how to make a rope halter

Easy steps to create your own knotted rope halter for your horse.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal library

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How to Make aROPE HALTER


R By Tonya Ratliff-Garrison

TieOneOn

ROPE HALTERS ARE A TIME-HONORED TRADITION FOR MANY HORSEMEN. PRACTICAL AND INEX-pensive, rope halters are perfect for throwing in the truck for emergencies or keeping undera bridle while on a trail ride. Best of all, though, is that the halters are easy to make.Robyn Doloughan and Alex Devilbiss of Columbia Basin Knot Co. offered these tips on

how to make your own knotted rope halter.

Knotted rope halters aresimple to make and prac-tical to use on any horse.

L A R R I J O S T A R K E Y


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7To Start1. When tying halters for the firsttime, use 22 to 25 feet of rope. Onceyou become proficient, you can makea halter with about 20 feet of rope.Take your piece of rope and fold it inhalf. At the center point, tie a simpleoverhand knot. Snug the knot up.Then to the left of the knot, tieanother simple overhand knot. Nowyou have two simple overhand knots.The knots should be 11 inches fromthe middle of one knot to the middleof the other knot. Adjust the knotsuntil they are 11 inches apart, andtighten them up. Then take the ropeand fold it with the two overhandknots together.

Fiador Knot2. Now tie the fiador knot. A largeoverhand knot can be substituted forthis knot. See the box on page 86 tolearn how to substitute the fiadorknot. For the fiador knot, take theright side of the rope and loop overboth strands.

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3. Take the same strand and cross itup and over, creating a second loopopposite of the first.

8. Working with the same piece of rope,loop it around, take the end and go over,under and under the two sections thatcross and then split the bottom two —over the first one and under the secondone — and finally under the last piece.Hold the knot to anchor it while you pullthe rope through.

9. Then take the end of the same strandand go through the center under thetwo pieces of rope at the top of theloop. Pull it to tighten it, but not tootight just yet.

10. & 11. Then take the top strands ofrope and put them together. Take theoutside bottom loops and fold themtogether. Pull up on the top strands anddown on the bottom loops. Gently adjustit. At this point, the loops on the bottomwill probably not be even. That is OK.Continue to pull up on the strands totighten them. The two overhand knotsalso might be uneven to the fiador knot.What you will do is measure from thecenter of the fiador knot and the over-hand knot. You want your measurementto be about 7 inches from the middle ofone to the middle of the other. To get theloops to the correct length, push downon a piece of the rope to figure outwhere it is coming from. Then take theextra rope from the loop and pull it up.Adjust the knot. Measure again to makesure the overhand knots are 7 inchesfrom the fiador knot. Now adjust theloops to be about 2 1/2 inches long.Push one of the pieces of rope into thefiador knot to figure out which it goes tothen adjust the loop knot by pulling theloop rope back through. Then take theother loop, push it back into the fiadorknot to see which it goes to and adjustthe loop. Pull the access rope throughthe fiador knot and to the end of therope. Pull and tighten the fiador knot.

4. Anchor the rope with a finger, takethe same strand of rope, and makeanother loop over the first loop andthen under the first loop. Pull therope all the way through andstraighten out what you have justdone. Now you are done with thatpiece of rope on the right-hand side.

5. & 6. Moving to the left-handside, anchor your knot and take theleft strand of rope and put it overthe left loop and then pull it all theway through the loop. Straightenout the loop.

7. Working still with the left piece ofrope, take the end and put it underthe right loop and the second rightloop (three strands) and then pull itover the fourth strand of the loop.

12. Remember, the distance betweenthe overhand knot and the fiador knotis about 7 inches. The loop knot is 2 1/2inches long. Position the halter with theoverhand knots on top and the fiadorknot on the bottom with the strands ofrope stretched out to the right.


ALTERNATE KNOT1. Those who do notwish to attempt thefiador knot use the bigoverhand knot instead.Fold the rope uptogether, and then takethe pieces togetherand cross them over.

2. Pull the loop downand through. This is liketying your shoe.

3. Then pull the knottight. This is a quickreplacement for thefiador knot.

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Throat-LatchKnot13. You will now put in a doubleoverhand knot. Take the piece ofrope that is furthest from youand tie a simple overhand knot.Tighten it.

