Control headcollars??

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TequilaMist

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How do you use them?
Friend has bought one, want to see what people think and tbh I don't use them as luckily none of my horses need them(touches wood)so don't have any real personal eaxperience with them
 
When I first had Star she used to rear on her way to be turned out.

I bought her a Be Nice, she behaved as soon as it was put on. Never reared again. She wore it for a week, went back to a normal headcollar and we have never looked back.

I haven't put it back on her in three years.
 
Nothing wrong with control halters at all, better something that gives you some control than getting runover by a bolshy horse anyday.

I tried a Dually and my horse just laughed at me.

I use normal rope halters (Be Nice is based on them, but mine don't have the little studs in them) for most of my horses and they are fine, the horses I use them on are all very polite anyway.

I use a nose chain on 2 horses, one a mare that has a bit of an attitude (as in "I am going that way regardless of the little pipsqueak on the end of the rope") the other a stallion, who occasionally needs reminding to keep his feet on the ground. When they have the chains on they never pratt about so it never comes into action, no chain and they KNOW and take the mickey. A rope across the nose does not have the same "Stop messing about and listen to ME!" effect on mine, I would rather use the chain a couple of times to get the message across than tug ineffectually on a nose rope anytime. As always, what works on one horse may not on the next.

I haven't tried any of the other contraptions on the market so can't comment on them.

What kind of halter has your friend got? What does the horse do to need one? Head up, down, to the chest? I find that different halters work in different ways, if it puts pressure on the nose then it doesn't make a lot of difference if the horse ploughs a furrow in the ground or sticks his nose into his chest, you need under chin pressure for that. If he sticks his head in the air or rears then under chin pressure just encourages that and makes matters worse.
 
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This is reason friend bought one.Thing is when they rear etc do you pull/yank/tweek with it?(I use those words delibrately)

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I used it with a kind of squeezing action. If she got too exuberant just a gentle pressure on the leadrein then as she submitted it loosened.

I think it would be a vicious thing if you yanked it. I prefer to train my horse not punish her.
 
I think, they are expensive. I use a long leadrope and a headcollar with a buckle on the front of the noseband, and put the rope round nose if ever required. Very cheap, and effective!

I DO hate those NH type rope headcollars with the knots in deliberately nasty places...marketed as "kind"...I find them/that just wicked and would never put one near my horse
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i have a 'be-nice' headcollar for loading my mare. fingers crossed we had one major fight with it and now i just put it on and she walks straight in (touches wood
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as loading 2mrw)

when i first used it i pulled sharply on it then kept the pressure on till she relaxed and came forward and kept doing this until she did what i asked. now i can lead her up the ramp chuck the leadrope over her neck and she just walks in. with the help of food waiting for her too
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if she decides not to play ball then just slight pressure is applied and she gives in
 
its just one she got from local tack shop .Have seen folk use them with good effect.Have only used the chifney on the rearers we had-only had to use it twice)
Am just wondering as friend was told to yank hard on it when horse(2yr old) rears and don't know if this is correct.Do they cause pain or just discomfort?
 
See with her one knots have no give or movement so as far as can see its the knots and rope that apply pressure on poll and face when you apply pressure on lead rope.Is this right?Just when you say it loosened, hers has nowhere to loosen other than pressure applied on said areas.Is this correct?
As I am c**p at describing things probably doesn't make much sense
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I think I would start as soft as possible and increase the intensity if need be. Particularly with a baby. I mean does he actually understand the pressure concept yet? If not he's not going to respond as she wants.

I used mine to prevent the rear in the first place IYSWIM?

I hope mine didn't create pain or discomfort for my mare tbh, but I am certain a yank would be quite painful. There are brass nobby bits on the poll and the knots on the face. It kind of does a cats cradle thing under the cheeks and chin so I would say it could be pretty severe.
 
Sounds like she needs a training halter not the horse lol!

Seriously though I have never used one like that. It looks like a cheapy parelli thing. Perhaps there might be something helpful about using them on an NH site?
 
Ahh see your one I can totally understand how/why it works.Will admit hers confused me a bit lol.easily done tho!
Will show her this one if the one she got doesn't work out.
 
Lol, I must admit I though it was a bit pricey at the time, but I didn't really want to have to use a chifney tbh.

Very effective on my horse though. She learned extremely quickly how to remove the pressure from herself.

It's worth remembering that you must never tie up in a Be-Nice though, while the one your friend has bought she can use as normal I think.

As I said my horse used to rear and at 16.3 that's no fun!. I always use really long lead reins on her, mine must be 10/12 feet long. It just means that if she ever does go up again there is plenty of room to get out of the way without having to let go. You kind of get sucked under with shorter ropes. Might make her feel a bit better if she tries that, and wears a hat of course until the problem is sorted.
 
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