Turning Horses Out in Halters & Other Rantings

Hey guys,

I absolutely HATE turning horses out in their halters, its just a disaster waiting to happen, especially in a not-so-ideal fence. Well, my mom's boyfriend just bought a "family" horse (Pretty Boy), and he INSISTS that we keep the horse in a halter. He says its so he can "control" the horse. I'm like uh, why do you need to control the horse while he's GRAZING?? Anyway, I just CAN'T convince him to let me leave the halter off. Its among one of the things I can't do that just frustrates me to no end.

When he leaves my house, I always go out and get the halter the heck off that horse! I also have to lunge/work with him when he's gone, or else he tries to take over and tell me what to do. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, but he does NOT know what he's doing. Heck, he didn't even know what lunging WAS a week ago, or HOW TO CLEAN OUT A HORSE'S HOOVES. He insists he's there when I ride the horse, and he has to be there when the horse is hauled anywhere. I've tried to educate the guy, but he's freaking impossible! He wants me to train the horse in WP & halter, but I can't do it if one day of his riding ruins my countless days of concentrated training.

Sorry for the rant... I may sound ignorant right now because I'm too mad to think logically, but thanks for reading anyway LOL
And if anyone has pictures of horses that have been injured/killed by being turned out in a halter, let me know. Though I doubt I can change his mind >_<

I have to agree, I'm not a fan of turning out in a halter although we do use a breakaway on our mare for turnout. She was an unplanned baby I say, so we threw up a temp fence and I don't trust it. Next week she moves to her real home and gets to run halter free.
Stupid halter has burned her beautiful bald face, marring the white with a mark.
We have nothing that she can catch her halter on, but if your pasture does I can promise that horsey would "lose" his halter and it would be found laying in the pasture. My land, my rules I say. The barn where we ride (Sarah takes lessons, I play around ) doesn't allow any horse turned out with a halter, and there are 22 horses there.
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I don't like keeping a halter on a horse I pasture. It can be an accident waiting to happen and if they fall off then you have a job of finding it in a big pasture. I don't understand either why people insist on keeping one on at all times.:roll:

Maybe a stories of the danger of leaving halters on horses in the pasture would help (although I know that there are many who think that won't happen to me). But here is one for you. My friend sent her horse to be pastured boarded while she was on vacation. This barn routinely put the horses out in pasture in halters (too much work to take them on and off). The horse must have been trying to scratch his face/halter and caught his hoof in the halter. It caused him to go down with his foot still caught and unfortunately no one noticed it until eve. They freed his hoof but he could not get back up. They quickly brought the vet and experts - worked out a body halter that lifted the horse - but nothing worked and this beautiful horse had to be put down. Costly and sad lesson to be learned - the barn now has a strict policy that no horse in halter can be left unattended.

^
I know I've heard SO many stories & warning about it, which is why I sneak out and take the halters off! Unfortunately some people are just so hard-headed!

I buy cheap nylon halters when I need to leave them on - work with a few rescues and you'll understand the necessity of having to leave a halter on for turnout at times. The cheap ones break so easily, you almost curse them because you're buying a new one every second week.

I, personally, do not share the halter/turnout sentiments. I have been in enough situations with escaped horses where the halter was our only saving grace at preventing disaster, that I have no issue if someone wants to leave a halter on their horse. Preferably something cheap and breakable, but that's their business.

I don't personally leave halters on my horses that I own now because I have no need to. But I don't frankly understand this huge psycho issue with leaving breakable halters on in CERTAIN situations.

Yeah, I leave them on if the horse is skittish, but a horse that has no problems being caught irks me.

^

My best friend used to leave halters on her entire herd, only because she had two pony filly's who were escape artists to the max - regardless of three strands of hot electric wire, plus a cable strung up, they'd still manage to not only escape, but take the fence down and the herd with them.

Now that they're sold, she no longer leaves halters on the mares as we have no escape issues, but that's the sort of situation I mean - when you're going after a herd that's headed for a highway, you don't have TIME to be rounding up enough halters and leads to go around.

It used to be a complete necessity to put a halter on oz when he was turned out. He's a disaster to catch WITH one on. One time he got turned out without one and we couldn't catch him for 4 days!! But if the horse dosnt need it I agree with you, and I always use breakaway halters
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I leave halters on when they are out grazing in the temporary fencing because jasper and Delilah are escape artists