As a new knotted rope halter user, I wonder if I can use it when hauling my horse or tying him at the trailer? Or in cross ties, for that matter? So far I haven’t but wonder what others do.
Thanks!
I would never tie a horse with a rope halter to anything.
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Rope halters have their uses as training devices but I don’t use them for trying for any length of time (unless that’s part of a training process).
Good quality nylon halters, with or without “breakaway” crown pieces, are reasonably priced and last a long time.
G.
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I wouldn’t use a rope halter for any tying activity, especially unsupervised. Get a good breakaway halter for hauling.
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I will tie or cross tie a horse with a rope halter. I prefer to not haul with a rope halter. I will have the rope halter under the leather halter but tie with the leather one.
I only use rope halters for tying/cross tying when I am trying to break a habit of pulling back when tied.
Finnegan a number of years ago decided sitting back, breaking the cross ties and going back to his stall was fun. I put the rope halter under the regular halter and held the rope halter with a leadline. He sat back to break the crossties and hit the rope halter first. It has been 6 years and he has not done that again.
Last summer he was tied to my trailer. We were on very nice grass. While he was trying to reach the grass he Pinged my EquiPing. He then did this a few more times. I tied him to the trailer with the rope halter and no EquiPing. He is back to remembering how to tie and to give to pressure.
Generally I prefer to tie or crosstie with a leather halter unless they need the rope halter to learn to tie or to be reminded of their tying manners. I use a grooming halter at home but a regular leather halter when in public. I don’t want to risk them ducking out of a grooming halter.
I own a couple of nylon halters with a breakaway but have a personal preference for leather.
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I love my rope halter but it does not ever go on the trailer with my horse. There’s too much in a trailer a horse can get a hoof stuck on – I remember as a kid one of our TBs getting his hoof stuck on a rope haynet that was tied well above his little 15h chest, and he still managed to tangle himself up somehow while in the trailer. Learned a few lessons that day, like always carry a pocket-knife and have scissors on hand either in the truck or trailer (we had no dressing room and it was a stock).
I’ve found very few equine activities can go south as quickly as trailering. Use leather only for that. After they are off the trailer, if I have a new OTTB or a fresh horse I’m not 100% trusting of off-property, the rope halter will come out over the leather. But never for trailering or loading.
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I don’t tie my horse in the trailer but he rides well.
Nope and never. They don’t break.
If you need it on for safety once you get to your destination, then make sure it’s tied snugly, more snug than you’d normally have it, and put a leather, or nylon with breakaway crown, on top of it, and tie to that.
No. Don’t use rope halter to tie in the trailer. If the horse should lose their balance in the trailer and sit down, the rope halter can dig into their faces. Use a leather halter instead.
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I am huge believer of tying hard and fast. I don’t do breakaway anything, EXCEPT in the trailer. So while I use them for general tying purposes (straight or cross) without issues on horses that are trained to tie, I would not tie with one in the trailer- for trailering, I like a full leather halter and a quick release snap on the tie. I also use a leather halter with experienced horses overnight on a high-line because I think the leather seems to put less pressure on them and there is less chance of rubbing.
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I do not tie anywhere with rope halters, short of teaching a horse to tie.
I would never ever use anything other than a break-away or leather halter in a trailer.
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this ^^^.
Any time a horse pulls back, it experiences pressure on it’s head, and when the leather strap or whatever breaks or gives and the pressure is released, you’ve just taught the horse that pulling back harder is the way to get rid of the pressure. You are basically TEACHING and REINFORCING the pulling back/panic response.
Before you tie a horse up to anything anywhere with any type of halter, you completely desensitize the horse and TEACH it to give to pressure. The desensitizing gets rid of the spook/panic response and if a horse gives to pressure, it won’t panic and pull back if something unusual presents itself.
Before you ever tie a horse up in a trailer, you’ve desensitized your horse to clanging banging trailer noises, truck horns, low ceilings, lights and movements above it’s head, etc. And gone through the trailer loading procedure.
WRT what type of halter to trailer in - I’d prefer a rope halter, but they don’t lend themselves to cross ties if you don’t trailer in a stock trailer. And why would you want a horse to break it’s halter in a trailer? If you wreck, and the horse breaks loose of the ties or halter, does that mean your horse will sustain fewer injuries? Do you want a halterless horse running down the highway? It’s much easier to cut loose a rope halter than saw through leather. And are you going to be able to access the breakaway snap ( I struggle with them on a regular basis anyway) or undo the velcro nylon cross ties if you wreck?
