Do Your Horses Wear Halters During Turnout?
Friday June 20, 2008
While your horse is turned out, do you leave a halter on? There are pros and cons to having halters on horses during turnout. Contribute to this poll and click 'comments' below to leave your thoughts on whether horses should wear halters during turnout.
Poll: Do Your Horses Wear Halters During Turnout?
Comments
I had a neighbor that lost his good horse because it had a halter on and the halter caught on a tree branch and horse broke it’s neck.
horses are smart but can get lost!
if they get lost they can be dead or stuck
Halters should never be left on your horse if they are turned out to pasture, if you leave a halter on a horse at all times it will start to rub the hair away under the halter and leave soars. Horses can also get the halter caught on fences, branches, etc. I have also seen halters that had to be cut out of a young horses face, for it had been to small and the flesh had grown around the halter. Never leave halters on horses out to pasture.
Leather halters are ok to be left on. they are made to break when the horse pulls. Some nylon halters are being made to break now, with leather parts and weaker hardwear. Sometimes you have to leave a halter on, if you live to close to a road or soemthing like that a horse that is lose and can not be caught can be deadly. make sure if you do chose to leave halters on it can break if needed
my horse never wears a halter or head collar when she is out because she is easy to catch (she’ll do anything for a treat), my sons pony on the otherhand is turned out in a muzzle as he is overweight, it is the breakaway type so should it get caught it breaks easy, in the winter he is turned out without anything too.
It is never a good Idea top leave any type of Halter on a turned out horse. The excuse I hear most is that leaving the halter on “makes him easier to catch”. That is the easy way out. If your Horse runs from you, you have a Relationship problem with the Horse, and you need to work on it instead of shortcutting the problem with a halter. Leaving that Halter on is a dangerous practice. I never leave them on, as the risk to the horse is too great.
I agree with most comments above. It is never worth the convenience of the horse already having the halter on to leave it out to pasture like that. Apart from a grazing muzzle or fly mask if absolutely necessary, horses should be able to be free when out to graze. Halters of any type, even breakaways, aren’t a good idea because it just invites a nasty situation that could have easily been avoided.
an unattended pastured/stalled horse should never have a halter left on. too many opportunities for harm. problem “catchers” need to be better trained rather than the shortcut of leaving a halter on. even when watched, a haltered horse can become entangled, injured or killed. not to mention the potential for severe injury or even death to the owner trying to free the horse.
Use a break-away halter if you absolutely have to put a halter on. Expect some rubbing and facial hair loss.
Absolutely no halters. I did leave on a pony for awhile. He has moon blindness and was frightened when we first got him. It took a few weeks to train him to stand for me in the pasture. In some places I’ve heard of ‘rustlers’ who removed haltered horses from a pasture. My experience is that horses that get loose, usually try to get back to their herd. I have taken horses donated to our therapeutic riding center that had worn halters and been left in pastures for a long time. How sad for the horses! I believe horses should be kept as naturally as possible when they are turned out. Fly masks with velcro fasterners are easily removed by horses with out unjury; not so with halters.
No way should halters be left on in a paddock. it can be dangerous if they get stuck and very sad for the owner.
i think that horses should never be left with a halter on it’s cruel and i’ve knon people that have lost there horse because of it! so if you own a horse and you read this please don’t leave halters on your horse.
My horse is often hard to catch after being turned out; a full time, daily thing. However, we’ve made a game out of the chase and eventual “capture”. Plus, I can certainly use the workout as well! Besides, there’s no hurry. Some folks see him wearing a halter as an advantage. However, I think it’s a very dangerous practice and can render much harm to the horse, including death. I do not recommend any sort of halter unless your horse is being led from Point A to Point B.
It really depends on how hard your horse is to catch. I’ve stopped using halters out in the pasture a long time ago. The horses like to play, and rub so we always have to search our large pasture looking for it the next day.
I think that it is usually unnecessary to leave a halter on during turnout. However some boarding and lesson barns do require halters to be left on. I happen to belong to one of these barns and keep a halter on my horse 99% of the time. I haven’t really ever had a problem with rubbing and sores (except with a halter that didn’t fit). I also never had a problem with my horse getting caught on anything. As long as you have proper fencing and your horse behaves himself turning a horse out in a break away or leather halter shouldn’t be a problem, esepecially if your horse is hard to catch. I however think that if you can, a halter should be left off as much a possible.
I think it depends on circumstance. A horse loose on the road certainly is in more danger than a horse (with a breakaway halter), and I’ve seen alot more loose, frightened horses than I have ever seen problems with haltered horses. Basic good grooming will prevent hair loss problems. Common sense. If you horse is at risk for getting loose, halter him, and put your name and number on the halter.
Horses should never, ever be turned out with a halter. One of my horses died at the local equine hospital last night. She got her halter caught on the hay ring, flipped the hay ring over on her neck and pinned her herself to the ground, still attached to the hay ring. Then, still trying to loose herself, she got one of her rear feet caught in the twisted halter. She had been thrashing for several hours when we found her. To risk this tragic result just for convenience in catching a horse is unwarranted. There are to many things that a halter can get caught on to risk it.
I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this Hilda. Losing a friend like this is so heart rending. We try so hard to take good care of our equine friends and even our best intentions sometimes lead to tragic consequences. While I’m sure you are feeling like a piece of your heart is cored out right now, take some comfort in that your horse is beyond pain, and that you did what you could and what you knew how, and that’s all of us can ever do.