Rope Halters

Jennifer wrote in with a question on rope halters - "Great site! Can you address your thoughts on rope halters with the extra knots on the nose? You mentioned chains as being a no-no, but I thought I'd ask about this particular alteration of the rope halter. I have a clinician-style stiff halter with the knots as well as the floppy rope kind. The knots definitely offer more bite, but just because it 'works' doesn't mean it's ideal. I just don't want to hurt her. Thanks!"

Hey Jennifer, I appreciate that you are considering your horse and searching for information so you can make your own decision on rope halters. Rope halters have a bad name with some people, and granted the smaller diameter of the rope adds more pressure to the horse's nose and poll than a conventional web halter when the horse pulls against it, but as far as being painful, the handler would have to intentionally jerk hard on the lead rope. And as for cruel,...well that's a choice of the handler and if he's doing it with it rope halter, he likely also be doing it with the bit and spurs.


I use 5/16th inch (8mm) polypropylene rope halters.    Like the one on Junior in the picture above - he's sticking his tongue out cause he saw me with a camera.  Most of mine are from Double Diamond Halters but a few are from Craig Cameron. Same type of quality. I don't have nose buttons (knots) on my halters,..no particular reason, but I haven't seen a need to go out and get a halter with nose buttons. Besides I would think that the pressure of the rope halter on the horse's poll (on the top of his neck behind his ears) is sufficient enough to make nose buttons redundant. Just my opinion. There are probably people who think highly of rope halters with nose knots and maybe I just haven't yet met the horse who can benefit from knots on the nose band of the halter.

On a small scale I make one piece roping reins, mecate reins, lead lines and lunge lines but I don't make rope halters simply because I can't make them to the quality or the fair price that Double Diamond makes them. You can get rope halters in many different sizes: 1/8th inch (4mm) diameter, 1/4th inch (6mm), 5/16th inch (8mm), 3/8th inch (9.5mm) and 7/16 inch (11mm). The smaller diameter halters are mostly used underneath headstalls so you can tie your horse up or dismount and lead your horse with a lead rope to the halter as opposed to leading from the reins.

While I almost exclusively use 5/16 inch polypropylene rope halters with a tied on 14 foot lead line (no snaps or hardware at all), I do have a rope halter with a rawhide nose band - see picture at right.   I've only use it a couple of times.  The rawhide is harder than the rope so it provides more pressure,  more of a bite on the nose. Again, while it's all in hands of the handler, the rawhide can dry out and become prety rough on the nose, whether it's a rawhide nose band or just a couple of rawhide buttons where halter nose band knots would be. So I suggest that if you use a halter with rawhide nose band or knots then to periodically check it for roughness or sharp edges. I use raw hide cream to keep them conditioned.

If I could only have one piece of equipment, I would choose a rope halter with a lead line over anything else, including a saddle, because I could use it for ground training and could ride in it.    

Good luck to you and safe journey.