horse halter selection, how to pick horse halter, choosing horse halter, horse halter information
Story and Photos by
Maureen Gallatin
Tack Tip�
Halter Selection
A halter allows you
to hold onto and
direct your horse.
The strongest halter
is good training. After
all, to control your
horse, you need his
cooperation. Halter
pressure is merely a
cue.
When you lead
your horse, he feels
pressure on the sensitive
area behind his
ears. It’s as though
the crownpiece pushes
his head forward
when you pull the
lead rope forward.
Halters range from
mild to severe. When the halter material is
wide, it’s like the flat of someone’s hand. But
if the halter is sharp or narrow, the pressure
is concentrated. It’s like poking him with a
fingernail — or worse.
Assuming correct fit, any halter should feel
comfortable to your horse when it’s just lying
on his head. So choosing a halter isn’t only a
matter of style. How you use it matters.
Train With Care
A well-trained horse understands what you
want him to do with very little guidance. You
can use nearly any style of halter, because
you’re not likely to apply severe pressure.
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Halter fit tip: You
should be able to put
one or two fingers’
distance between the
bottom of your horse’s
cheekbones and the
halter.
But if your horse
hasn’t learned to give
to pressure, you have to
be careful that the halter
doesn’t hurt or scare
him, and actually cause
him to react.
It’s natural to meet
pressure with pressure.
When your horse feels
halter pressure, he instinctively
presses into
the pressure, as if to
push it away. When a small effort doesn’t do
it, he usually pushes harder, sometimes to
the point of running backward.
You want your horse to move his head forward
or down in response to the pressure.
But that’s a learned response. So how do
you teach it? There are two approaches:
• Light pressure training. One approach
is to put light pressure on the halter—just
enough that the horse moves his head but
not so much pressure that he feels he has
to pull back. He’ll think for a moment about
how to get that pressure to go away, and
he’ll try options. One of the options is to
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