Types of Rope for Rope Halters..

OK, so I did a little digging, and decided probably not a good idea to use this Blue Hawk stuff. The double braid polyester yacht chord that most people seem to use for this has a tensile strength of over 2,000 lbs. Much more handy if, for any reason, the horse were to set back against the halter. That's a pretty huge difference, so I decided to order some from ebay. This seller Rope, Double braid polyester rope items in Columbia Basin Knot Company LLC store on eBay! has a good selection. It's a bit more expensive than the rope I bought last night, but far less likely to break I think.

CA uses a double braid polyester rope from Samson. Another good marine double braid is New England Ropes. The problem with polypro ropes is they degrade when left out in the weather and get a rough, sharp feel. It's a light rope (designed to float) so it just doesn't have the right feel and handle to it. It's breaking strenght is relatively low.

I have bought good quality no name rope from Colombia Basin but NER is my favorite.

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I recently came across a rope that is similar in stiffness to the training halters sold by some companies, including Clinton Anderson. It is starter rope for small engines. I'm sure this stuff is also carried under different names by suppliers, but I haven't yet determined what they are.

Anyway, a #8 (9/32") diamond braid starter rope can be bought online for around $40 for 200'. You might be able to find it at a local hardware store or a small-engine mechanic shop. 200' would make about 8 or 9 halters, depending on the size. It is sufficiently stiff that it knots well, for the training knots on the nose band, and will stay tied. Being a starter rope, it has sufficient strength to handle a horse. The downside is that they either come in white or a red/black/white braid. Once I figure out just what kind of rope "starter rope" is, I hope to be able to find a supplier that has it in various colors and diameters.

Just FYI, I had a horse recently pull back and break a Clinton Anderson training halter, so I know they are not made of super strong material.