Rope Halters

[The Egyptian Homeguard]

Re: Rope Halters

My grandpa was born in 1904, and he used to make all my neck ropes. He'd plait them out of bailing-twine, the longest was about 8 ft. I wish I still had some of these...Z

[Doughboy]

Re: Rope Halters

William
Can you contact me offline?
Your mailbox is full
Thanks
Christopher Wilson

[cgoser]

Re: Rope Halters

I am neither a calvaryman nor an equestrian, but when I was in boyscouts as a youngster and working on splices and knots, my father showed me some beautiful halters that my grandfather and great grandfather had made as old Missouri German farmers. There was a trick when trading horses... show up to buy an animal and then explain that you didn't bring anything to lead the horse home. The new purchaser would sheepishly ask to borrow a halter to take the horse....which would then never be returned. My dad said that Grandpa would always upon one of these requests ask the buyer if they had time for a cup of coffee and while sitting and talking would take a length of hemp rope and would splice a halter. There was no hardware ever used. The connections were always dead splices and he'd loop splice ends to make running bites. The purchaser would then get the value added service of receiving a halter and Grandpa was out the cost of scrap rope, but not leather. I remember seeing one of these and wondered how anyone could make something so nice in 10 minutes. He learned it from his father and so one. You can quickly see where that goes. The only material being hemp rope (which they had) and know how of knots and splices (been around for centuries) and you could quickly see where farmers and working class could work something like this up quickly and cheaply.

My two cents with no historical reference but anecdotes handed down through the family. Would like to go through the barns and see if i could find some of those halters.

Clay Goser

[rbruno]

Re: Rope Halters

Thanks Clay,
It would be great if one of those halters was still in the family stuff somewhere.

[TexCavly]

Re: Rope Halters

I hope no one has already addressed this but would cotton rope be a suitable material for a rope halter? Is cotton rope even period?