S Hackamore

[DreamWeaver <karen@chaton.gardnerville.nv.us>]

>So let me rephrase my question....anyone use the 'S' hackamore? What 
>do you think of it?

Hi Liz:

I've been using the S hack on my horse Rocky.  Let's see...he's done 7 or 8
50's in it now I'd guess.  Before that, I rode him with a snaffle bit. 

The S hack has plenty of control, and it seems to make him want to put his
head down.  Whereas, when I tried riding this horse in a Vosal and he
wanted to go faster than I would allow, or go at all when I didn't - his
tendancy was to put his head up.  The S hack seems to (at least with Rocky)
have the opposite effect.  

I have had no problem whatsoever controlling Rocky's speed at the start of
a ride with the S hack, and believe me, he is a very strong horse and very
much wants to go.  I like using it because I don't have to pull, only
maintain minimal contact most of the time - just pull and release.  (I'm
not saying we are walking calmly, but for now I am happy to control his
speed....still working on controlling his gait 100% of the time) 

You have to be really careful of the wire on the bottom of it.  I've been
wrapping it with vetwrap. I also put a sheepskin band across the nose part,
otherwise it would rub all of the hair off of the top of his nose.  I have
seen horses noses' scarred and with permenant white hairs from this...so be
careful.  Make sure you get a nosepiece (if you get one) that doesn't stick
up a mile high and block the horses vision though.  

Same as with a vosal - when using the S hack you want to be riding a horse
that neck reins well.  You also lose some of the communication abilities
that you have when you ride with a bit, so you'll want to be on a horse
that is at a level that you feel comfortable with riding him in this type
of setup.  My ultimate goal is to ride this horse more often in a rope
halter - we've done a couple of rides this summer that way and everything
went extremely well.  Sometimes the ride you are doing makes all the
difference (how many horses, type of terrain, etc.).  

Oh...should mention---about the S hack.  It does have incredible stopping
power.  Don't know if I mentioned the time I pulled back on both reins at
the same time, the horse was wanting to go too fast at a trot on a paved
road - and guess what - he did a sliding stop - scared the heck out of both
of us (and everybody else for that matter).  Probably not the best place
<bg> to be trying that out....now I know - NEVER pull both reins back with
that hack on Rocky unless I want to sit down. hehe  

Happy Trails,

Karen
in Gardnerville
& Rocky 
& Weave