question about horse tack

[Alpo]

How secure is a bridle attached to the horse's head?

 

Say for instance the reins are hanging over his head on the ground, and they get snagged on something. Could the horse back up and pull his head out of the bridle?

 

On another thread I told a story about a horse that saved a kid who was hanging on the side of a mountain.

 

The story I told was the way It was written in the book.

 

But as I was writing it down I started to wonder if it would work. The horse hangs his head over the side of the cliff and the kid grabs hold of the reins, and the horse backs up and pulls the kid back to safety. But would that work or would pulling on the reins from the front like that pull the entire bridle off the horse's head?

[Texas Maverick]

If the bridle is put on correctly with the jaw strap it will stay put. The only way off is to break the leather strap. Some bridles don't have the jaw strap and in some cases could be worked off its head but it would take some work but it wouldn't hold a kid trying to pull himself up from the cliff. The reins are either attached to the bit via a metal clasp or it is attached via the leather end with some binding to tie it off. That is why most of us that ride have left on the halter with a lead rope still attached and tied to the saddle horn if we are riding in the wilderness and need to tie the horse up during our ride. If just riding in the arena or around the barn then the halter is usually taken off.

 

TM

[Alpo]

Lemme see if I'm understanding.

 

The reins are not attached, or they're very lightly attached, to the harness that goes over the head. They are attached to the bit, which is in the horse's mouth.

 

So if the 80 / 90 lb kid was hanging from the reins, and the horse opened his mouth, the reins and the bit and the kid would all fall down the mountain? The only thing supporting the kid would be the bit in the horse's mouth?

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

It depends on the bridle design.  Some do not have a headstall, so the horse could conceivably pull it off in the manner you described (although they would have to be rather lucky, it is plausible).  For the ones that do have a headstall, that thing ain't coming on unless it breaks.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

Well, in "True Lies" a horse pulled Schwarzenegger back onto the roof by the bridal. It must be true, we all SAW it!

[Texas Maverick]

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

Lemme see if I'm understanding.

 

The reins are not attached, or they're very lightly attached, to the harness that goes over the head. They are attached to the bit, which is in the horse's mouth.

 

So if the 80 / 90 lb kid was hanging from the reins, and the horse opened his mouth, the reins and the bit and the kid would all fall down the mountain? The only thing supporting the kid would be the bit in the horse's mouth?

Reins attach to the bit so if you are pulling on the reins you are pulling on the bit and that isn't a good thing.

 

 

TM

[Stump Water]

 

If the horse could spit the bit he would.  If the headstall was put on properly then the horse could pull still the kid up with the reins.

 

But... If the bridle is on right the horse shouldn't be able to spit the bit, so Lassie would have to pull with her teeth?

 

Kidding.  Fiction.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

3 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

It depends on the bridle design.  Some do not have a headstall, so the horse could conceivably pull it off in the manner you described (although they would have to be rather lucky, it is plausible).  For the ones that do have a headstall, that thing ain't coming on unless it breaks.

or until someone takes it off.  Otherwise there would be a lot of horse skulls with the whole rig still on.

[Alpo]

4 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

It depends on the bridle design.  Some do not have a headstall, so the horse could conceivably pull it off in the manner you described (although they would have to be rather lucky, it is plausible).  For the ones that do have a headstall, that thing ain't coming on unless it breaks.

I decided that, rather than ask (which seems to annoy people when I ask these questions) I would look it up and see what a headstall is.

 

I could not, however, find either an article explaining the term or an illustration with something pointing to it.

 

 

So what is a headstall?

[Alpo]

And now, after making that statement, I find this article. Which, if I am reading it correctly, says that every part of the bridal except the rains and the bit - everything else - make up the headstall. The crown, the cheek pieces, the throat latch - that's all part of the headstall.

 

https://horsecareadvisor.com/what-is-a-headstall-for-a-horse/

[Hashknife Cowboy]

Maybe, depends on the type of bridle.  In my  case, it goes over one ear and absolutely not.  If I'm out n the boonies I will carry the lead rope and rope halter on the saddle on a lash point and not on the horses head.  I keep the head as unencumbered as possible.  My reins are tied on with leather so they would break and I would fall off the cliff.....

 

 

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

9 hours ago, Alpo said:

I decided that, rather than ask (which seems to annoy people when I ask these questions) I would look it up and see what a headstall is.

 

I could not, however, find either an article explaining the term or an illustration with something pointing to it.

 

 

So what is a headstall?

On your chart, I'm referring to the browband.  

[Grass Range]

The throat latch is what holds the bridle on

[Wrangler Bob]

The throat latch would keep the headstall from coming off. If the reins were tied in a knot a some point, the reins would snag on the saddle horn. Using "loop reins"/roping reins, again would snag on saddle horn. split reins [one on each side of the bit and loose] would allow the reins to fall to the ground. When riding anywhere, doing any cattle work, I always carried a second lead rope and never tied a horse with the reins. There were times when I carried a halter in my saddle bags just in case I needed to remove the headstall.