I'm confused. My gelding has the weirdest head. The head stall is on the smallest hole but the throat latch is on the biggest it'll go and the browband is a tad small...
Anyway. This little S confuses the hell outta me sometimes the noseband will slip down but it hasn't done it since I've tightened the chain. But the S shanks sometimes touch the corners of his mouth and the wire that holds the shanks together just rests on his chin..which nerves me. I'm thinking about trying another hackamore that's similar but maybe I'm doing something wrong here? I know this pic sucks but will try getting more in the Am. Posted via Mobile Device
I don't know anything about hackamores, but for a normal bridle, I would have moved your noseband up a little, it's a little too far down
But again, no knowledge here.
I think it's sitting about right on the nose for a hackamore. The chin strap underneath looks a little tight. You should be able to get a finger through it easily. I also think the S part should sit a little lower (closer to the mouth). I'm not really a fan of this hack. The nose band is really narrow.
It's sitting where a hackamore should. That being said, I'm really not a fan of that hackamore... The noseband is narrow, the chain is tight, the link connecting the shanks is too close to his chin (and as you said touching his chin which is inhibiting the entire piece).
I would look into alternatives.
Do you direct rein or neck rein?
This is my favorite style of bitless bridle:
It's called an indian hackamore (ironically enough it's not made by Indians, and it's not a hackamore). It's a noseband that fits any headstall, get one firm and wider than your current noseband's. The reins criss-cross under the horse's chin, this gives you very clear left and right signals for direct reining and squeezes their nose when you pull back. It sits a bit higher than a hackamore, a bit lower than a halter. I like the ones with metal rings where the reins slide through so the release is immediate.
You could also look into Dr. Cook's or Nutural's, but both of those are also designed for direct reining. If you neck rein you could look into softer bosals or hackamore with a slightly better design than yours.
Dangit. I looked up reviews and they were all so good on this hack. I neckrein but the way it just fits is wonky. I usually use a sidepull or I saw reinsmen had a nice hack but was $80 =( Posted via Mobile Device
If you really like it and the horse likes it don't worry. I would see if you can loosen chin chain though. It really does look too tight. I don't like this because of the nose band. The narrower the nose band, the more pressure it applies. That may not be as much of an issue if you have light hands.
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