Every horse has a halter. Halters are used to lead and tie up an animal, in which case I’m talking about a horse. There are many different kinds of halters and halters made from different materials. Halters can be made from nylon, rope, leather, rawhide, polyester and cotton. Leather and rawhide can be flat or rolled. Halters are sewn together to buckles or rings. The buckles and rings can be made from different metals too. Halters come in different sizes including weanling, yearling, cob, pony, small horse, arabian, average, large horse and draft horse.
One common halter design is made of either flat nylon webbing or flat leather. It has a noseband that passes around the muzzle with one ring under the jaw, usually used to attach a lead rope, and two rings on either side of the head. The noseband is usually adjusted to lie about halfway between the end of the cheekbones and the corners of the mouth, crossing over the strong, bony part of the face. The noseband connects to a cheekpiece on either side that go up next to the cheekbone to meet with a ring on either side that usually is placed just above the level of the eye. These rings meet the throatlatch and the crownpiece. The crownpiece is a long strap on the right-hand side of the halter that goes up behind the ears, over the poll and is buckled to a shorter strap coming up from the left. The throatlatch goes under the throat and sometimes has a snap or clip that allows the halter to be removed in a manner similar to the bridle. Many halters have another short strap connecting the noseband and the throatlatch.
Leather
Leather is a very durable material. It also lasts a long time. Leather halters are more expensive than other types of halters. Leather halters are not washable in the washing machine, which is a drawback to them. You have to hand wash them with leather cleaner and conditioner. They are not waterproof either. Leather breakaway halters are common. The overall halter is made of thick leather and the crownpiece is made of a thinner halter. If you horse is tied up and pulls back hard enough, the thin piece of leather will break preventing a serious accident from occurring.
Nylon
A lot of halters are made from nylon. Nylon is cheaper than leather and its fairly durable. Nylon halters are machine washable. The drawbacks to a nylon halter are it snags easily. Velcro will snag a nylon halter making it look like its in poor condition. The sun bleaches colored nylon halters easily. If you buy a red halter and leave it in the sun long enough, it will start to fade. The holes to adjust the crownpiece might start to tear, as the halter gets older. Nylon also gets dirty easily. Don’t buy a bright green or a neon pink nylon halter and expect it to stay that color.
Rope/Poly
Most rope halters are normally one long continuous piece of rope. They are similar to nylon. They are machine washable, but they do get dirty easier than leather halters. Knots instead of buckles and rings connect rope halters. Since there are no buckles on the side of the halter, it makes cross tying a lot harder.
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Nice article, just a few comments to add:
Rope halters are the most useful for training. Since the halter is very lightweight compared to a nylon or leather halter the horse gets a more obvious release of pressure when he is doing the right thing, and since the rope is thin and not wide like the noseband on a nylon or leather halter, when he is not reponding to the pressure it has more "bite", discouraging him from leaning on it.
Leather halters with silver on them are what you usually need if you are exhibiting a horse in most stock-type halter or showmanship classes.
Breakaway halters can also be made of nylon and have a thin leather strap attached to the crown piece that will break under excessive pressure. These are great for tying and as mentioned already by the author can help you avoid a serious accident. Remember that everything you do with a horse requires preparation and training, including tying a horse up or crosstying. Horses with a history of setting back can injure themselves terribly in a few seconds.
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Every horse has a halter. Halters are used to lead and tie up an animal, in which case I’m talking about a horse. There are many different kinds of halters and halters made from different materials. Halters can be made from nylon, rope, leather, rawhide, polyester and cotton. Leather and rawhide can be flat or rolled. Halters are sewn together to buckles or rings. The buckles and rings can be made from different metals too. Halters come in different sizes including weanling, yearling, cob, pony, small horse, arabian, average, large horse and draft horse. 
Leather
Nylon
Rope/Poly
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