" Vince, no one should ever drop a halter or bridle while the horse is hooked to some equipment. Never"

Precisely why I wear a halter under the bridle. If I need to stop quick and tie up, I don't want to be fiddling with trying to get a halter on.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

I do both. It depends on where I am, what I am doing, and which team. When I had the little ponies the bulk of a halter under a bridle was too much. I took the halters off and the bridles fit better.

The big horses wear a halter under the bridle except when I am doing something in public. An old horseman explained it as "just not right." Nothing wrong with it but is it "just not right." I am not that adamant about it but in public I take the halters off.

Wes introduced me to rope halters that are smaller and fit better under the bridles. He also tied me a couple complete with bright orange lead ropes. Nice as they are less likely to be lost.

So my answer is it depends.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Photo of a logging team with halter-bridles. The teamster loved the bridles because he could simply drop the bits to give the horses a feed. The bridles also have the traditional "safety crown" that will prevent the bridles from coming off over the ears. The bridles were fully adjustable including the distance from the blinkers to the nosebands, and you could even take the blinkers off.

I made the bridles...a long time ago.

Barb


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Barb, that looks pretty stylish, and I would think for horses that need blinders, it's a good option if somebody doesn't want to put the bridle over the halter. Compare with the picture of my horses back in Bavaria and you'll see that was rather simple but then I never used blinders with that team, even when logging.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Barb, I was waiting on a comment from you on this subject. I was ready to bet that you as a harness maker had some experience on the halter / bridle. When I was a child my dad made a halter that you could add blinders and a bit to be used on his young Percheron colts. The colts shortly became at ease wearing these and were ready for the next steps. From what I remember, they worked very well. That was back in 1950s.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Oh, thank you Bill. I only posted the photo because someone had wondered about the possibility earlier in the thread. These were really too complicated. There didn't seem to be a market for the design so I never developed it. Curiously, I recently found a bit that my morgan mare is comfortable in for the first time in her life and I hung it on her old halter bridle for awhile. She was fine with the bit but hated the bridle so I threw it out along with a mountain of other stuff. She wears an ordinary light driving bridle with a halter over it most times now and is perfectly happy. As a side note, carriage drivers have taken to halters with a buckle on the nosepiece, so the nose of the halter can be dropped for bridling...then the halter is buckled on OVER the bridle. I've never heard the argument against wearing a halter with a bridle before, except of course, for showing.

Barb


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Klaus, I sure like halters under the bridles. The redundancy is important for me.
I have successfully trained a lot of rank teams to stand honestly by working them hard, letting them stand and appreciate the rest. I adjust the lines so when they itch, pester their mate, go for a bit to eat, the lines correct them. Soon enough they learn that standing quietly with eyes half closed is least pressure on their mouth, and they get it. But to limit bad experiences, they are also tied to a post or trailer, and later I may hook 50 ft of thin rope to them in the middle of the field. While they rest, I pick rocks and clear fencerows and fix fence. They learn that I control them even when I am not "on the lines." One bad experience and they have it in their heads they can go to the barn whenever.
No use having them run away into traffic or tear up my gear because I am worried about what an old teamster thinks of me.
When I work multiples I like to jockey stick to the halter and just have lines on a couple of bits. But say if the mare is in a cantankerous mood, the jockey goes to the bit.
Green three year olds get rubber bitted and tied back with their halter, and worked without stressing their mouth. No use having raw mouths just because they don't know better.
Lots of reasons for me to wear a halter under the bridle. And duct tape and baler twine on the hames!


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Kevin, it sure is nice to see you back on the Front Porch.
As to the halters and bridles, as I said I am not dogmatic about it and there certainly are situations ( shows for example) in which halters underneath bridles are not appropriate, but for everyday situations I can only recommend them. Best would be, if there existed a practical combination of both especially for shows, parades etc. where avoiding the inelegant appearance one still could have the certainty that horses can be grabbed & tied if something goes amiss.
I had no idea that I was starting such a long thread.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

About those ropes, with two snaps and an eyelet, around here they are called neck ropes. The local Amish, and myself from time to time, use them as added insurance, not as a substitute for a halter. The rope goes around the neck and the first snap goes in the eyelet or ring, the second snap goes to the halter, and then the horse or mule can be tied with the length of remaining rope making a lead rope. The idea is that if for some reason the animal should set back and break the snap at the halter the rope at the neck would still hold him. I bought a Belgian horse once from an Amishman which I later found out was bad to set back and break ropes or snaps or what ever else. He knew how to break both snaps on these neck ropes too. I finally put a rope around his chest up through his front legs through the halter ring and tied him. He sat back once and never again, at least never again as long as he had a rope around his ribs. He was smart enough to learn that if the rope was around his rib cage their was no need to set back, but he minute it was gone he'd break what ever he was tied with. I finally found that if I tied a hay string around his middle, he didn't know it wasn't tied to anything and I could then tie him with the regular lead rope without him pulling back. I just had to figure a way to be smarter than the horse.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

Jerry, that's the whole point: To figure out how to be smarter than a horse or mule. I agree totally, and that's why we all have to learn to think about possible situations before they occur.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

I never ride or drive without a halter under the bridle, I don't care how anyone thinks it looks. The halter is not there for looks when I need to tie them up I have something to tie them with, some of my horses and mules will stand without being tied they will get tied if I'm going to be gone for a long time. Ive never been sorry that I tied one up, I have been sorry when I didn't tie one up. Had a long walk to figure out what I did wrong. Did you ever try to catch a loose horse in a 3-5 Section pasture? I have it is not fun. Do it your way I will do it my way.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum

I fully agree, KC Fox, you made me laugh in the morning already with the way you phrased it. I can imagine taking a long walk on such a huge pasture as you described it all the while figuring out what you did wrong.


8 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum