Rope halter for dressage groundwork

[eightpondfarm]

i HAVE a chain on a leather lead, but it still has the tag on it. When i bought my first Morgan stallion, he came-with a brand new leather halter with his name on it, and that lead.

What i did with him was work off-halter and off lead. That horse was my teacher in liberty work.
Which brings me to another thing i meant to bring up…

By the time my mustangs are ready for halter training, they are already being led and ‘handled’ at liberty in their corral. They already know how to walk with me, stop with me, back up with me turn right turn left. All with me. And they already know how to ‘lunge’ at liberty too. So, halter training comes much later. And it was that first Morgan stallion that taught me how to do that. Makes everything much safer for me that way. I really don’t want to be attached …in any way, to a dope-on-a-rope.

[quietann]

Another problem with chains, though this is really a people problem, is how often I see them incorrectly attached. E.g. not wrapping the chain through the noseband, chain doubled back and clipped to itself, etc.

Of course on the rope halter side, incorrect tying is also a (human) problem.

[sami-joe]

Same. A skilled, experienced horsewoman helped me understand the uselessness of my flimsy feedstore rope halter and also taught me a few simple, often overlooked, halter-breaking, groundwork methods, using this equipment. Though my horse is far from perfect, he does not drag me from grass patch to grass patch like too many of my friends’ horses do.

[RedHorses]

I started using a rope halter twenty years ago because I had two horses, one with a fine, horse sized head and one with a wide, warmblood sized head. I used to go into the field and start with whichever horse volunteered first and the rope halter could fit both.

I was sold on it even more the day the herd bolted right after I’d haltered baby (two year old) horse. When he went with them,
baby horse hit the end of the rope and bounced right back to me without even knocking me off balance. The immediate retest produced the same result.

[enjoytheride]

Whoa. I have both chain shanks and rope halters in my barn. Use what you like best. I love rope halters for ground work, trail rides, and loading. My horses wear leather halters for every day handling.

For someone who doesn’t want to use a chain a rope halter is an excellent alternative. I only break out the chain for serious issues. For someone who wants to use a chain, I don’t care.

[Kyrabee]

I also think that chain vs rope halter started somewhat as an English vs western thing and the two worlds have kind of bled into each other.

My horse, who turns 21 this year, has always been a dominant mare. I got her as a coming 2yo and she has always been one to want to take over a situation. I have done hours and hours…heck, years…of groundwork but that little personality trait is still in there and comes out with certain stressors. Things finally got better with the Hybrid halter (vs a straight rope halter) and I would say she has finally developed some wisdom with age. I would have had to go to a chain had I been using flat halters. I have no problems hauling or tying with a rope halter because I don’t hard tie. My Blocker tie rings go with me and the trailer has the quick release velcro ties. With a rope (or hybrid) halter, I don’t have to have two leads handy (one to lead and one to tie).

Susan

[Buster]

I’m going to “third”(?) the recommendation for the CA rope halter, they’re worth the $$, you’ll never have to buy another one. Also, it’s stiff and has the knots over the nose. My horses are so light after training that they don’t come into play if not needed. I detest an integrated halter, I need to be able to switch out the lead rope at will. I used to be a chain person, but you have to put it on, whereas the rope halter is always there. I’m also not a fan of how they “grab and hold”, the release isn’t subtle enough for my taste, and most folks don’t know how you’re supposed to use one properly although the same can apply to a rope halter, LOL!

[sascha]

@enjoytheride

Whoa.

Whoa what? Did my story hit some sort of raw nerve?

I don’t care wtf you or anyone else uses, but I personally am not going to jiggle or spin a rope at a horse because I can get better results with much more subtle methods.

Or if you take offence at the assertion that rope halters are a thing marketed by people who, for lack of better phrasing, prey on people who never got the chance to learn proper horse handling and training, I invite you to look again. It’s a gimmick. It’s a gimmick that gives a lot of people magic power to actually change their horse’s behaviour, but a rope halter is not in itself magic. It’s all the blah blah woof woof of the NH salespeople behind the rope halter that give people new power.

[enjoytheride]

What on earth.

I answered you in a civilized manner and clearly stated that you do whatever you want. There is no need for your response. Perhaps you hit your own nerve. You do you but don’t attack people who like rope halters, people have used rope halters long before the rise of the NH clinician. Personal preference. It’s that simple.

[sascha]

WHOA there enjoytheride, I didn’t attack anyone for using rope halters. I pointed out the grossness of the giant marketing wheel that rolls over this industry whenever someone thinks they sell something as magic.

It’s not quite as simple as personal preference, sadly.

Your shock “Whoa” lol at someone not jumping on the bandwagon and pointing out the man behind the curtain is hilarious. It doesn’t matter that people eventually come to a preference - whatever - but not acknowledging that there was something that went on in the industry to get so many people to glom onto the gimmick is just silly.

[enjoytheride]

There is no bandwagon. Use a rope halter. Don’t use a rope halter. It’s up to you. It’s not that deep.

[Alterration]

@sascha

WHOA there enjoytheride, I didn’t attack anyone for using rope halters. I pointed out the grossness of the giant marketing wheel that rolls over this industry whenever someone thinks they sell something as magic.

It’s not quite as simple as personal preference, sadly.

