Special way to tie a rope into a halter???

[Jack]

Hello Folks,

My neighbor keeps bugging me to ask the cav.guys if anyone has hear about teaching new recruits a way to tie the rope into a halter and the horse is supposed to be confined in such a way that it'll follow the recruit. This is not a rope halter where you need to sit down and place knots in the right place. This is supposed to be able to be done, pretty quick.

This is not a joke, although I said I thought it was, but he was dead straight about it not being a joke and was cussing trying to find out in his head where he had heard it

Boy I could use a whole mess of that rope if some one knows this proceedure .
Thanks,

Jack Mc Coy

[Hank Trent]

Re: Special way to tie a rope into a halter???

You're talking about something to train/break a horse, right, not just a handy makeshift halter out of rope? Sounds like a "war bridle." Goes back at least to The Standard Horse Book, Dennis Magner, 1887, and no doubt older, since the author says it took him fifteen years "to catch the full points of its value." Don't know about military use.

From that book: "I will take up, next, a means of management so simple, yet so practical and valuable in its effects, that it is in some respects indispensable, because it gives us in certain ways a degree of control not attainable by any other means. Certainly, for so simple a means, when skillfully used, it has a wonderful effect. It would not seem possible, until witnessed, that an ordinary unbroken colt or stubborn horse, entirely unbroken to lead, could be taught in a few minutes to follow around anywhere, without the least restraint, even watching a man, turning and following him in any manner, like a dog"

The description is quite lengthy, but a google search for "war bridle" will bring up some references that hopefully describe it in more detail--haven't look at them all. It's basically a rope around the neck high up, with a loop through the mouth, so pulling on the end tightens the rope in the mouth against the neck loop, if that makes any sense. You can also put the rope over the upper gum, or an extra loop under the chin.

In my experience it's a lot like a twitch. The horse really pays attention, but isn't one bit happy about it. I've only used it for confining a horse for medical treatment and emergencies like that. I'd class it in the Rarey Horse-Taming school of treatments--dramatic shortcuts that work when you absolutely need them to, at least most of the time, but not a substitute for actual training.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Outrider]

Re: Special way to tie a rope into a halter???

Be extremely careful if you plan on attempting to use a "warbridle" on any horse.

In most cases it is not neccesary to accomplish what you are aiming at and in inexperienced hands it can be quite painful for the horse. I have seen horses made very headshy with these types of rigs. If you don't know what you are doing it can turn really ugly really quick.
In my opinion if the horse is gentle enough for you to rig a "warbridle" on him in the first place then you don't need it anyway.

I have used it at times with unruly horses needing treatment of some kind but only as a last resort.

be extremely cautious about any shortcuts to good training .

[Jack]

Re: Special way to tie a rope into a halter???

Dear Patrick and Hank,

I thought he might be refering to a War Bridle, but he was so set on using the Civil War reference ( that was why he asked me) that I dismissed it from my mind. The fellow who told him about it may have confused CW with Indian Wars. ????

No, I wouldn't do that to my horses. 7 years ago I was new to horses. I had just spent more than I wanted to on a champion team of sleigh horses. They were not saddle broke. I had a neighbor fellow who knew all about training horses. You know the kind??? Nothing is his fault.( Did not know this at the time)

He took two matched half sisters and made them run and run, until I kicked him off my place. I never sold those two and keep them around because they are only "worth" meat prices.They have been tramitized beyond repair. They hate me and I don't blame them one bit. They keep me from thinking I am the begin all and end all. If I have to go out and shingle 90 degree roofs, they'll be fed before I'll let them be touched by another snake oil salesman.

No I won't be using a War bridle unless it's on that fellow!

Thanks for your quick responses.

Jack Mc Coy

[Hank Trent]

Re: Special way to tie a rope into a halter???

I thought he might be refering to a War Bridle, but he was so set on using the Civil War reference ( that was why he asked me) that I dismissed it from my mind.

Actually, I think the war bridle would be old enough. Found this on Google Books after I posted yesterday, discussing "horse taming" methods and how they're not as original as the users claim, from p. 109 Among Men and Horses By M. Horace Hayes, 1894:

'It [the war bridle] is mentioned in The Veterinarian of London in 1828 as used by the North American Indians in subduing their horses; hence it is known as the Indian war bridle.'

So if that's correct and it was across the Atlantic by 1828, it surely was known by some cavalrymen in the 1860s.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Bob 125th NYSVI]

Re: Special way to tie a rope into a halter???

As a teamster and horse breeder I'd smack anybody who used a halter on any of my horses that confined the way the animal moved as described in a "war bridle".

You don't 'break' a horse you train them and if you work with their nature it is easy to get them to trust you and follow you.

I had a riding horse who all I had to do was get off his back and walk in front of him and he'd follow me for miles with out me ever touching the bridle.

Tell your friend to forget it and do it the right way.

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Special way to tie a rope into a halter???

I must second the advice to avoid anything like this. I don't own horses, but have known more than a few of them, and any horse with a decent education and trust of people will follow you around until it gets annoying.

Once upon a time, I do recall a Girl Scout method of tying a halter, but it really was a halter, not a combination stranglehold and mouth buster. It involved making two loops and a slipknot, and the exact details are too fuzzy forty years after the fact, not to mention that the method may not be old enough for the era.

Kindness goes a very long way when you deal with horses. (Or dogs. Or people, most of the time.)