How to Halter Break a Mustang Horse

When mustangs are rounded up and auctioned off to new homes by the Bureau of Land Management, these horses are completely wild. In order to even start working with your mustang, you are going to have to teach it how to accept having a halter put on its head. Without the ability to halter your horse, you will not be able to lead, handle or even think about riding it safely. Halter breaking is the first step in training your new mustang.

Things You'll Need

  • Breakaway halter
  • Round pen or pasture
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Instructions

    • 1

      Get to know your mustang. Before you even think about trying to get a halter on your new mustang's head, you need to figure out its basic personality. Go into a round pen or pasture with your mustang and let it approach you. Pet it and allow it to sniff you and generally familiarize yourself with the horse and allow the horse to get used to you. Do not try to halter the mustang until it is relaxed in your presence.

    • 2

      Handle your mustang's head. Rub your hands over its nose, mouth, poll, throat and ears. Desensitize the mustang to having its head handled and touched until you can handle the horse's head without a negative or skittish reaction.

    • 3

      Introduce the halter to your mustang. Allow your mustang to sniff and investigate the halter so it can see the halter is not dangerous or even alive in any way. Rub the halter against your mustang's head and neck until the horse is familiar enough with being touched by the halter to relax.

    • 4

      Slide the nose band of the halter over your mustang's nose and see how it reacts. If the mustang does not balk, go ahead and ease the halter onto the horse's head and fasten it. This may be a slow process if the mustang is skittish, but you should always wait until the mustang allows itself to be haltered rather than trying to force the halter onto your mustang's head.

    • 5

      Replace and remove the halter regularly. In order to truly halter break your mustang, the horse has reach a point where it is comfortable having its halter put on and removed, which will require regular repetition of the process.