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.