Halters on or off at night(in the barn)

[Barbie]

Halters always off here unless I am tying them or leading them. I do always have their halter on their stall door. Too much danger in leaving them on when unattended.

Barbie

 

[Jill]

OFF always. The only exception here is when they're wearing halter buzzers (foaling) and in that case, they're wearing breakaway halters (that minis can really break) and are under our cameras.

 

[chandab]

Interesting. See this is the first go with having horses at home prior to this my mum had her QH boarded out so halters had to remain on, some even insisted on it in the barn. So we slightly altered it being the minis are at our home to halters only worn outside during turnout.
Clearly an issue we need to re-evaluate.

First of all, Welcome to the group.

Before I got into minis and had a place of my own; I boarded 1-3 saddle horses at various barns over the coarse of 13 years; every place required halters OFF when turned out or in stalls. Halters hung outside the stalls. And, I still don't leave halters on anyone; even the couple that can be difficult to catch go without, I just plan for more time to catch them when necessary.

 

[LittleRibbie]

Halters always off here too AND I make sure they are hung up high enough on doors or walls. When I had my 1st mini I hung his halter too low outside on his door. Luckily I was right there but he started to paw to get into his stall ( I was fixing his dinner ) next thing I knew his leg was through the halter and he was scrambling backward w/one leg hung up. Luckily the hook broke and all was well but it could have been bad.

 

[wingnut]

This is one of the first lessons I learned here! Our girls only have halters on when we need to do something with them.

 

[FoRebel]

Halters are always off unless they are being lead.

 

[BannerBrat]

[SIZE=12pt]You've gotten some good advice, as well as some scary stories about leaving halters on.

I don't usually leave halters on, the only time I leave them on is when I have a cooler on a horse, and then I end up doing barn chores while it's on. I just can't have peace of mind if there's a halter left on & no one's actually keeping an eye on them.[/SIZE]

Also, Welcome to the forum!

 

[Thinking small]

Interesting. See this is the first go with having horses at home prior to this my mum had her QH boarded out so halters had to remain on, some even insisted on it in the barn. So we slightly altered it being the minis are at our home to halters only worn outside during turnout.
Clearly an issue we need to re-evaluate.

First of all, Welcome to the group.

Before I got into minis and had a place of my own; I boarded 1-3 saddle horses at various barns over the coarse of 13 years; every place required halters OFF when turned out or in stalls. Halters hung outside the stalls. And, I still don't leave halters on anyone; even the couple that can be difficult to catch go without, I just plan for more time to catch them when necessary.

Thanks.

My mum boarded for over 25yrs but at all of them halters were worn while turned out, as she put it insurance was the main reason behind this mindset. Some again went so far as to require it for in the barn.

Of coarse this is a change with having the horses at home, so we're still getting our footings on how we want to handles things, hence the reason behind my asking what others did.

 

[Katiean]

Halters are always off here! I keep them in the hay barn because that is closest to the horses and I don't have to go looking. We have run in stalls so no one is ever in all the time. However, I have a mare due so I have to put the door back on the smaller stall. She will be in with the foal next month.

 

[barnbum]

Welcome to the forum, Thinking small. That's a cute forum name.

We keep halters off here too. They're hung outside each stall. I do train my horses to lead with a lead rope around their necks--which comes in very handy.

My horses know if a halter goes on they're getting trimmed or going for a walk.

 

[Jackie]

Don't post here much...but this leads to another possible danger...grazing muzzles. Unless they are break-away, they too can be dangerous. Someone suggest that use twine at the buckle instead of buckling to hold them, then they will break easily if caught.

Jackie & (the) mini-Cooper

 

[joyenes]

This is a huge pet peeve of mine . [SIZE=12pt]Always OFF.[/SIZE] Even hard to catch horse's, when we had them. Big or small horses, doesn't matter I have always left halters off.Only takes a few minutes more to put on halters to bring them in or let them out. I have had horses in my past get hung up in a halter and it's a scarey situation. If one accidently gets out and is free without a halter, just shake a grain can and mine come running to the barn.

 

[ruffian]

I'm going to be the odd one out here. I never leave halters on in the barn because that's where mine will lay down and I don't want a foot caught in a halter on on a bucket etc. However, I have an ideal pasture set up where there is no place that they can't be seen and, at least right now, nothing that they can get caught on (fence posts too high). I also have a situation where I don't have a big herd to watch. My horses are trained that they never get out of the stall without a halter so they are anxious to put it on. I seen too many in my lifetime loose because a fence gave way (big horses) or a gate left open etc. and unable to catch them because they're scared - that's when the accidents happened!

My horses always come running when shake the feed bucket. I make a big deal with new horses that when that bucket rattles, there's going to be feed or treats. Chances of catching a loose horse running free by the halter are remote. mine always come running when they hear that bucket rattle. Then I slip a lead strap over their neck and once I have them put the halter on. The lead strap is "sneaker" and they know they are caught once it's on. I've had horses act stupid when I try to put a halter on, so a lead strap is first with runaways!

 

[Connie P]

Welcome!

Halters off in or out here unless we are working with them.

 

[Minimor]

Chances of catching a loose horse running free by the halter are remote.

That's what I was thinking too. In my experience if I can't get close enough to a horse to put a halter on him, then chances are I am not going to get close enough to grab the halter on an already haltered horse. An oat bucket does work great for catching loose horses. Even if several horses get out together & some are hard to catch--there are always some that I can catch, and others that can be caught with oats. Any remaining loose in spite of the oat bucket can be herded into an area where they can be cornered/caught even thought they aren't wearing halters. If a horse gets out and gets spooked and runs--no one is going to get close enough to get hold of his halter.

