Mechanical Hackamores or More Control?

Kacie made a comment on a post concerning Bosals and Hackamores: "I have borrowed a mechanical hackamore to try on my Haflinger. I am riding her in a wonder bit now. She plow reins and you really have to keep some hard pressure on her mouth just to keep her along the side of the road. She also can be ridden around the yard and drive way in just a halter and lead. So I am hoping that with this mechanical hackamore that I can get more control with less pressure as I normally have such as bad neck and shoulder pain from the pressure applied in her mouth the with whole ride. "

Kacie, you should NOT be experiencing pain in your neck and shoulders from managing your reins. This is mostly likely from fighting with your horse to direct her head, or trying to control her hed tossing as she is demonstrating a high level of discomfort with the bit.  I don't need to tell you that this makes for a miserable ride for both you and your horse.

I am not a fan at all of gag bits which it what your wonder bit is, upon rein pressure the mouthpiece will slide up further into the horse's mouth. These wonder bits come with many different mount pieces from a broken bit, like a snaffle mouthpiece, to one piece twisted wire of loose chain mouthpieces.

Sometimes when a rider has an issue with control it is not necessarily a good idea to go to a harsher bit or a device like a mechanical hackamore which can cause the horse greater pain. Lack of control may be from the horse trying to avoid the pain. I wonder if your Halfinger mare is bracing for the envitably pull on the reins and pain in the mouth. There could be a number of problems with your mare, and to be frank none of them her fault. The bit could be seated too deep, giving her no release when the reins are slack; could be a bit that is too loose and banging around on her teeth or bars; it could be she is just green broke to a bit in her mouth.

I also wonder if you have any issues with her when you ride her with a halter and a lead line. If she is okay with this maybe you can try a side pull, which is a bitless bridle with a noseband, where the reins attach to the side. 
While most of the side pull bridles will have a rope noseband, stiffer than a rope halter and therefore a little more harsher which will to aid in the pressure the horse, there are side pull bridles available that incorporate a snaffle bit to help the horse get used to carrying a bit and receiving pressure from the bars, mouth and tounge.  This would allow you to give clearer signals when "plough reining" or direct reining and work to be more subtle or lighter in your rein cues.

The mechanical hackamore can be a very harsh piece of equipment as it has a nut cracker effect between the noseband and the curb chain under the jaw. I have seen nosebands of mechanical hackamores range from plastic tube covered chain or wire to stiff rawhide. Usually mechanical hackamores have a significant shank where the reins connect providing the rider with a great deal of leverage. This can be a disaster for a green broke horse and/or a rider with left than soft hands.

What I would do is basically start her over in a snaffle bit and work her in round pen or arena.  If you are soft with your hands and provide clear signals, she ought to learn quicky to carry this bit and understand your cues.

Horse Training - Hackamores and Bosals

This is the second part of a reader question on my outfit and in particularly the Hackamore he saw on one of my horses in an earlier video. That Hackamore is an old Ropers Tie Down with a metal O ring as opposed to a Bosal or Hackamore knot. I am using nylon split reins and a Fiador. It hangs light on my horse and he responds well to it.

I have long been a fan of Hackamores and Bosals, starting my horses in Bosals, moving to a snaffle bit, then a curb bit, then usually full circle back to a Hackamore. Rawhide Hackamore with flat grass reins shown at LEFT. Quarter inch noseband Hackamore with flat nylon reins shown BELOW. Both available from Craig Cameron.

A Bosal is plaited or braided rawhide fashioned into a nose band with an anchor know below the chin of a horse when the bosal is placed on the horse’s nose. A Mecate (sometimes called a McCarthy due to Gringo mispronunciation of Spanish) is a long rope usually made out of horse hair, but sometimes braided nylon rope, that is about 22 feet long and tied to the Bosal just above the anchor knot in a manner that provides for a one piece roper reins, and allows a tail of abut 7 feet to use as a get down for leading the horse on the ground or tying to a tie rail.

A Hackamore is very similar to a Bosal with the nose piece being made out of nylon rope, a leather band, or a rawhide covered rope. The Hackamore can use a Mecate rope for reins or braided nylon split reins. These split reins can be made of rounded or flat rope, flat nylon or even grass. Bosal with Hanger (headstall) and Fiador shown at LEFT.


A Mechanical Hackamore can also have a rope or rawhide noseband, but is usually more closely associated with a plastic covered wire or chain noseband. The Mechanical Hackamore also uses a curb chain (under the chin) has four to seven inch shanks to connect the reins to, which are usually leather split reins. This type of Hackamore can be very severe as the shanks provide a lot of leverage and effect a nut cracker type movement onto the horse’s nose and jaw. The Mechanical Hackamore is not for beginners and should be very carefully used,….. if at all I my opinion. Type of Mechanical Hackamore shown BELOW.