Parelli rope halters - will they snap?

GSLS

GSLS

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Just been looking at parelli halters as have been recommended them buy a friend who's into parelli, I've always used traditional style headcollars. Will these rope halters, that you secure by tying a knot on the near side of the face where the throatlash goes, break if a horse pull backs and panics? Or are horses not meant to be tied up in them? They have a loop on the chin that's definitely meant for a lead rope to go on I think.

Thanks, Emily xx
 
jemima*askin said:
They don't snap. They should never be tied up in.
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^^^ This. And they should be used with a 12 ft line as minimum, ideally if you can handle it a 22 ft line, so that if they pull back you can stay attached without pulling on the halter too much. They are designed to impact on the nerves in the head so should never be subject to as much pressure as a normal headcollar, but the point is the horse feels the pressure more quickly and usually responds to it. I have had my two well over 10 years and they are as good as new. Never tie them back on themselves though, they will tighten so you can't undo them if they are subject to pressure. Tie round the loop.
 
If you buy a normal rope halter you can use them to tie up with, the knot is special in that you will always be able to loosen it no matter how hard the horse pulls on it.
 
LJR said:
If you buy a normal rope halter you can use them to tie up with, the knot is special in that you will always be able to loosen it no matter how hard the horse pulls on it.
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That's a relief when it comes to removing the undamaged headcollar from a horse that's broken it's neck :)
 
Auslander said:
Because a normal head collar won't tighten round the horses head as it pulls
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Neither will a rope one! Unless you tie it appallingly. Also, horses should be tied to something that will give under pressure. I can't imagine anyone thinking it acceptable to tie up in ANYTHING that wasn't tied onto something with a low breaking point. Yes OP you can tie up in a rope halter.

What an odd thread !
 
saddlesore said:
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Neither will a rope one! Unless you tie it appallingly. Also, horses should be tied to something that will give under pressure. I can't imagine anyone thinking it acceptable to tie up in ANYTHING that wasn't tied onto something with a low breaking point. Yes OP you can tie up in a rope halter.

What an odd thread !
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Completely agree. I have used rope halters for years and never had a problem with one tightening or not being easy to undo? You tie up to something that snaps surely?
 
Apparently (judging from forums like The Chronicle of the Horse) it is very common in the States to teach horses to tie to something unbreakable - "high and short". Yes, the horse can break, but that is considered by many to be preferable to a loose horse, especially in a public space such as at a show.
 
They are PRESSURE halters, designed to apply PRESSURE. When the horse pulls back the pressure applied is way too high and can injure long before the headcollar reaches the pressure required to break a weak link.

You should not tie up with them.
 
Please OP try one and when your horse has strangled itself by pulling away, as has been stated they are pressure halters, if the horse panics by pulling back the halter tightens even more, come back ask why it happened, we will have the answer for you.
 
I honestly can't fathom what some of you are talking about!! It will not tighten as already stated by several of us who use them... A pressure/ training halter one will, but not a rope one!
 
And The pressure halter I bought, is just that, it isn't the old fashioned rope halter and yes they could do damage, but the pressure halter I have is very thin.
 
No, they will absolutely not snap.

I use one - not a parelli because I think they are useless, but a Clinton Anderson one. It is a hard rope and has knots on the nose.

It doesn't hurt, unless he runs into it, and he does understand how to give to pressure.

However, I do use an Equi-tie when I tie him up.

Nothing worse than seeing a horse being tied up and having a fright and injuring themselves.

Mine is used to being tied up, but in the trailer, I always unclip the rope halter and use a normal halter over the top.

He had a fright once when tied up to binder twine and the halter doesn't give or snap at all, not a nice thing to see. And I tie it as it should be tied - if it slips, it isn't tied properly.
 
Ive used one for years and ive never had an issue with not being able to undo it? I also tie up with him up in it to a piece of bailing string and not had any problems, however he is trained to release to pressure rather than pulling into it.
 
I'm surprised at the amount of people who tie up in a rope halter! They are in my opinion far too narrow to tie up in, regardless of wether they tighten when the horse pulls back or not, the narrow rope means the surface area is smaller = more pressure than a wider 'normal' headcollar.
 
This is a Parelli-style rope halter (but better fitted).

P1000984.jpg


There are no break points in it so horses shouldn't be tied up to anything solid when wearing, nor should they be turned out or left loose in a stable or similar place when wearing one. (Unless you are of the opinion that you should be able to tie to something solid and as Fburton says, if the horse breaks so be it).

The knots are fixed so it doesn't "close" on a horses's head any more than a headcollar would.

The knot you use to close it up will indeed get quite tight and hard to undo if there has been some sort of incident of pressure on it. This is the sort of reason why cowboys (and Parelli instructors) tend to wear knives on their belts.

People make statements about the knots being positioned in special pressure points, but every rope halter maker (for example Rob from Lodge Ropes) says this is a myth. The knots are there because that is the best place for them to be to hold the halter together. Some people make them with extra knots across the nose, which is a rather different situation, but Parelli and most others who use them don't.

