My first reintroduction to rope halters was at a barn where I leased a horse.  Incidentally, leasing this horse was also my reintroduction to having horses back in my life.  The woman who owned the horse had studied “natural horsemanship” by way of a program developed by Pat Parelli.  At that point I had heard of neither Pat Parelli nor “natural horsemanship”.  She showed me a little red rope halter to use with her horse.  It was totally different to anything I’d seen before.  It looked very flimsy, almost minimalist, and was irritating to put on because it was so malleable.  It was made out of some sort of cotton material and didn’t look like it would stand up to much wear.  I was pretty skeptical, but thought “each to his (or her in this case) own.”  Although at the time I couldn’t understand the logic behind rope halters I became a user of them by default because so many of the people at the barn where I leased the horse used them. 

Fast forward a year.  I rescued a young shire cross mare in late summer 2006.  She was scared, skeptical of humans, threatened to kick when her feet were handled, and pulled back when tied or held.  I realized I had bitten off more than I could chew with her so signed up to take her to a colt-starting clinic with someone called Jon Ensign.  Jon Ensign IS a cowboy and he DOES use rope halters.  However at that clinic I learned how to and why use a rope halter.  It had nothing to do with the “Wild West” but everything to do with a concept that should be (but often isn’t) understood by anyone involved with horses – “pressure and release.”  A horse is a 1000lb animal and no human no matter how strong can use their strength to maneuver a horse that doesn’t want to move.  Anyone who thinks they can is in la-la land.  Despite their size however horses are incredibly sensitive.  They can feel a fly landing on their mane.  One of my horses hates a saddle pad made out of wool felt that I have.  She probably finds it itchy and scratchy.  She can feel that through her coat and it makes her twitch and makes her irritable. 

Back to rope halters…. If you lay a webbing halter side by side next to a rope halter you can see that the webbing halter has a much larger surface area where the halter touches the horse compared to the rope halter.  On the horse the rope halter will put pressure using a smaller surface area therefore is more persuasive with less effort by the handler.  Because of this the handler can put minimal pressure on the lead rope but instead of pulling, the handler lets the horse release itself from the pressure by stepping forward, away from the pressure.  As long as the person at the lead rope isn’t pulling, the horse gets an immediate reward from the pressure of the halter from the “release”.  To the horse there is a very obvious difference between the pressure and the reward.  The pressure is uncomfortable and the release is the removal of pressure.  This is negative reinforcement.  The stimulus is the discomfort; the reward is the removal of the discomfort. 

The rope halter works by putting pressure not only on the nose, but also behind the poll.  I have handled dangerous horses with the rope halter – those that rear, kick, bite.  I have used one on a stallion with lots of energy, no ground manners, and very little handling.  I have successfully halter trained and taught horses to lead with one.  My yearling pretty much halter trained himself at two months old because the rope halter provided such a clear message.  Used correctly the rope halter is very gentle.  What I find interesting is that people who are condescending about rope halters as being “for cowboys” will use a stud chain without a second thought.  They may believe that “cowboys” are rough, crude, and even brutal to their horses.  And conversely think that “English” riding disciplines are civilized and gentle.  But not only does a stud chain potentially inflict more pain it only works on the nose, and not on the poll area.  In addition, the stud chain doesn’t provide a clear message through the “release” of pressure.  In the instances where I have seen a stud chain used, it has been used by jerking the lead rope to “discipline” the horse.  This method may work but at what cost?  The horse not only learns to fear the lead rope, it then associates pain with whatever situation was causing the problem in the first place. 

I have found two problems with rope halters.  When they are soft and flimsy the nose piece typically collapses or folds, making it irritating to try and get the halter on the horse.  So I use stiff ones.  My other complaint is that this winter when we had the really bitterly cold weather, unusual for Washington State, the halters all got too stiff to tie the knot closed.  I was able to make all kinds of interesting Gumby-like sculptures – the rope would be so stiff I could bend it and it would stay that way.  So I then frantically dug through my tack room and hay loft to find all those web halters I had consigned to a life of dust and cobwebs to use on the horses.  What do they do on ranches in places like Montana and the Midwest where the winter temperatures regularly go below freezing?  Do they put their frozen halters in their coats to warm up?  Or do they keep them in the house to stay thawed and then run out in the morning to quickly put them on the horses before the halters freeze?

No, I’m not a cowgirl.  I live about an hour from Seattle and maybe 35 minutes from the Eastside of Lake Washington, not in the Rockies, or Wyoming.  I don’t live on a ranch but on a “pseudo-farm”.  I don’t grow anything except a manure pile and sunflowers from the seeds not digested by the horses.  But I do use rope halters.  They are one of the most valuable “tools” I have and in my opinion the next best thing since sliced bread.

Cricket is available for lease or half-lease.  She is also available for lessons.  For more information or if you would like to meet Cricket please contact us.

