Halter Fit

Halter Fit in Model Classes

By Josephine Cozean Styron

Can you imagine a beautiful contestant in the Miss USA contest coming onstage in an ill-fitting gown? Of course not! Every beauty pageant queen knows that the fit of her gown can either make her look stunningly beautiful, or it can detract from the beauty that is naturally there. The same is true of the halter on your horse’s head in a model class.

“The halter should be adjusted so that it fits the horse’s head neatly without any excess slack at the noseband or the throatlatch,” explains MTHBA clinician Julie Moore of Sound Gaited Horsemanship in Rogersville, Missouri. “If you place the halter too low, it will make the horse’s head look longer. Usually the best placement for the halter is about one half inch below the prominent bone on each side of the horse’s muzzle, which is about halfway up the muzzle,” says Moore. “Never place the noseband below the hard cartilage at the end of the muzzle just above the nostrils.”

“Try putting the halter in different positions, depending on the shape and length of your horse’s head, to see what best compliments your horse’s head shape and length,” advises Moore.
A nicely fitting show halter, along with beautiful ribbons that make your horse’s coat color stand out, can help give you a winning edge in a model class.

About Julie Moore
Julie Moore, of Rogersville, Missouri, is a well-known clinician in the United States and Europe. Moore, who was in the final top ten of the America’s Favorite Trail Horse televised competition in 2011, has develped a program called Sound Gaited Horsemanship.