From what I can tell CA halters are just normal rope halters with extra knots on the nose....

 

Is the $70 with or without the lead? If it's for both maybe you could just get the halter and use a cheaper lead?

 

Looks like a rope halter with two or three knots on the noseband, to me. You should be able to find one at your local tack store or on eBay for much cheaper.

Gigem, you can't get just the halter. You HAVE to buy the halter and lead together.

 

cause ga ga eyed house wives line up to buy them at $70 a piece.

 

they are expensive because they are carrying the CA name! they in fact are no better than a $10 extra knotted rope halter you can find on ebay.. he claims that the "stiffness in his halter is what helps with training, mines more on the floppy side (when not on a horse ) and it works JUST FINE.

$70 is flipping rediculous for any halter! (show halters being the exception) and lead combo..craziness right there!

 

Saddles Tack Horse Supplies - ChickSaddlery.com Clinicians Knotted Training Halter with Lead

Here ya go, $15, plus shipping.

 

You can get a rope halter with two knots on the noseband and piece over the poll twisted for $5 from horse.com. I have a black one and like it a lot.

 

Thanks I'm ordering the one from chicks saddlery. It's too bad that CA and the NH have such overpriced equipment. It just seems like the old time snake oil peddlers.

 

You're paying for the name - nothing more. They are that expensive because enough people have drunk the kool-aid and are willing to pay that much. Only if/when people stop buying them at that cost would the price ever lower.

 

Also check out Half Circle Ranch. I have used them several times and been very impressed. FWIW...had horrible customer service experience at Chicks. I am not likely to go back.
Half Circle Ranch, For All of your Natural Horsemanship Needs

Cheers
Les

 

Or you can go to any hardware store and find some "1/4 inch double braid poly rope" in a color you like and follow this link to instructions on how to make your own.

Rope Halter with Fiador Knot

There are two different sets of instructions for two different ways to tie a rope halter. I like the first one.

It can be complicated and confusing the first time or two, but it's not too terribly difficult to figure out with a bit of practice...especially if you have ever done macrame.

Edit to add: Most of the 1/4" rope bundles are 100 feet and cost about $15. You only use about 20 feet of rope for each halter, so you can make 5 halters from one bundle. About $3 each!!

 

I have offered to email people instructions on how to tie them, the only difference would be to add the extra couple of knots. I would attach them in a PM on the forum but don’t know how, hence my offer to email the instructions as an attachment as an email. Yet, no one seems to have taken up the offer, maybe people think Ill email them something dodgy or something. Anyway I will, instead make an album on my profile page about how to make them. The pictures might be a bit small though. Anyone who spends more than 10 bucks for one of those halters is insane.

 

ok seems I cant upload pictures now

 

Anyway, the offer still stands, if anyone wants the instructions on how to tie the rope halters I have diagrams that describe exactly how to do it, and I can give you recommendations on the best types of rope I think to use. I have made plenty of them for people from rope as various as nylon to hemp and poly rope and they are all fine, depending on what you are doing with them. I have never made the CA version, but as far I can tell all it needs is a couple of extra knots tied over the nose band. I'm willing to just give the instructions away because they don't belong to Clinton Anderson or Pat Parelli or anyone else who appends their name to them, people have been using the things for probably centuries and for them to charge exorbitant fees for the things I think is a crime.

 

I'd love to get those instructions



Can you please the email those instructions to me? Please let me know if there is any problem emailing as I'm new to this forum.

Thank you so much in advance.

 

You are paying $70 for $3 dollars worth of rope, 30 minutes worth of knot tying( to get them looking good), and a name.
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I dislike CA rope halters.

The rope is stiff and abrasive. The mare I work with used to use that rope halter. Not any more now that it rubbed her skin raw on her nose as we did work. Never did it before till now.

 

Yes, the CA is stiffer and has more knots. I got my first rope halter at tractor supply, stiffer rope, less knots, worked fine. I have a parelli one which is softer, less knots and works fine too, but that's because my horse and I are more exp now. I suggest stiffer material to start with, and yes you can get nice ones on ebay. It will depend on your horse whether attached lead with no metal snap will be effective. I did fine without the extra metal, but the best lengths are 12 ft parelli, or 15, CA. 12ft is more manageable. Any shorter your horse will not have room to drift, and you will have less room to step away but still remain connected and in control if things get ugly.

