Rope Halters - Use and Fit

The new year is here and I start it with some practical advice. I asked my newsletter subscribers if they had any wishes and they asked for more horse training tips and advice. So here we go - the first article will be about rope halters.

Working almost every day with a rope halter, I've almost forgotten how I used to struggle to get the knot right and all the questions I had about it. So my goal today is to answer all rope halter related questions. Let me know if I forgot anything important.

Why use a rope halter?

The rope halter is a tool for communication and made to transfer impulses from the lead rope directly and precisely to the horse's head.

One of the most important concepts in horsemanship is to make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy. The rope halter is ideal to achieve just that: Thanks to its little weight and the loose fit it sits comfortably on the horse's head. If I put movement or pressure on the lead rope, it's directed to the halter quickly and precisely - it is not diluted which would be the case if the horse wore a web halter (that come thickly padded these days).

Additionally, the horse most likely will not enjoy to hang their heads in the rope halter - the ropes are quite thin and don't make it a nice place to rest the head in. The halter becomes uncomfortable if the horse pulls on the rope; it makes the wrong behavior (counter pressure) hard for the horse. The right behavior (give to the pressure) is rewarded instantly: If the horse yields, the pressure on the halter disappears and it becomes comfortable right away again.

Because of the the thin ropes the rope halter is not made for constant pressure - if we want to use it, we need to work with impulses, not steady pulling. Used the wrong way, the knot halter can easily turn into a sharp tool that does not benefit the horse.