Halters left on horses

[Kootenay]

Hi everyone,

I've been noticing all the wonderful new additions and new photos on this forum and the photoboard lately. Such beautiful little horses young and old.

Please, Please, Please Do Not leave halters on them turned out.

I know some are hard to catch etc, but leaving a halter on can lead to so much worse--and in a blink of an eye. There are so many awful things that could happen when a halter is left on, it just isn't worth it.

Just thought i'd pass this reminder on, as you never know what can happen.

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

I've personally NEVER left halters on my horses. I have a mare due to foal in June and will have to have a foal buzzer on her, so I will have to have a halter on her at some point. I will check her paddock and stall to MAKE SURE she can't catch her halter on ANYTHING! I also am home all the time, so I will only have to worry at night when I absolutely HAVE to get some sleep. I am an "overprotective Mommy". And I am lucky that I am here almost all of the time...

 

[targetsmom]

I leave a halter on my big horse and it may LOOK like a normal nylon halter but it isn't. It has a very thin leather "fuse" that attaches to the side ring and will break very easily in an emergency, or even if he just steps on the lead rope. I wish you could find halters like this for the minis because I don't have the same amount of faith that a leather crown on a mini halter will break in an emergency. So our minis go out without halters. I once left one on for TEN SECONDS (thinking what could possibly happen while I was right there!!) and it got hooked on a fence and I had a terrible time getting the mini loose. So, yep, it can happen in "the blink of an eye"!

I do use a halter when using a foal buzzer or transmitter but I check carefully for anything it could hook on and figure that at least the buzzer will let me know if she is hooked on something or someone on Marestare will see her!!!!

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

I also have dogs and NEVER left a collar on a dog and never will!

 

[~Lisa~]

I try not to however there are times I need to such as foaling and even though they are on camera and have a break away I to did not totally trust the break away. What I have done is cut the leather strip that goes over the poll I cut it almost half way thru the width so it really does not take much to break it at all. I do go thru more leather strips that way during a foaling season but I feel better about it

 

[bevann]

I have special breakaway halters made for my Minis.I have an amishman(or a harness maker) make a small thin strip of leather (about the same length as my thumb)punch a hole in each end and attached to the ring at the crown end of the web halter with a chicago screw.Make hole in crown piece.If the halter catches on anything the tab will break.I have been using this kind of halter for over 20 years and never a mishap.Lots of missing halters which just need a new tab and screw and they can be recycled.

 

[Riverdance]

I also have dogs and NEVER left a collar on a dog and never will!

I agree, no halters on horses and no collars on dogs. I know of too many horses and dogs that have gotten their haltes and collars caught and have strangled to death.

This includes trees, fences, their own feet, etc.

The only time I leave a halter on is when my mares are foaling (for the foaling alarms), and then they are only on in the stalls where the halter can not catch on anything.

 

[Kootenay]

Thanks everyone

,

From a general census, I can see that you not only care about your horses, but you go to that point to make sure they are safe.

My two minis walk into their halters, but my biggie quarter horse needs a bit of coaxing. I always catch her though, and she halters wonderfully.

The secret is apple slices once in a while

.

 

[backwoodsnanny]

Though our pics showed a mama with a halter on she is brand new here and for foaling and the necessity of getting her up she did have it on when pics were taken but none of ours have halters left on unless it is a necessity. Her halter was on for the foaling to be sure we could get her up if we needed to during foaling and could maneuver mom to be sure nursing took place. She no longer has a halter on either.

 

[Kootenay]

I totally agree with halters on the mama's . They're being monitored at all times, and that's okay.

I love the mini break away halters also.

I hope i'm not offending anyone by this post. I just wanted to make sure we are all vigilant about our halters on horses.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Another "always" when you have horses is to keep a knife in your pocket at all times. I carry a retractable razor knife that will slice through pretty much anything quite easily.

 

[Kootenay]

Another "always" when you have horses is to keep a knife in your pocket at all times. I carry a retractable razor knife that will slice through pretty much anything quite easily.

I carry one of those around. It's the handiest thing, and compact.

 

[Jill]

Yep, same here -- no halters and no collars are ever left on UNLESS it's a break away halter and on those -- BE CAREFUL! I have seen many "break away" halters made for minis where the strap is every bit as thick as that used on my riding horses and I do not think a mini could break away in this kind. I've got others with a fuse, and some with thinner (width and depth) crowns. I just worry that people will think so of these thicker kind are mini safe (as they are sold as break aways for minis) when I don't think they really will.

Good post!!!

 

[tagalong]

I also have dogs and NEVER left a collar on a dog and never will!

I always leave collars on. They are adjusted so that if the dog pulls back hard enough they will come off over his/her head. Both my guys are chipped - but that collar also has ID that may be needed to get them back to me if something happens. Leaving collars off is just one more way to never find them again - and I speak from sad experience...

I do not want to go through that heartbreak EVER again... and if they get stuck on something, the collar can and will come off when they pull hard...

 

[Jill]

I have no doubt that the collars will come off of Tag's dogs, but for people reading and thinking on their own -- just remember how your own dogs' necks compare to their heads.

My collie, I'm sure I could leave a collar on and she could get it off. My shih-tzu's, not a chance. Their heads are much broader than their necks.

PS Tag, I am so sorry about your dog. When I read where your nickname came from, I had tears streaming down my face and am sure I'm not the only one who did.

 

[Mona]

I never leave halters on any of my horses while they are out in the pasture. I do however, leave halters on my mares that I have in the pen up front of the barn that are due to foal and are under mare watch, since they carry the BreederAlert system that I use. Those halters are taken off either during or immediately following foaling.

As for dog collars, I am against the grain here. I DO leave collars on my dogs, 24/7. I used to use good heavy nylon collars so they didn't break and would last many years, but now with the fancy "colored/patterned" collars on the market, I have switched to them. They have a plastic snap together buckle system, and are wonderful in that they will snap the plastic into pieces relaesing the collar if they pull too hard on it. I found that out in tieing up a dog before and having her break 2 of these collars in that same way. So in my opinion, those are pretty safe. They are safer, but I would wear one that didn;t break on them too, as I have always kept collars on my dogs.

 

[joyenes]

I'm another one for never leaving Halters on horses. So many things can happen to them, they seem to always beable to find trouble when no one is around so why take a chance. All my horses are taken out and brought inside everyday and it really only takes seconds longer to take off and put on a halter. Besides the safety issue I also think it would be rather uncomfortable to have to wear a halter 24/7 and it leaves nasty marks on their beautiful faces.

 

[Bunnylady]

When Syd first came here, I left her halter on her as a matter of self-defence. I knew someone who had lost a BH foal when it caught its halter in a tree, so I was aware of the risks, but the horse's well being wasn't the only thing at stake here. Syd would playfully attack anyone or anything that went in the pasture, so I felt we needed a "handle" to help to keep her feet on the ground and her mouth off of us! It took a few months before I felt entirely safe turning my back on her. Now that she has learned some manners, she goes halter-free. She is usually easy to catch, and almost halters herself (carrots are a wonderful thing).

As to dog collars, well, we are required by law to have the dog's rabies tag on it at all times. I don't know how to do that without a collar. We usually rivet the tags on the collars, since they tended to get snagged and fall off when just clipped on. In fact, I was almost cited one time by an animal control offficer for not having a tag on a dog, because she didn't see one hanging from his collar. The tag was there, riveted in place, it was just hidden by his fur.