No matter what kind you use, it won't not be effective unless you understand how and when to apply and release pressure--"it is the release that teaches"

Hope that helps and good luck.

 

A few years back I attended a clinic with a Parelli trained instructor and was amazed at how many halters, leads and sticks had sold by the time the clinic was over. The women were almost squabbling over who got what color. I made a rope halter and the process brought out the worst in me. There is a rope halter that has a plastic core which stiffens when temps get around freezing. Mine lasted about 6 years because the core was deteriorating and lost flexibility even when tossed in hot water. It became impossible to do up. It was a freebie so I got my money's worth.

 

Just thought of something. CA and PP halters are made of Double Diamond rope which is a high quality rope. The stuff isn't cheap. The cheaper halters are made of a similar looking rope but not the same. I've found the cheaper versions to be a bit stretchy if the handler pulls on the lead.

 

I guess I'm gonna disagree here. Our CA halters have lasted alot longer than the standard cheaper Mustang and Weaver halter and lead rope combos we've had. (3yrs on CA compared to 1yr for the others). The cheaper ones have either broken or dry rotted.
Also, I don't know what kind of rope it is, but it is really strong. We had a big paint that my sister was working on decide it didn't want to be tied to the trailer anymore. He tried to break free by sitting down on his back end and pulling. He bent the metal on the trailer (which is steel), but the rope didn't break. (FYI-paint is fine, hasn't tried that particular trick since then)
I'm not a name brand person, but it is a good quality product.

 

Double Diamond halters still only run about $25.

 

People can preach that the cheapies won't last, but I'll tell ya'll now that the $7 rope halter (nothing fancy) I got off of Chicks has made it through one bucking problem horse, and colt breaking of two other young horses who were NOT easy on their halters (you should see how many pieces Indie has torn her previous halters into! It amazes me).

I still use it, it's going on 6 years old and been through hell... I'd say it was well worth my $7 :lol:

We're not easy on our halters, but this one still looks near-new, I LOVE it.

 

The rope is stiffer then pretty much all the other rope halters out there. I have a couple of his halters and love them, the rest I got from Half Circle Ranch. They are the same thing but the guy there makes them and they are WAY WAY cheaper....like $20 vs $70+.

 

How do you think that people like CA get to afford their lovely lifestyles. They get money for endorsing products and make money out of things they sell under their name
Not bad if you can do it

 

I have to admit that I am finding this whole rope halter thread kind of bemusing. As if all rope halters aren’t the same, and as if there are “brand name ones” and non-genuine ones, and that there may or may not be some correlation between price and how long/well the halter lasts. If one is talking about the Pat Parelli or the Clinton Anderson version of these halters there is no difference essentially, there may be a knot or two in different places, and then there are the ones that people invent themselves with knots right round the nose band for whatever reason; but they are all essentially exactly the same thing. The knots are the same (thought I have seen a version that has some weird knots that suggests to me that the person making it didn’t know how to tie the proper knots), the fit on the horse/type of horse that gets to wear it should be the same, its only the material that the halter that is made of that differs. If you get the right materiel they are good to train a horse with and they will out last you and your grand children, I have made heaps of them for plenty of people, but mine that I actually bought off the guy who taught me to ride/train horses, (he is an awesome saddler too and when he gave me the halter he also taught me to make them myself, so he wasn't in it to get rich) but the point is I bought it off him 18 years ago and its still going strong to this day and it has seen some work, and I mean real work, not just trail riding or whatever but used for training horses and in day to day use when I was a ringer working on cattle stations around p-arts of Australia. Throw out this idea that if you buy the Clinton Anderson or the Pat Parelli version or a “cheap knock of” they will last any different. Make the thing yourself from the right stuff and it will be the last halter you ever spend a cent on, it all comes down to what you make them out of.