very quickly. The more quickly you can give the aid and then release, the faster and more clearly the horse learns.

Groundwork wise, we do more than just manners teaching (although that definitely comes first). If I move my hand out to the side to the left, my horse will go to the left, then when I switch my rope hand to the right and raise it to the side he will smoothly roll back on his hocks and go to the right. If I put my hand on the knot under his chin, and push back softly with an open hand, he will back - no poking, prodding, or saying “back”. If I walk backwards with him next to me, without pulling in any way shape or form, he backs with me, matching steps. He picks me up at the mounting block. He learned all this in the rope halter. He can do it in both, but the leather halter is crude and slow comparatively. I could probably teach it with a flat halter and dressage whip, but it is hard to switch hands as quickly as I can in the rope halter.

I don’t believe in “NH” since nothing is really natural in horsemanship, but the concept of pressure and release is pretty clear. I do practice Ray Hunt style of groundwork. I have no problem with putting a chain on a horse in the moment if they are having an issue. I don’t think a chain is cruel. I just don’t think a chain releases fast enough for the type of ground training I do.

I do not hard tie in a rope halter either and definitely not in the trailer. Trailering gives me the heebie-jeebies (it always has, since one of my first exposures to trailering was a young horse trying to jump through the front window). Even if I use a rope halter to teach loading, I do not tie in it, I’ll use a flat halter to tie.

[PaddockWood]

I can’t remember who, but someone I admire recommended Brent Graef’s too and I like it alot. Yes, I like soft too. My guy is think skinned and I have some others that are hard with more knots. Too harsh for me.

[Bogey2]

Daily handling correctly is very important…I remind my boarders all the time that the day to day handling makes them easier to load, travel, etc. I do like the rope halters with the youngsters but sometimes they need the chain over the nose!

[endlessclimb]

My young mare quits her baloney as soon as she hears the chain clinking through the hardware as it’s put on. That’s her cue that “fun time” is over, and she needs to mind. I very very rarely even have to use it at that point.