Shaping a Hackamore

.Before you can use a Hackamore you need to shape it to the conformation of your horses head. Each horse is an individual so there will be slight variations on how you should go about doing this, but the technique is the same regardless.

The Hackamore needs to be adjusted in two ways. It needs to be narrowed at the top around the horse’s nose, and it needs to be widened at the bottom below the horse’s chin.

The core of a Hackamore is made of braided or twisted rawhide. If subjected to long periods of time being held in a shape this material will retain that shape for a time. So the solution is to compress the nose area of the Hackamore around a sanded smooth rectangular wooden block (I find 2 x 4 inches works best), and enlarge the bottom of the Hackamore around a similar but round wooden block (buy an appropriately sized round fence post and saw out a section). You can see how this looks in the picture.

Normally you would squeeze and tie the Hackamore in place with strips of leather. However strips of appropriate Latigo leather can be a little difficult to come across in the UK, so I sometimes use very soft nylon or cotton rope to do this (as seen in the picture). It is important that the material you use is not abrasive or damaging in any way to the rawhide.

The horse I am using this Hackamore on has quite a narrow face - normally I would have the bottom of the Hackamore pushed open more widely.

You would leave a Hackamore like this for 24+ hours before using it on a horse - and you may find that it requires further adjustment when trying it on for the first time. After use you would again place the Hackamore around a shaping block in order to maintain the desired shape.

If left without being shaped a Hackamore will return to a semblance of its original shape. The older and longer a Hackamore has been shaped for, the more likely it will retain its modified shape without need for constant reshaping.

Often it is better to hang the Hackamore upside down in the tack room using a bridle rack where the round block at the bottom would be.