Hackamore?

Question

What is your opinion on them?

Answer 1

I LIKE hackamores. I've used them on several of my own horses as well as those that I was training. BUT one MUST know how to use a hackamore PROPERLY (just like an in-mouth bit) for it to be effective and not just a torture device for the horse wearing it!!! I was lucky enough to be able to learn as a youngster.

I had a pony as a kid that we got when he was only a yearling that NEVER had a bit in his mouth! We used a wide leather noseband hackamore on him. After a couple of years I could ride him with nothing but my legs, seat and occasionally my hands as reins.

My first Arabian came to me as a nine year old, hard mouthed, ALMOST rogue. I fitted him with a simple mechanical hackamore and started re-inforcing him with the basics that he had forgotten as a 'lesson horse' at the college from which I bought him.

Putting him in a hackamore allowed me to ride him while giving his mouth a badly needed rest from bits. After about two years I gradually worked him up to a Tom Thumb snaffle and then a regular full cheek snaffle. He wound up to be so light in the mouth that I didn't HAVE to use a bit! I mostly rode him with the hackamore. I also got to the point with him that I could ride him with just the lead rope and his halter and then with NOTHING but my legs and seat only using my hands on his neck as reins if needed as a reminder.

He wound up being MY 'lesson horse' when I began giving riding lessons to the kids who lived in the same apt complex I did at the time. They ALL loved Gaarzon and being able to learn about horses!

Read about Hackamores here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackamore

http://www.horses-arizona.com/pages/articles/hackamoretraining.html

http://www.elvaquero.com/The%20Hackamore.htm

http://www.egyptian.net/~jruppert/Hackamore.html

http://shop.valleycountry.com.au/catalogue/category2/category159/category172/
The one with the gag-bit I would NEVER use!!!! I included this link only to illustrate the different types of mechanical hackamores.

http://www.horsefriendly.com/hackamore2.html

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/horse_training/98442

http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/1200hackamores.shtml

http://www.silcom.com/~imago/sbnp/ralls.html

http://members.aol.com/MFTHorses/Hackamor.htm

http://www.animalnetwork.com/horse/detail.aspx?aid=17722&sts=all

Want more info? Just do searches on "hackamore" (minus the " marks) in your search engine(s) and have a LOT of fun reading, LEARNING and maybe even beginning to USE the very useful tool we know as "The Hackamore".

Hope this helps. Good luck!!! :)

Answer 2

I prefer a Hackamore. If the horse you're using it on has any issues with bits, or you just got the horse and need to find the correct control of a bit, first see how much pressure you need to use on the hackamore to see how intense the bit should be. The less pull on the hackamore the less extreme the bit needs to be. It makes it an easy transition for you and the horse. And if you feel comfortable and in control with the hackamore then continue using it unless you are showing. As this is a way to give your horses mouth a rest when not showing. Good Luck

Answer 3

I like hackamores I have seen some good horses come out from being in a hackamore. Then again I have seen horse not go into hackamores and they still be good. I have a awsome horse worth some money that is a all around show horse that was never in a hackamore I also have one in one right now and I think they will both be great. You will have to try one out to see if you like it. Make sure it fits right because I know that they can easly pinch them or rub the hair off. Good Luck.

Answer 4

I love them! I wouldn't have a roping, trail or hunting horse that wasn't trained to a hack. There's a time and place for a curb or a snaffle bit but a hackamore and one other item (at the bottom of the page) is the only thing I train with. An old cowboy (and I mean old!) taught me how to break horses with a hack and then gave me his after I was worthy of having it. It seemed a hundred years old, he had braided nylon bailing twine into reins and The shanks were just the right lenghts to have full control. This is also the same trainer that taught me how to ask a horse to do what I asked of him or her. which was a whole different and better world than the man that trained me and horses for Walt Disney. The outcome was the same but asking a horse instead of making a horse left a calmer, less stressed horse that didn't start shaking when you walked into a round pen. Oh, the man that trained for Walt used a spaded roller bit and all kinds of tie downs. NOTE: If you like hackamores, try a bosail. your horse will love you for it. good luck :)

Answer 5

I used to ride my aunt's horse with a halter and two pieces of baling twine!!!

I have a hackamore although it is more just a headstall with reins than a hackamore that distributes any type of pressure.

Any type of tack can be good or bad depending on the individual at the end of the reins as well as the training level of the horse.

So, to answer your question, I have nothing against them.

Answer 6

I do not like the mechanical hackamore. It controls the horse with pain. The nautral hackamores are great.

Answer 7

i only use them on our younger horses but as control wise they can be as effective as a bit -example: at the gymkhanas that i go to there is a 10y/o barrel horse that they use a hackamore on and he is a 1D horse so if your horse listens well a hackamore sill work just fine

Answer 8

some people like them and some, of course, don't. I'd rather have the control of a bit bridle than using the pressure of a hackamore on the nose.......

Answer 9

I had a mare that was only used to wearing a bit. We were on a long trail ride, and my bridle broke, and it could not be fixed. I just used a halter and lead rope that a friend had extra, and my mare rode better than she would have otherwise. From that day on, I never put a bit in her mouth.

Answer 10

they are bad in my opion never use them they hurt the horse around the mouth. a one peice bit works just as well