Hackamore
[4] From the Americanized pronunciation of jaquima, the spelling "hackamore" entered the written English language by 1850,[5] not long after the Mexican–American War.
The Persians beginning with the reign of Darius, c. 500 BC, were one of the first cultures known to have used a thick-plaited noseband to help the horse look and move in the same direction.
[7] This device, called a hakma, also added a third rein at the nose, and was an innovation that allowed a rider to achieve collection by helping the horse flex at the poll joint.
The techniques of horse-training refined by the Persians later influenced the works on horsemanship written by the Greek military commander Xenophon.
[16] English journalist and artist, William Redmond Ryan (1823 - 1855), described the Californio method for taming horses using a jáquima, which he calls “hackamore”, while living in California in the 1840s.
"[20] In his book Vocabulario de Mexicanismos (1899), Mexican historian and philologist Joaquín García Icazbalceta defined the bozal or bozalillo (known as a "bosalita" in the USA) as: "Bozalillo: It is not a diminutive of Bozal, but a kind of fine jáquima made of twisted horsehair that is placed under the bridle of the horses; and from the part that surrounds the mouth hangs the falsarrienda [false reins].
The traditional jaquima hackamore is made up of a headstall, bosal and mecate tied into looped reins and a lead rope.
"[24] Today, hackamores can be made of leather, rawhide, rope, cable or various plastics, sometimes in conjunction with metal parts.
The main types are the classic bosal and the more modern sidepull, though other designs based on nose pressure loosely fall into this category.
These include the "cross-under" bitless bridle, which uses strap tension to control the horse, and the mechanical "hackamore", which has leverage shanks.
[16] It consists of a fairly stiff rawhide noseband with reins attached to a large knot or "button" (Sp.
In the Texas tradition, where the bosal sets low on the horse's face, and on very inexperienced ("green") horses in both the California (vaquero) and Texas traditions, a specialized rope throatlatch called a fiador /ˈfiːədɔːr/ is added, running over the poll to the bosal, attached to the hackamore by a browband.
[25] The fiador keeps a heavy bosal properly balanced on the horse's head without rubbing or putting excess pressure on the nose.
The bosal acts as a signal device providing a pre-signal to the horse by the lifting of the heel knot off the chin when the rider picks up on a rein.
Pulling back on both reins with steady pressure teaches a horse to brace and resist, which is the opposite of the hackamore's intention.
Hackamores are used in the classic Vaquero tradition to teach young horses softness, and to give readily to pressure while leaving the mouth untouched for the spade bit later on in training.
The primary advantage of a sidepull over the bosal is that it gives stronger direct lateral commands and is a bit easier for an unsophisticated rider to use.
If made of soft materials, a sidepull may also be useful for beginners so that they do not injure their horse's mouth as they learn the rein aids.
[27] Mechanical hackamores lack the sophistication of bits or a bosal, cannot turn a horse easily, and primarily are used for their considerable stopping power.
A closely fitted rope halter with knots on the nose, a bosal-like button at the jaw and two reins attached may act in a manner similar to a sidepull or mild bosal.