14. Then take the other piece of ropeand put the end through the center ofthe overhand knot.

17. It should be 6 1/2 to 7 inchesbetween the fiador knot to thedouble overhand knot. To loosenthe knot, push the knot from bothsides. Then move the knot up ordown the length of the rope untilit is the right distance from thefiador knot.

Tie Loop18. Now work with the piece of ropethat is closest to you. Take the ropeand tie a simple overhand knot.Between these two knots the measure-ment should be about 9 1/2 inches to10 inches in length. Now you will tie aloop knot. Take the end of the piece ofrope you are working with and put itthrough the center of your overhandknot. You will do a double overhandknot but you will leave a loop on theend. Pull the rope through until there isa loop that measures about two inches.

19. - 20. - 21. Take the same strand ofrope, go up and over the overhand knot,bring it under the knot and then takethe end of the rope and put it throughthe center of the loop and through theknot. Tighten the knot by pulling on theloop and the end.

22. Check the measurements again. Itshould be 9 1/2 to 10 inches from themiddle of one knot to the other.

1515. & 16. Go up and over and backunder the piece of rope you areworking with, pull the rope out tothe end and then through the loopright through the center of theknot. Pull the strands to tightenthe knot.

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1. Take the soldering ironor rope cutting gun, putbetween the two sectionsof rope and melt themtogether. Do this in a well-ventilated place.

3. Than take a secondpiece of cord, place oneside of it on the other sideof the two pieces.

4. Wrap the other end ofthe cord around the end ofyour halter with five or sixloops.

5. & 6. Take the cord and put it through the first loop youcreated. Then pull the end and the extra cord out.

7. Cut the cord and burn theend. Make sure you are in awell-ventilated area whenburning the rope.

2. Take a small piece ofparachute-type cord andmake a loop at the end ofthe rope.

CUTTING AND WHIPPING

34. On the poll strap, measure bothstrands to 27 inches. Cut any excessoff with a soldering iron or rope cut-ting gun. Do this in a well-ventilatedplace. Now you have completed yourfirst horse rope halter. Remember, thefirst time you attempt to make a hal-ter, you may spend a few hours tyingand untying the knots and studyingthe instructions.Don’t get discouragedif you make mistakes or have to startover from the beginning. Eventually,each rope halter you make will be alittle bit easier until you’re able towhip one out in about 10 minutes.

32. & 33. Take the piece of rope thatyou just put through the center of theoverhand knot and go up and over andthen go underneath through the loopyou just created and through the cen-ter of the simple overhand knot. Thenpull the end and tighten the knot bypulling on the strands that lead intoand out of the knot. Check your meas-urements again. Make any adjust-ments necessary.

31. Now take the other piece of ropethat was left to the side. Take it up andthrough the center of your overhandknot. The cheek piece will measure 11inches while the lower throat latchpiece should measure between 9 1/2 to10 inches, the same length as the other.

24. & 25. Cross the rope over and go under the cheek piece. Take the end and gothrough the loop and through the middle of the knot. Pull it and tighten the knot,sliding up and down in order to tighten it. Recheck your measurements. To adjust,loosen the knot and pull it tight.

Nose Band27. Now work on the nose band. Take thepiece of rope and put the end through thecenter of the other simple overhand knot,making another double overhand knot.

26. To straighten the halter, pull up on thenoseband section and down on the fiadorknot, making sure the knots are even.

28. Pull the rope through the center andgo over the top. Take the piece of ropeand go under and pull it through all ofthe access.

29. Then take the end, go through theloop you just created and through thecenter of your first simple overhand knot.Tighten the knot. Pull on the fiador knotand up on the nose band piece and makesure the knots are even.

Right CheekPiece30. Now you will work on the othercheek piece. It should also be about 11inches in length. Take the strand of ropeyou have been working with and tie asimple overhand knot.

Left CheekPiece23. Now you will work on the cheekpiece, which should measure 11 inchesfrom the loop knot to the nose-band knot.Take the nose band knot that is closestto you and loosen it. Take the piece ofrope and slide it through the middle ofthe knot. Here you will be making anotherdouble overhand knot. Take the time toadjust the halter as you go along.


how to make a rope halter

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