They are really common horse equipment in places such as the States and Australia, sort of no big deal really. Yes, they are thinner and less comfortable for a horse if there's a large amount of pressure put on them. How bad that pressure is I find a bit hard to judge really, particularly when the pony in this picture thinks she'd like to just tow someone off to some tasty grass. It obviously isn't that uncomfortable. Bear in mind that for anything to administer pressure someone - horse or human - has had to apply it. My experience is that horses are perfectly happy to put the pressure on themselves, even when no human is attached and no emergencies are happening.

Some have been heard to say they are "just like cheeswire". They're absolutely right of course. That explains why none of my horses have ears.
 
I use a rope halter on my horse, it is easy to undo and doesn't tighten at all. I always tie up to something breakable, I use nylon ties that are joined with velcro. I can't see that it is any different to tying a horse up in a head collar.
 
saddlesore said:
I honestly can't fathom what some of you are talking about!! It will not tighten as already stated by several of us who use them... A pressure/ training halter one will, but not a rope one!
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Me neither lol! I have tons of rope halters dotted all about my farm and I use them for pretty much everything. Rope halters don't tighten, no idea where anyone got that idea. Over here, yes many of us tend to teach horses to tie. End of story. Horses will tie to anything and no they won't pull back because they're taught to tie and that means they stand still while tied. I never teach my horses to tie to something breakable, totally defeats the object of teaching them to tie imo. My horses will stand tied to whatever I tie them to. Rope halters are used as any other halter and where I live all horses who are wearing them, are tied in them.
 
I tie to a few strands split out of baling twine, but the horses have only ever broken it when they've been startled. But that's just to jump a bit, not to leap in the air, run away or anything. It is really common for horses to be tied to solid objects with unbreakable ropes and there aren't loads of tales of them being damaged or killed by this. Being in the UK, the only incidents of tied up horses damaging themselves that I've heard of have been horses wearing headcollars, and sometimes when the baling twine isn't frayed and it doesn't break.
You often go to a big yard and see beautiful bits of baling twine on every metal tie ring. Complete waste of time, that won't break in time to save a horse. Hardly ever see frayed stuff being used.
 
saddlesore said:
No a rope halter is NOT a pressure halter. A rope halter is like a regular one... Except made of rope. You must be thinking of a training halter.
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This! I was merely pointing out that you could tie up with a normal rope halter and the knot will never get overtight - obviously when tying up a horse you tie them to something that will break in an emergency.
 
LJR said:
This! I was merely pointing out that you could tie up with a normal rope halter and the knot will never get overtight - obviously when tying up a horse you tie them to something that will break in an emergency.
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The whole point of rope halters and their accompanying leads is that they don't break. For people who teach their horses to tie properly (whereby the horse absolutely will not pull back ever) they do not want the halter or rope breaking. That would totally defeat the object of them teaching the horse to tie.
 
Spring Feather said:
The whole point of rope halters and their accompanying leads is that they don't break. For people who teach their horses to tie properly (whereby the horse absolutely will not pull back ever) they do not want the halter or rope breaking. That would totally defeat the object of them teaching the horse to tie.
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Of course you don't want a halter, rope or twine breaking for inadvertent pulls and jerks - such as the horse momentarily forgetting that he is tied and trying to walk away - because that opens the door to the horse learning that setting back will lead to freedom. On the other hand, in a blind panic or accident situation I would much prefer something inanimate to break before the horse does itself a serious injury. I believe the chances of the horse acquiring bad habits is less in such situations; the horse is more likely to remember whatever caused it to panic than the events immediately following. But even if this wasn't the case, it is a risk I am prepared to take.

As mentioned above, this seems to be a fundamental difference in outlook between the UK and US.
 
jemima*askin said:
They don't snap. They should never be tied up in.
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The head collar should never break. There is nothing more dangerous and irritating than an upset loose horse with no head collar on. Tie the horse to a weak link. Either have the string on the tie up ring/fence post, or an even better idea have the weak link on the head collar, then if they break away you are left with the rope and the horse is not racing around with a rope tangling around its legs.

This is the correct way to tie the knot on a rope halter

KnotforHalter006.jpg
 
Tnavas said:
The head collar should never break. There is nothing more dangerous and irritating than an upset loose horse with no head collar on. Tie the horse to a weak link. Either have the string on the tie up ring/fence post, or an even better idea have the weak link on the head collar, then if they break away you are left with the rope and the horse is not racing around with a rope tangling around its legs.

This is the correct way to tie the knot on a rope halter

KnotforHalter006.jpg
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In your opinion.... seriously though, who says? I've not seen pics of Buck Brannaman tying a rope halter like that, just for example. I think you'll find most tend to say that the way mine is tied is the "right" way. But it another ways suits someone, why not? (My browser won't let me insert smilies, so please at this point visualise friendly smiley face...).

Fact is, rope halters and the leadropes attached won't break, so they need to be treated with respect. As does anything else we put on our horses' heads really, because it has been known for headcollars and leadropes not to break when they are supposed to. On another thread recently people were saying even velcro headcollars don't always give way. When I'm at my yard I always know where my sharp knife is, just in case, and I don't think that's a bad idea even if you don't use a rope halter. In an emergency you can't always get at the bit you'd like to in order to undo it. I have bolt cutters as well, because some of my fencing has wire.

I'm thinking of getting a nice little knife to wear on my belt when I'm out as well. Might come in handy for peeling apples as I trundle along.
 
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