There are so many things besides fence posts for a halter to hook on--tree branches, fence rails, pail hanger, pail handle, perhaps a loose wire on a wire or panel fence, something on a bale feeder (we once made an offer on a Morgan filly. People didn't want to sell her. Two weeks later she was dead, after catching her halter on something on the hay feeder and breaking her neck.) Halters can get hung up on the horse's own rear foot, or on another horse's foot--a couple of youngsters can get rough housing and it can happen that one will slip a front foot into the other one's halter. Or a foal can get his foot hung up in his mother's halter.

 

[friesepferd]

I have verious thoughts on this. Halters can be very dangerous to get hung up on things.

But I agree, there is also the problem if needing them in an emergency. The barn is on fire and you need to get them out right away and they are freaking out so hard to get one on them, there is something going on outside that is freaking them out and you need to bring them in, etc. I know a decent amount of people who will keep breakaway halters (that actually work) on their horses. I say that actually work because they trim them down even more and they have broken plenty of times. But when it comes down to it, if you are going to have a halter on your horse that breaks away easily enough for a stuck foot-in-halter to break it, then its not much of a halter for leading a scared horse. The last thing you want is to be leading your afraid horse, them to resist some, and the halter to break and them run away.

For these reasons I have two possible suggestions.

For horses that really are hard to get a hand on when they are afraid, I would put a breakaway halter on, or even better, a break away collar. They make horse collars (just a loop around the neck), or you can easily make your own that breaks away VERY easily. This can help you get a quick hand on your horse for long enough to put a real halter on them, or to throw the lead line around the neck/nose if your are really in a hurry. For hard to catch horses I think this is the best solution.

If your horse isnt that hard to get close to even when its afraid, then leave the halters off and learn how to properly use a lead line as a halter. In order for this to work your horse needs to be properly trained, so that it has absolutely NO fear of a rope being tossed around its face. If you are going up to your panicing horse, you NEED to be able to toss the lead around its neck to catch them without them ducking away.

Not being able to catch a panicing horse is just as dangerous as having a halter on. I have seen many horses injured this way as well.

Having that said, leaving a halter on a horse is a big no no. at a minimum have a break away halter, but i would highly suggest having either nothing or a very break away-able collar that you dont use for leading.

just my $0.02

 

[wildoak]

We never leave halters on except for foaling mares - with a break away halter and under camera. I've seen the results of halter accidents, one a QH filly who was permanently crippled because she caught her halter on something in the pasture and tore her shoulder up, and the other a yearling colt who was left haltered in his stall for 5-10 minutes, hung it on something and broke his neck. Too many horror stories for me to take that chance. I have a few mares in the pasture who are hard to catch sometimes, but if I had to evacuate the herd they would likely follow the others (the ones I can catch

)

Jan

 

[Sandee]

Chances of catching a loose horse running free by the halter are remote.

This goes back to training, I guess, because my horses can act like idiots without a halter even in the stall. My gelding and mare want to play a game of keep away. I've actually ended up on the floor trying to get an arm around my old gelding in the stall (I had mane he pulled me right off my feet). So I don't enter the stall - they have to come to the gate and slip the halter on to get out. The minute the halter goes on they know they need to listen. I can't really explain why this is except that I know my QH was this way also which leads me to think it must be something in my attitude that trains them this way.

I've also seen big horses escape from pastures and without halters they would be impossible to handle. I worked at camp and have seen horses run over guide wires from telephone poles and rip themselves up. Aslo seen them run into roads and down roads. As I said my pasture is clear and flat and I just personally feel I want those halters on in the pasture.

 

[Minimor]

Perhaps it's a matter of training....don't know, but I do know I've had big horses all my life and never had one that was "impossible" to catch if it was out in the open & didn't have a halter on. Ours were always out on pasture without halters, and it was always easy to walk out & halter them...or lead them in by the mane...or with a rope around the neck, whichever way I wanted to do it. Our horses don't often get out, but from time to time it happens, and they are never impossible to catch.

So, big horses, small horses, ponies or whatever...I feel no need to have halters on anyone unless I'm actually working with the horse.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Oooh, sorry sorry sorry, so busy being freaked by the halter issue I forget or say welcome, and that really is a clever name, too!!!

Let me just make one small point.

There is NO such thing as a safe pasture.

There is NO such thing as "there is nowhere for him/her to get caught on".

There is NO way you could reach a horse that had caught it's halter and panicked, in time to prevent it breaking it's neck, all you could do is stand and watch it happen.

I have lost two horses this way now. One the mare I talked about and tragically, three months later, a foal that came in on a visiting mare with orders for the halter to stay on. I begged to be allowed to remove it. I should have removed it anyway and be hanged, but I did not.

Next morning the foal was hanging, suspended, form a nail that just was not there, on a plain boarded barn side.

She must have worked the nail out, you know how foals are (this was an Arab not a tiny) then still playing caught her halter on it.

I shan't go into detail but hers was not a quick, broken neck death.

This was a completely safe pen, built with mares and foals in mind, plenty of room and no sharp edges.

It was "safe".

But the foal still died.

Never, ever again, not for me. The second time nearly gave me a complete mental breakdown, as both cases were undeniably ,my responsibility,MY fault.

You can make a really easy "breakaway" halter by turning the buckle at the head back on itself and duct taping it flat, then use a single piece of duct tape to attach the ring to strap. If you think duct tape too robust (some is very strong, I know) put a piece of string through the eyehole on the strap and attach that to the ring.

It is throwaway as well as break away, the only draw back is that you have to redo it every time you take the halter off and put it back on, but it will work for halter alarms, and does!!!