I do like the idea of 2 halters, so you don’t have a halterless horse if you wreck.
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I would never tie a horse with a rope halter to anything. Yes, they can learn to pull back in crossties and break a halter, which does release pressure. My spooky gelding has broken crossties so I make sure the crossties are on haystring, which will break, But that still won’t change my mind. It is impossible to desensitize a horse to the extent that you can guarantee that they will not respond in total panic to a perceived threat. And often you are not in a position to do anything to get them out. You may not know when something goes wrong in a trailer, and your horse could wind up hanging in his rope halter until it’s too late to cut him free.
The knots in the halter make it a training tool. The horse can create his own pressure and release as he moves his head. So I’ll take mine out to train, like when he decides it’s okay to pull me over to grass to snack. But I don’t want him pulling back on the ropes across his poll while he is tied.
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@Palm Beach - My thought on why I’d want breakaway in the trailer: My horses, like yours, are very, very well trained to give to pressure and therefore, tie. I know that they will stand tied in the trailer all day and then some without issue. But if, god forbid, something happens and they fall, get thrown around etc- it’s not their “fault”. In other words, they may not be able to give to the pressure. In a the couple accidents I’ve helped with (thankfully not mine), yes, having something break-away would have been very helpful- being able to have their neck for balance and not ending up hanging with their heads/necks at a terrible angle. I keep the quick release hardware on my trailer ties well greased and I can easily operate them with one hand- they will definitely pop open with a reasonable amount of pressure, leaving a haltered horse that can use his neck.
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Horses have definitely broken necks because of halters in a trailer that did not break, and the breakaway tie didn’t break away 
Of course, that could happen with a leather halter too, which is why it’s not a bad idea to use a thinner leather halter, or one with a thinner break away crown.
Some quick release ties are much easier to manually release under pressure than others. My Turtle Ties are very easy. Bull snaps, not so much. That’s a whole 'nother ball of wax - if your horse has his halter on, and his tie released (so he doesn’t have a broken neck) and he’s off running down the highway, do you have the quick release on the horse end, so he’s running without a “lead”? Or do you have it on the trailer end of things, so that he’s got a quick-catch strap, but that thing is also flying all over as he’s running. Personal choice.
Horses can, and have been taught to give to pressure so well that short of being thrown to the ground, they will give to almost anything they face in the course of horse life. Most people don’t go to that length of training though.
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I HAVE hauled a horse in a rope halter…tied to a blocker tie ring. 
That’s not what you are talking about though. I will say, I owned a confirmed halter-breaker and am (in general) not a fan of break away halters for tying a horse (exception in the trailer).YMMV.
I generally haul in a leather halter, but with trailer ties that will safety-release under pressure. I just bought new ones with velcro. Hopefully they don’t release too easily!
Bungee ties are the most dangerous trailer tie, imo.
Yes, I will cross tie my horse in a rope halter if I’m standing there grooming her. I snap over both the chin and cheek piece so it doesn’t slide up her face and is stable.
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I only haul my horses in leather halters.
I double halter… Rope halter for loading because it does activate more pressure points but I have a safety/breakaway over that to tie to, with a panic snap too.
I have seen horses shipped in rope halters many times. It always bothers me. Personally, I have no use for rope halters and always use leather. I do have a question though: Why are they tied on so loosely? I frequently see them so loose, a horse could easily put a foot through if they put their head down. In fact I saw a photo of a top rider at the World Cup this weekend who had one on her horse just that loose! It looks stupidly dangerous to me. An accident waiting to happen!
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What do you mean? The halter part of the rope halter is loose? That is not good and makes the halter ineffective.
I have one that is a softer rope and it loosens on its own. It was a gift (it’s a Double Diamond Buck Brannaman halter). I have another Double Diamond that is a stiff rope halter that I like a lot more–of course I don’t have a long enough lead on that one for groundwork. sigh
Rope halters (attached to a long rope) are great for groundwork or for a horse that isn’t bad enough you want to use a chain shank, but needs a little more pressure (say at a show or somewhere exciting).
Not to derail, but another training halter that has been around forever, but I didn’t know about until I read some European young horse trainers talking about using it in a magazine, is the Monty Roberts Dually halter. (Yes, there is irony that I learned about it in an interview with European trainers…) I used it with a pushy, remedial horse and I am a fan. YMMV. It’s basically a combo halter, with an active or a standard tie ring. But I would never use it in a trailer and tie it on the active ring!
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