Along with many other horse owners, I regularly groomed my horses in their stalls without a halter and lead rope, thinking it was safe.  But I found out I was wrong.  My normally very level-headed, easy-going, gentle yearling spooked while I was grooming him in his stall, crushing me against the back wall, snapping five of my ribs cleanly into ten halves – not his fault; mine.  I had forgotten the most important characteristic common to all horses.   A horse, no matter how gentle, seemingly safe, calm, well-trained is still a flight animal.  When fearful they will run away or at least try to run away, sometimes blindly.  Horses will run through electric fencing, barbed wire, across traffic-filled roads, and down steep ravines in their attempt to find safety.   So why wouldn’t a horse in the “safety” of his stall, spook?  I put “safety” in parenthesis’ because a stall seems safe from our human perspective; not necessarily a horse’s perspective.   I attended a seminar in July by Dr. Robert Miller, a retired veterinarian and originator of what is known as “imprinting” foals, at the Northwest Natural Horsemanship Center in Fall City, WA.    Dr. Miller has written several books on Natural Horsemanship, horse behavior and psychology, and of course foal imprinting.   Through his experience of handling thousands of horses as well as other animals Dr. Miller has devised several guidelines for safe horse handling.  He demonstrated some of these and talked about others during the afternoon of the seminar.  He advised strongly against working with a horse in a stall without a halter and lead rope as it is potentially dangerous.  There I sat, still uncomfortable from my not-yet-healed broken ribs, a splendid example of how not to keep yourself safe when around horses.  The discomfort from being embarrassed was nearly as bad as from the still-healing broken ribs.  The sweltering heat that day combined with no ventilation didn’t help either.

I made several other mistakes with my yearling, leading up to the accident.  I had handled him at his birth and regularly after.  I attribute some of my yearling’s calm attitude, level-headedness, and easy-going nature to having desensitized him.  It had helped remove some fear inherent to most horses.  Unfortunately what I didn’t realize is that there are two parts to imprinting: desensitization and establishing a respect for personal space.  Also essential to the second part of the process is teaching the newborn horse that humans are his leader.  Dr. Miller emphasized that the second part of the process is so important it is better not to imprint at all than to do just the first part but not the other.  The result of doing that is dangerous as it creates a horse that is not fearful or nervous but is still pushy and disrespectful.   I had not “imprinted” my yearling at birth but some birth complications required that I handled him shortly after he was born.  This partially desensitized him.  The great part about that is that he is not afraid or nervous of me at all and will tolerate all kinds of new experiences as long as it’s me who is working with him.  He trusts me; I have been part of his world since he was born.  I guess I am kind of like his auntie.  My colt has been great when introduced to new experiences such as being sprayed with a spray bottle and a hose, as well as having his mane trimmed.  He also pretty much halter-trained himself.  He will come when called out in the pasture and is always friendly.  The down-side is that he is pushy and obnoxious; not so much with me but definitely with other people.

My yearling has always had pretty decent ground manners, probably a lot due to twice daily handling.  So actual ground work training with him kept getting left on a shelf in lieu of what I considered more urgent training issues with the rest of the other horses.  As they say, “hindsight is 20/20”.  There is a common opinion that a horse should not receive “training” until it is two years old.   To me this is the horse version of not teaching a child the alphabet, never explaining how letters sound, and never reading to that child.  What a disadvantage that child is at when trying to learn how to read without that basic foundation.  Is it then a big surprise when that same child not only can’t read at age 10 but is also not interested in learning how and on top of that doesn’t like books?  Another way to look at it would be to never teach your child table manners nor how to use a knife and fork and then expect your child to figure out how to eat with an array of silverware at a large wedding reception at age seven.

My first project after the accident was to start ground work with the yearling.  As it turned out he has been a quick learner, is pretty good at focusing considering his young age, and he seems to enjoy our sessions.  Working with him now takes priority.  I regularly remind him who is in charge and reinforce the meaning of respecting personal space.  Despite being cute and small(er), my yearling is no lap dog and nor do I want to have a 750 lb “dog” on my lap.  Two things have really stood out with our “training” sessions.  One is how quickly horses learn at a young age. They are like sponges.  And the other is how important it is that what is taught is reinforced and reinforced again and again and again.

The human in this story has learned that one bad experience is worth ten, twenty, or maybe even fifty “successes” in terms of teaching power.   I no longer groom my horses or do anything else with them in their stalls unless they have a halter and lead rope on.  Lesson learned.  I do some ground work with my yearling everyday even if it is only a small amount at turn-in and turn-out time.  Lesson learned there too.  I remind myself on a daily basis, every time I am around a horse, mine or someone else’s, gentle or not, trained-to-the-eyeballs or less so, calm or otherwise that horses are flight animals.  Big lesson NEVER to be forgotten.  Maybe every turn in the road I am traveling on my journey will be somewhat life-changing… let’s hope so; preferably though without getting broken in the process…

You want to meet Rhyme? Then please send contact us. Thanks.

This quiet, family-run facility is owned by Julie Boulter. One of her passions is sustainable horsekeeping —  balancing the care of safe and happy horses with good stewardship of her property and the greater environment.

She enjoys providing private instruction for dedicated students as well as horse owners seeking owner-inclusive training. A few horses are available for half lease or sale.

From horse care to teaching to training, Julie’s aim is to always try to view things from the horse’s perspective. 

Julie has been actively involved in the horse rescue community since 2005. Throughout 2008 she fostered and trained several horses for Save a Forgotten Equine (SAFE) and in addition has several rescues of her own.