Rope Halters just a thought about them

[Minimor]

I personally believe that any halter must FIT in order for it to be effective and safe. For those of you who had bad experiences with rope halters, it might come down to an improper fit.

For my part it's nothing to do with a bad experience, because I had no such thing, it is simply dislike for the halters. I never liked them what that was all we had to use & I don't like them now--I think they are UGLY, and for me they serve no purpose.

 

[wildoak]

Any of you old enough to remember the Johnson rope halters?

Margo, that's all we had.

Never did like them though lol, hardware seemed to rust easily and the rope got stiff.....have to admit today's rope halters are nicer even if it is inconvenient to tie the darn things sometimes.

Jan

 

[GypsyMoonMinis]

Just my two cents (please note, I haven't read the entire thread)...

I got the same email from horse city as well and this is what I think. First of all, that was kind of a ridiculous article. The same kind of issues happen with ANY kind of halter when they aren't used properly, be they rope, nylon, or leather. My number one biggest pet peeve of all time is seeing horses in a pasture/pen with halters left on them. Its stupid, its irresponsible and there is NO reason for it what so ever. If you aren't there to monitor yoru animal you need to remove their tack. And if you can't catch your horse well enough to leave it out without a halter then you need to do more training. That being said, the degree of injury that horse had from the rope halter is abuse in my opinion and had nothing to do with it being a rope halter.

Its not the tools that abuse, but the ignorance of the people using them.

I like rope halters. I use one on my arab gelding, and will be making rope halters with my 4H group for thier horses. Should they be used all the time? no. They are a training tool and require knowledge to use. Why do I want my 4H kids to learn to use them? because after watching these kids struggle for a year with nylon halters on disrespectful horses, they DO need additional control. And they (and thier parents) will learn very strictly how to use them, when to use them and how easily they can be misused.

Rope halters are not cruel, its the people using them that make them cruel. A lead rope, an ill fitting nylon halter, a saddle/harness left on too long or fitted improperly, a bit... they can all be labeled as cruel too.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Ok I want to put out there that the #1 dangerous halter that I have personally been involved with is one with a throatlatch snap. I don't know, maybe the horse had talent to do stupid things, he was in my sight, but turned around for one second and he caught the throatlatch snap on the fence, got him loose still had the halter on but had to take care of a few things after that, got it caught again, he finially had to break it, but I will say that halter was nylon and it took great deal of effort for that thing to break, and it was the snap not the nylon itself. I never really liked those halters to begin with, it came with a different horse and what I could grab at the time.

So anyways that is my choice of halter that I find most dangerou is the throatlatch snap halter. Will never, every, buy one.