“Are the hackamores with a real soft type flex or can I order maybe a more medium flex ?
I have two hackamores right now . One is pretty firm that I use to start a pushy colt or maybe retrain some older horses that don’t have much feel . The other is very very soft I can use as well.The next hackamores I would really prefer something in the middle maybe? I want to order three or four hackamores. I’d like to have the mecates of course as well to match the sizes .”
Cary ~ via email
Cary,
Thank you for your interest in our traditional gear. I enjoy sharing my experiences and my products. It is an interesting journey and can develop a lot of feel in the person and the horse. Although it is not for everyone, there’s obviously a lot of people getting pleasure from learning to ride with it.
Ray Hunt had a saying:“If we all wanted the same thing we would all want to marry the same person, that isn’t going to happen”
It may not be accurate for me to try to guess what your idea of softer and firmer is in relation to my idea, or to custom make one that’s not what you expected.What I would suggest is you start with my rawhide 5/8, which I consider a good “middle of the road” and is my best seller. From there, for softer you can go all roo 5/8”, or 1/2“ rawhide, and to all roo 1/2”. For firmer, 3/4” all roo, to 3/4” all rawhide.Basically larger diameter and rawhide gives you firmer. Smaller diameter and roo hide gives you softer. Larger is more weight, smaller is less weight, which translates to louder or quieter signals as well.
Personally, the way I present the feel of a Hackamore to different horses is my hands can be quieter to the more responsive horse, and louder to the less responsive horse. And I can dial it up or down accordingly to the response of the horse immediately.Now saying that if I find the majority of the time I’m being louder with the softer Hackamore I’ll go ahead and go to a firmer one and my hands can be quieter. And likewise if the horse is too intimidated from a firmer Hackamore I’ll drop down to a lighter softer one.
I suggest the 3/8” rawhide for the two rein. Again for a softer horse you could go all roo and or go to a 5/16”. Personally I’ll adjust my hands, but I’ll sell you all the gear you like.
I hope this helps you, good luck.
Martin Black
