Page 33 - The Pocket Guide to Equine Knots

tracks near your horse trailer?)
All young horses should be equipped with a stout halter, then halter trained in the hands

of someone both strong and understanding. I don’t halter train by pulling straight forward on
the colt’s head—that only encourages him to pull back against the pressure. Instead I stand
to his side and simply take the slack out of the lead rope. He’s uncomfortable with his nose
restricted and moved slightly sideways, and sooner or later he figures out that he can make
his own slack by easing toward me. I reward him verbally, and then take the slack out

again. Soon he understands that comfort comes with compliance with the pressure, and
he’s halter broke.
Further, as described earlier, I teach the colt to give each foot, leading him by each in

turn. When he’s that far along, understanding he’s to give to pressure either from the halter
or from the foot, he should be tied up to something solid, tied up fairly high (no lower than
natural nose level), and with a short rope (with perhaps three to four feet of lead). Tying
high takes away the colt’s leverage, tending to make his hind legs slip up under him.
Always, though, I tie with a quick-release knot. Very few horses struggle very long,

because it’s uncomfortable for them. After a time or two they normally accept being tied up,
and that’s that.

Tie high and fairly short for safety.

Types of Halters

A “breakaway” system, tying with weak reins rather than lead rope, or tying to something
flimsy can “unlearn” (“extinguish” is the psychological term) this training. Also, early in
training, a horse might spook and inadvertently break a weak halter or lead rope. If odds

seem good this might happen, it’s probably best to use the very strongest setup available,
which is a halter and lead rope with no hardware whatsoever. The modern synthetic rope
tied halters are incredibly strong. Add a strong lead rope either hitched to the loop on the
halter with a half hitch on the pre-tied loop (which creates a sheet bend, as discussed on
page 18) or attached via an eye splice, and you eliminate all metal snaps or buckles that

could conceivably break.
Of these, I like using a lead rope with an eye splice best, because it’s so easily
removable. To attach, simply slip the eye splice through the halter loop, and then bring the

end of the lead rope back through the eye splice, pulling the whole rope through. If you
prefer to ride with the lead rope attached, this makes a nice, compact, and light