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Over and over again we see incorrectly tied rope halters. Most people buy rope halters, but are never taught the correct way of fitting them and tying them. It is important that you buy a halter that fits your horse correctly and that you know how to tie correctly. When you first buy a halter most of them are adjustable by fiddling with the knots at the side of the nose piece and under the chin, but it usually takes experience to know how to do this to fit correctly and most people just buy a halter based on the size of their horse's head and leave it at that. There are lots of web sites describing how to make and adjust rope halters, so if you want to understand how to do this just do a google search.
But learning how to tie a rope halter on your horse's head takes no special skill. But few people ever know the difference between what is correct and what is incorrect. These photos should help clear that up.
I've shown three pictures here of a well made rope halter. Our model for this evenings display is the very glamorous Chops showing the elegance of a little number made by Ralph Wilson from Washington State, USA. In my opinion, Ralph makes about the best rope halters I have ever used and Chops is clearly wearing it with poise and style.
Photo One:
Shows the rope halter correctly fitted.
Photo Two:
Shows an incorrectly tied halter. Notice the knot is tied above the loop of the cheek piece. When a horse pulls, the loop has the effect of opening the knot. At the very least it will cause the halter to loosen and at worse the knot can come undone and the halter fall off.
Photo Three:
Here you can see the knot is below the loop of the cheek piece. This means that as the lead rope is pulled the loop pulls down onto the knot and will tighten the knot rather than loosen it as would happen in Photo Two.
Rope halters are a very useful piece of equipment, but like most gear, in order to make the most it you need to fit it correctly and use it correctly. It is worth taking the time to learn to tie one properly and making it a habit.
