Breaking strength of rope

[milkmaid]

How strong does a rope need to be to hold a horse that's pulling back? I need to replace a halter made from glow-in-the-dark rope that came apart when my folks tied the wrong horse up with it. Looking online, the typical glow in the dark rope is 1/4" and 350lbs breaking strength (pathetic). I found some that will hold 2300lbs at 1/4" or 3400lbs at 5/16". I could get larger diameter too, ie 1/2" holds 8500lbs, but I'd like to keep it within "halter" constraints and not "harness" style. Certainly not planning to tie the Problem Child with this halter but I'd still like something that *would* hold if the Well Behaved Colt had a meltdown. Have a friend that can make the halter, I just need to know what to purchase.

(And no, I still can't see the point of having a halter that glows in the dark; I never leave halters on my horses -- but I think the folks want it for the "cool" factor.)

Thanks-

 

[Jogeephus]

Most of the webbing used on halters has a strength of around 4000 lbs and will hold more than the brass hardware that's on the halter. I think a lot of the brass will bust at 4-500lbs. If you are looking for some really strong rope that doesn't have much weight you might want to consider some 12 strand kevlar rope. The 1/8" rope only weighs a little better than a half pound for a 100 feet and its strength is 1500 lbs. Its a little different to work with but it won't bust or sever.

Here's a link if you are interested.

http://www.pelicanrope.com/kevlar12strandrope.html

 

[cow pollinater]

I like the one inch cotton ropes with a steel snap. Not only do the hold well but you can still get them undone after the blow-up and if they do it while you're holding the rope it doesn't burn that bad.

 

[cross_7]

first i'd like to say i don't have any idea on the strength you may need or know dilddy squat about halters with that being said.
seems like 1/4" would be too small and would/could cut into a horse that panicked.
i think most rope halters are made with 5/16" rope or it could be 3/8" not real sure but 3/8" would be stronger and i don't think it would be to big/bulky

 

[Bigfoot]

I'm not sure of thier breaking point, but when one of my calf ropes becomes useless for some reason, I uncoil the strands. I then braid three of the strands together. I then tie that in to a halter. Seems like it takes over 20 feet to make one. They are free and industructable. I plat the same material into a lead rope. I usually use 7 strands for that. Attach it with a pineapple knot, not a brass snap. I little trick for the one breaking halters. Put this halter on him. Put a cheap feed store halter over it. Tie the cheapie up about 6 inches shorter than this halter. When the cheapie breaks this one will catch him. Problem should be solved.

 

[milkmaid]

cross- the Buck Brannaman halters are 6mm which is pretty close to 1/4". That said, the original halter that I'm replacing had 1/4" rope and it looked much too light. It appears that not all 1/4" rope is created equal (ha, who knew?). I'd like it as thin as possible for training purposes but without sacrificing strength.

Here's the rope I was looking at earlier: http://www.glorope.com/shop/nylon-glo-rope If it were just a case of getting rope for a halter that'd be one thing, but no, this has to be glow-in-the-dark rope...

Jo, thanks for the link, I'll have to talk to the cowboy and see what he thinks of that rope. I sure don't know the first thing about making rope into halters but I'll buy whatever the cowboy is happy working with. LOL. Just need to know how strong it needs to be.

cp, yep I like those ropes too, bull snaps seem to hold best for me. My preference though is having the rope tied into the halter; I'd rather have the entire halter/lead as one piece.

bigfoot, I like both ideas. Will pass the calf rope idea on to the cowboy; he braids stockwhips on a regular basis and I'd bet turning a calf rope into a halter would be easy in comparison. I'll have to try the second halter idea on the Problem Child. Sent a few client horses home and I have time to spend on my personal horse again. Thanks.

 

[pdfangus]

for experienced halter busters......
I always liked to use a neck rope....
neck rope 5/8 polypropylene or nylon with a bull snap and two O rings....
o rings allow you to adjust the size.
you can put the neck rope on thru any halter and the stain goes to the neck rope.....
then to let them test it tie an auto tire inner tube to something that will not break and then tie the horse to the inner tube.
a horse that has learned how to bust stuff is hard to untrain form that.

 

[chippie]

Do not tie up a horse that will sit back with a rope halter. Use a nylon web one.

Years ago when they were first made, they were sold with a warning not to tie up with one. If a horse sits back hard in one, it can do some serve damage to it's poll due. Rope will cut in where as a leather or nylon halter won't. A horse can still mess up it's poll with a leather or nylon halter, but not as badly as a rope. I have seen the damage a rope halter can do.

For lead ropes, we use marine rope. This is a good resource for rope and hardware. My daughter makes halters, headstalls, leads and loping hackamores and she buys from this company.

http://www.cbknot.com/

We teach a horse to stand by tying it under a tree. I have a chain hanging from a stout branch with a swivel snap, and have a second short 12 inch chain that the horse is tied to. The short chain is so that I can adjust to the horse's height.

A person I know had a horse killed itself while tied on the hot walker. The walker wasn't running. The horse circled and circled and the rope twisted up so tightly, the horse ended up hanging itself. It didn't have a swivel snap.

ETA: if you use a larger size diameter rope, the knots will be enormous.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Jo, thanks for the link, I'll have to talk to the cowboy and see what he thinks of that rope. I sure don't know the first thing about making rope into halters but I'll buy whatever the cowboy is happy working with. LOL. Just need to know how strong it needs to be.

.

Kevlar is cut resistant material. When he starts to cut it, tell him it is not a dull knife that's tough stuff.

 

[milkmaid]

Good to know boogie. It's sounding like I need a rope that has a 3000-4000lb breaking strength? I know how much the average QH weighs, but I don't know how much force a horse can put into pulling back when tied correctly. Like I said, not planning to tie the Problem Child in the new halter, but would like something sturdy enough that if another horse has a meltdown in it, I won't have to replace the halter again...

 

[chippie]

Sorry, I missed the part where you said you weren't going to tie up with it.
My daughter uses this rope http://www.cbknot.com/24-carrier-halter-cord-41.html

She has yet to have one break. The rope wears like iron. When she makes lead ropes, she splices the end so that it has a loop and does not use a snap.

The halters are not hard to make. The tricky part is measuring where the knots go. Here are instructions if you want to try it.

http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/tiehalter.pdf

You can find videos on youtube also. My daughters would make tiny rope halters for their Breyer horses. : )