There are a kabillion different mechanical hackamores; you can get severe ones or gentle ones. Like with curb bits, the shorter the shank, the gentler it is, and the angle of the shank also makes a difference (curving back is less severe than straight up and down). Curb chains often make them much more severe, as well. Wide, flat, padded nose pieces are gentler than narrow, hard nosepieces (like rope or rawhide ala the bosal). Hackamores provide a buttload of stopping power but not much of a lateral (steering) signal. A hackamore with 8 inch shanks is going to translate 20 lbs of pressure into 160 lbs, so you can see how that could have a lot of potential for problems. I think there are some mechanical hackamores that constitute animal abuse, just like there are some severe bits that are cruel. There are some mechanical hackamores which are much more gentle.
For bitless bridles there are some very gentle ones these days. Some sidepulls are also gentle, though they won't give you much "stopping" power (they are better for steering). I've seen some harsher sidepulls (with narrow, hard nosebands, or that apply curb pressure), although they don't come close to severe hackamores. All of our program horses are in gentle sidepulls (made of all soft nylon) or reins on a halter (not much difference between the two); only experienced riders are allowed to ride with a bit. When we do bit the horses, it is with only gentle snaffles.
A horse is considered extremely young at 10 in the dressage world. Heh. When people refer to their 20 year old horse as "old", I have to stop for a minute. We just retired, last month, a 35 year old horse in our program. The poor used up race horses (I've known quite a few) make me so sad.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-05-04 04:56 pm (UTC)For bitless bridles there are some very gentle ones these days. Some sidepulls are also gentle, though they won't give you much "stopping" power (they are better for steering). I've seen some harsher sidepulls (with narrow, hard nosebands, or that apply curb pressure), although they don't come close to severe hackamores. All of our program horses are in gentle sidepulls (made of all soft nylon) or reins on a halter (not much difference between the two); only experienced riders are allowed to ride with a bit. When we do bit the horses, it is with only gentle snaffles.
A horse is considered extremely young at 10 in the dressage world. Heh. When people refer to their 20 year old horse as "old", I have to stop for a minute. We just retired, last month, a 35 year old horse in our program. The poor used up race horses (I've known quite a few) make me so sad.