Breakaway halter did not break?

[OhHorsePee]

Put the breakaway halter on Promise this morning to take her out. It is her new halter with adjustable chin strap. You could only get two fingers under the chin. She has a small chin and had to have an adjustable one or they don't fit her right. I was mucking out the stalls and I looked out (haven't a clue why) and saw Oliver acting odd beside her. He was kinda doing a weird little dance. I mosied around to get a closer look and her bottom part of her chin strap was in her mouth! I was surprised with her horsitude I got up to her without her freaking out on me. After what seemed like an eternity (but was probably less than a minute) of trying to get her halter off altogether with her trying to fight me I finally got it off and she turned and grabbed my britches like it was my fault. All I can figure out is maybe she was scratching her chin with her hoof and some how did this. So she is a no halter type of girl now which is not good cause you ABSOLUTELY can not catch her with out it. I watched her for a while and she is eating and drinking. The breakaway strap thingy looked like it had gave some where it buckles in the notch but that's it. There has to be something out there safe enough to put on her until she is more manageable. Any suggestions? The other two are ok without a halter when they are out, but Promise needs one at least for a while longer.

Thank you

Fran

 

[Triggy&Blue&Daisy Too]

Hmmm, you know what I would try? If you have a sewing machine perhaps you could run the strap through it on a fine stitch across the hole you usually buckle to make little perforations like one of those rippable paper forms. It might be a little bit of extra insurance that the strap would break if undue force was place on it like in the emergency you just experienced.

 

[chandab]

Maybe a really cheap single-ply leather halter.

 

[Carol Z]

I've always wondered if a mini would be strong enough to actually break a "break away" halter. I sure don't think I'd count on it. They were really designed for big horses, who have a lot more power and weight behind them. I think they might give a false sense of security. I wouldn't leave any halter on a horse who wasn't being supervised.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

This is exactly why I do not like these things. On the very, very rare occasion when I have been forced to leave a halter on a visiting mare I have used an ordinary halter that has had the strap by th ebuckle cut at the stitching, almost all the way through. If I've made it i know it works as I have tested it. Having lost the most precious Arab mare ( I will no longer say the best, I have had others since) to a hlater that did not break I will never trust anyhting I have bought nwith my horses life, ever again. That could have been hore hoof stuck thorugh there!! You have had a warning, now, if there really is no alternative, make one yourself, that you know will break. Best of luck with it, it sounds as if you are really making headway with Promise. Did you ever get Bonnie to talk to her??

 

[Jill]

I've had breakaway halters on horses that used to live at my trainers, because the horses there are turned out with them on (don't like that) and usually have them on in stalls as well.

Over the years, I have found a HUGE difference in the thickness of the leather. Some of the straps have been just as thick as the breakaways I put on Sky and Rocket (my BIG horses). Some have been flimsy, really less than 1/2 as thick as the big boys' straps, and those are the ones I like... Just the same, though, the flimsy strip ones have the same thickness to all sizes, from foal to B, so who knows how big the mini needs to be to break it.

One word of advice, sorry if it sounds obvious to some, but don't haul with break aways.