CA rope halters

Yeah, Clinton Anderson halters may well be exceptional quality, the point I want to make however is that these kinds of things are SO EASY TO MAKE YOURSELF WITH A BIT OF PRACTICEE that to charge that kind of money for them makes it criminal. You know, I had heard of Clinton Anderson here an there but never seen any of his stuff till this after noon, and yeah, it was pretty standard, worth the hype? Probably not any more than Pat Parelli or Ray Hunt or any of the others? They all essentially sell exactly the same stuff, just packaged a bit different (having said that I'm glad they are willing to sell it as I, as well as who know how many others have benefited from it, so Im not meaning to criticise theme here for that). But he seemed to genuinely be a decent sort of a guy, as far as I could tell from watching an hour 45 of YouTube video. But that (his decent guynes) goes out the window as far as I'm concerned as soon as anyone throws 70+ dollar price tag an a $%^& rope halter.

Flytobecat, I have, in two threads dedicated to rope halters, so far been willing to give away how to make them for nothing. I emailed the instructions to a few people, but haven’t heard how they went making them so fay, and I have a suspicion that one of the attachments to tie an essential knot may not be working. But I have been thinking about it ant thinking that I might try to draw some more detailed instructions on exactly how to tie them. I have drawn instructions, but then I already know how to tie them so my instructions may take some prior knowledge for granted without me realising it, so in the last couple of days I have been thinking I should sit down for a day or two with windows paint and try to make some really simple to follow instructions for them. And now I think of it a friend I got right into horse riding is a computer graphics designer and makes computerised advertisements for TV for a living, maybe he can help me make some really good instructions. Anyway what I'd say to you is I reckon that if you can get your head around 2d we can probably draw up instructions on how to make the halters, I just find it phenomenally FU&%ING appalling how much some of these people are charging for something that its, after a bit of practice, so extraordinary simple to make it make me want to vomit, If I can tee it all up and get some good graphics made with my friend Ill make a thread dedicated to it so anyone who wants to make a rope halter can make one.

Andrew, I have found that the stretchy ones have to be retied a few times even if the horse pull just a little. I have one that will now fit a larger head that originally. My doublediamond that was privately made was $22, it's maintained it's size and remains soft. No metal clips. The pole ropes were neatly woven together at the ends. Very nice work. That and a stout 12' rope with a $5 clip cost me $50 including mail. If I can locate the right rope I shall PM you for the instructions.

What are the stretchy ones? The one I have had for the last 18 years is nylon starter cord and the only stretch it had was the knots tightening up when it was brand new, it hasn’t changed size since then. I have seen them made of light yacht line, like the stuff my lead rope is made of, it has a bit of stretch, but I wouldn’t recommend that for the halter, and actually saw one wear out in a matter of weeks one when a friend had one.
I think one of the problems with many of them is that when people make them they make them to fit the horse and leave it at that. Whenever I have made them, and how I recommend people fit them to the horse is to: make it too tight for the horse, once it is too tight, and it has to be pretty tight, when you take it off the horse and pull all the knots tight it will gain quite a bit of size. So if they are made to fit before they are really put under a bit of pressure they are going to be too big and sloppy once they get pulled around and the knots tighten down.

I'll add that my two economy tractor supply halters are 10yrs old and still going strong. They are the stiffer type, 2 nose knots. I use them as spares in my saddle or around the barn cause I know they won't get filched, lol. I also have a lead with popper and halter set by Silver Tip--like the Double Diamond brand--10yyrs old also and still great, though the lead is cheaper grade and is getting fuzzy. The stiffer ones also keep their shape better and easier to get on for that reason. I have an ebay parelli knock off that's really flimsy, and when your horse tries to be extra helpful and stick his nose in before your ready you can get all tangled up, lol. Yeah, these things have been around a long time and Parelli even mentions he used to be required make tons of them in his FFA group in high school. I think he might have sold them even then for fundraising.

I think it's great that you've made insrux available AnrewPL. I've always wanted to make my own to pass along, but since I'm knot challenged I put it on the back burner. I'm going to make it one of my goals.

Andrew, I wish I could help you out. I went to school for illustration and graphics, but didn't end up working in that field. I haven't done anything at a professional level in years.
I'll have to check out your post and look at the instructions. We used to make rope halters all the time as kids, but for the life of me I can't remember how to do it.
Try making a video and posting it. I always find it's easier learn if you can watch someone.

I didn’t start the posts, I just offered to give people the instructions of how to make them. I tried at first to email them as attachments in this forum’s email service but it seems we can’t do it; or I couldn’t figure out how to do it. After that I tried to make an album on my page with the instructions there as photos, but for some reason they wouldn’t upload so all I have been doing now is email them as attachments via hotmail. Years ago I was taught to make them and my friend who drew really good instructions and detailed descriptions for me but they are packed away in storage with most of my stuff and would take a year to find. I did, however manage to find a good diagram of how to tie the hackamore/fiadore knot on the internet and drew my own rather dodgy picture of the rest of the halter. They are what I have been sending people. A video for YT would be awesome, as all the videos saying that they are about tying the hackamore/fiadore knot that I have seen are actually descriptions of what I have always been told is a bottle knot, the one you use to attach the fiadore to the bosal just over the heel.

As someone already posted the Half circle ranch link I'll post it too. I HIGHLY recommend this halter. It has great stiffness and you can customize it. It is exactly like CA's halters only made by someone different. I just got one for the gelding I am training. It works wonders. I intend to by there cross under bitless bridle for my Arab mare too when I get the money. You wont find this good of quality for any price less then these are priced.


Extra Stiff Rope Halter

I promised a couple of people Id make them a halter so I have to make some soon anyway I think I’ll just video it and or photograph each step and add that to the instructions I already have.

If you got a "stretchy" rope halter it is probably because of the type of rope used. You basically have 2 types. Dynamic rope and Static rope. Dynamic rope is stretchy and primarialy used for rope rescue, mountain climbing type applications. It is stretchy to prevent it from snapping if a fall occures. However over time it stretches naturally just from wieght being on it. That's why it is taken out of service after some time. Static rope doesn't have this stretch to it. This is what a halter should be made out of.