Halters and Fitting them

As you may have gathered I believe firmly in rope halters. My goats are comfortable in them and yet will also respect them easily. However they won't work if they don't fit. Too large and they might slip down and end up in the goat's mouth. Too small and they are painful.

The image on the right illustrates the basic placement for a halter. The top image, all in blue, depicts a well fitting halter. Maybe a bit loose but not much (and it's the computer's fault not mine). The second head has a side piece that is too long and results in a nose piece that sits too low on the cartilage of the nose and may inhibit breathing. The third photo also has a long cheek piece which in this case results in the strap behind the ear slipping back. If this strap were to slip too far it would hold the head in a very uncomfortable position. Even with a well fitting halter this piece can occasionally slip down so be sure when playing with your goat that you are aware of your equipment and what it is doing and how it is working at all times.

On one of my goat groups someone recently asked about fitting halters to Boers with extreme roman noses.  To the left is a photo, if not of a Boer, of a roman nose. There seems to me to be no way you could get a halter made for dish nosed goats to fit a roman nose. Firstly the nose band needs to be significantly larger than for, say, a Saanen of the same size. Then also the distance from the behind- the-ear band to the nose band on both the side (A) and below (B) would, I imagine, be significantly shorter. I might also, now I am looking at this image more, more the connection of "A" to the nose band up a bit (not so much as to interfere with the eye but a little bit more to hold the nose band more securely.) Please note that I've never tried making a halter for a roman nosed goat so all this is just an educated guess... if you have a roman nosed goat you want a halter for I'd love to either make a halter for you or give you any guidance you wanted to to modify the instructions for a normal halter for a Boer.

Another thing I started thinking about when I was looking at photos of roman nosed boers online is that the bucks often have serious dew laps! I wonder how one could accommodate these in making a halter!?
Any thoughts?

Also in working on my website, Margaret Shackles, a friend/mentor of mine suggested I add a book section under resources. This is, of course, an excellent idea but I need your help to come up with useful, informative, even just amusing goat books you have and love! You can just send me the names or, even better, add a little review with information on why this book is useful.

Thanks,
M.