How to Make a Rope Halter
Posted on January 1st, 2009 by monsterguide
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Rope halters are a good alternative for someone who might not want to use a nylon halter. Rope halters are often seen as better than the nylon halters because rope halters are easier to fix and they are somewhat lighter. Of course when using a rope halter you want to make sure that you correctly secure it so that the horse will not slip out of the halter.
What you’ll need
To tie a rope halter, you will need rope that is either one fourth inch or three eights inch in diameter. This rope can be either double-braided nylon or polyester. You will also need a lighter, a sharp knife or single-edged razor and the know how to tie both overhand knots and double overhand knots.
Getting started
First, pick out the kind of rope that you need and decide just how much is needed. This decision can be based on a number of factors including comfort, stiffness, strength or flexibility. You should make sure that the strength of the rope is at least two thousand pounds per square inch or your rope halter may not be effective.
Next you will need to decide what size the halter needs to be. This decision should be based on your horse’s size. The best way to decide this is to use a cloth measuring tape or piece of string to measure around your horse’s nose right below his cheekbone. Don’t ever use a metal tape measure on your horse.
Your horse’s measurements will determine the amount of rope you will need. If your horse’s nose is twenty inches around, you will need eighteen feet of rope. A good rule of thumb is to take the number of inches that the horse’s nose is around, subtract one or two inches and then use that many feet of rope. If your horse’s nose circumference is closer to thirty inches you might want to use the same amount of feet of rope as inches around your horse’s nose.
Use the lighter to melt the ends of the rope. Melting the ends of the rope will keep the rope from unravelling later.
Making the rope halter
Start on one side of the rope and tie the right ear knot, right nose knot, the left nose knot and the throat latch knot. After these knots (all overhand knots) are done, then tie loop. Then, working from the other side of the knot, tie into the left nose knot, and then into the right nose knot. These knots will be double overhead knots. After the nose knots have been tied into, tie from the throat latch to the right ear knot. Then create a large loop for your horse’s head.
The measurements between the knots are typically between about seven inches and a foot. A quick search of the internet will tell you what the exact distance for these knots should be depending on the size of your horse.
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