Your shock “Whoa” lol at someone not jumping on the bandwagon and pointing out the man behind the curtain is hilarious. It doesn’t matter that people eventually come to a preference - whatever - but not acknowledging that there was something that went on in the industry to get so many people to glom onto the gimmick is just silly.

I have to both agree and disagree with this.

The rope halter is something that’s been around for many more years than the NH clinician. It was used in western land far before the Parellis et al. It became more popular in English-land when clinicians and cowboys started to fix issues that English-land horses had on the ground and under saddle. That seemed to be more common starting in around the early 2000s. Before that I rarely heard of anyone sending a horse to a cowboy (although that also may have been more common and I just wasn’t aware of it).

There is a general understanding that Western horses tend to be more well broke on the ground than English horses. Having spent time in both lands, this observation is true. I’ve never been dragged around by a western-broke horse, but I’ve been dragged around by plenty of Hunters, Jumpers & Dressage horses (I managed a stable of 30 of them for years).

Does it mean you “can’t” have a very well mannered horse in English-land or without using a rope halter? No - it doesn’t mean that at all. It just means that a lot of people are learning how to do that in western-land, and that’s a preferred tool there.

While I think marketing is useful, it is very difficult to market to people something that they don’t see a need for. What I’m noticing is that more and more dressage people are picking up on the fact that the western style of groundwork helps. I’m sure if someone were to market an English style of groundwork that yielded the same results, they would have a following as well.

[Bogey2]

Is this the hill you want to die on? LOL I took your post as a bit insulting as well.

[sascha]

Hill? Die on? Uh, no. You chose to be insulted by my observations. I choose not to be insulted by observations that state that English horses are less mannerly than western horses. It can be true, but it doesn’t take a rope halter to fix it. My gripe is the selling of magic a la Parelli (et al) who claim that the rope halter is the means to salvation. It isn’t. Good horsemanship is the means to salvation.

[Bogey2]

I can’t stand Parelli anything myself…but do like a good rope halter now and again!

[eightpondfarm]

A good rope halter for a good working horse has the knots in places where they are not atop bone. In a good handler’s hand, when the knots are over soft tissue …ie pressure points, they are more persuasive, more penalizing, than a flat halter (be-it nylon or leather or combo “breakaway”). I form my rope halters to do just that. a knot right under their right ear and a knot below the right sharp cheekbone. I lead from the left, with connection tie up situated just behind their left cheek. Having those three tender spots of a horses’ face exposed to pressure is pretty commanding if you want it to be. That’s why a well fitted rope halter is so persuasive. It’s where the knots are. The ‘mustang’ type with the extra two nonessential knots (meaning they’re not necessary to tie a halter into shape) over the nose aren’t something i employ but i can see their usefulness. I just don’t like them.

Because i’m R+ i do all the training to lead at liberty inside a corral. My halter doesn’t train my horses, it commands them if there is ever a need. And there is rarely a need. But it’s there if i need it.

[J-Lu]

I have become a firm believer in rope halter for Sir SpooksAlot, my fractious dressage horse. He responds to it so much much better than he flat/comfy halter when he is acting up. It’s not much different when he is not acting up. Key point. He needs to know that he can NEVER blow through me and the rope halter reinforces that in a way that a padded halter can’t.

The trainer out of my barn uses rope halters for all of his horses. Some need it, some are just fine. He has started bunches of dressage horses in rope halters - no problem there. The problem dressage horses? Yep, they are needed to get through to the horse’s mind. A regular halter just doesn’t apply the same pressure to their face, and a 200 lb human isn’t going to win against a 1200 lb unless they have something to leverage.

I would never purchase Parelli merchandise. I won’t give them my money. That said, there are plenty of other people to purchase from.

[Bogey2]

Mine is Sir PoopsAlot

[quietann]

And mine is Princess PeesALot.

(she may have Cushings now - getting that tested soon - but she has peed a lot since I got her 15 years ago.)

[EventerAJ]

My horses have manners. Rope halters or not. I have a couple styles of rope halter, I use them for specific purposes in groundwork; trailer loading, rides on babies that may still need a halter underneath, etc.

But there are things that you cannot do easily in a rope halter. I prefer a standard halter for teaching ground driving-- a rope halter slides and wiggles all over the face when you are teaching them to steer. I can also slip a headstall with bit over a standard halter, and snap my driving lines to both the halter nose rings and the bit, so the horse learns to feel some pressure on the bit while still acting on the nose.

And, there are times when I just WANT A CHAIN. I want a nose chain, a mouth chain, or a lip chain. I want a mouth chain for breeding my stallion; not specifically because he “needs” it, but because it is his signal that breeding stallion behavior is allowed and encouraged during teasing or live cover (at any other time he wears a plain halter and lead, no chain). I want a lip chain for a veterinary procedure, when sedation is limited and safety is paramount. I want a lip chain when handling a young, barely-trained horse in an overwhelming situation to keep everyone safe (think TB yearling or 2yo sales). There are times when a rope halter simply isn’t enough to restrain a 1200lb animal in a stressful, do-or-die situation. I want my vet to be safe palpating a young maiden mare, or stitching a laceration, and I want the option to use a lip chain if needed. Can’t do that in a rope halter.