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A poorly fitted halter will not only irritate your horse but you as well because your horse won’t be responding correctly. Learn how to measure a horse for a halter and get the size right by following these guidelines.
How to Measure a Horse for a Halter
It is important that you learn how to measure a horse halter properly. This will make training and leading your horse easier and safer for both of you.
Whether you are new to handling horses or have been doing it for many years, it is important that you know how to measure your horse’s halter. A halter is necessary for leading your horse when you are not riding and plays an important role when you are.
A halter is made of leather or rope and fits over the horse’s head and face. When determining how to measure it, it is important to know that it is basically a framework with two connected ovals. One oval fits around the muzzle and the other around the neck and behind the ears. A lead is attached to the bottom of the oval under the neck.
Horse training halters are utilized to get a horse used to wear a halter. These halters are generally made of nylon rope, as it is sturdy, lightweight, soft and smooth. The knots in a rope halter also serve as pressure points for training.
Before learning how to measure the halter you may want to learn how to tie a rope halter. Knowing how to tie a rope halter can be an extremely useful skill when working with horses. It is something that takes patience and a good working knowledge of several types of knots.
7 Steps on How to Measure a Horse for a Halter
Here are instructions on measuring a horse halter. All you really need is a tailor’s measuring tape, a piece of paper and a pencil for writing down the measurements:
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Step 1: Horse’s Nose
Measure the circumference of the horse’s nose, just below the bottom part of the jaw/cheekbone.
Step 2: Over the Poll
Measure over the poll: that is, from the point below the jaw where you measured around the nose, up and over the head, behind the ears and down to the opposite side cheekbone.
Step 3: Cheeks
Measure the cheek. Start again at the same point as for the first two measurements, and determine the distance from there to just in front of the jaw joint, almost directly in line with the ear.
Step 4: Jaw and Throat
Measure the jaw and throat length. Begin where you left off measuring the cheek, just in front of the jaw joint. Measure from that point, straight down to the bottom of the cheek and just in front of the neck.
Step 5: Under the Throat
Measure the area under the throat. Start again where you left off measuring the jaw and throat. Determine the length from there to just in front of the cheek.
Step 6: Side of the Face
Measure the side of the horse’s face. Measure from the bottom of the cheek up to just below the jaw/cheekbone. You should now be back where you started. If you had placed dots on the side of your horse’s face you would now have a somewhat lop-sided rectangle.
Step 7: Nose Band
Measure the nose band. Take this measurement from where you ended above, over the top of the horse’s nose to the same position on the other side.
Getting the right measurements for rope or leather horse halters will assure that any halter you buy will be a proper fit for your horse. Knowing how to measure a horse for a halter is a useful talent for those who work around horses.
