[dakota's_sable]

Would someone give me more information on these? Are they the same thing or are there differences? Please explain. Thanks.

[Sue B]

No, not the same thing.....

Mechanical Hackamore: has a noseband, curb chain, and shanks of some sort. These apply pressure on the nose, under the jaw (chin), and on the poll by the action of the bridle attached to the hack. The nosebands can be made of a variety of things....and can be round or flat...harsh or gentle. The shanks can be a variety of lengths. In general, it works similar to a standard curb bit...but with mouth pressure replaced by nose pressure.

Bosal: Round, traditionally made of braided rawhide/leather....some of the newer ones are made of man-made materials and may be covered with leather or not. The bosal has a large knot at the bottom of the noseband to balance it and to afford a place to tie the mecate (reins)....they are both tied right above the knot and also used to adjust the size of the noseband. To keep the bosal properly balanced on the horse's head without rubbing or putting excess pressure on the nose, it is held on with a headstall with a specialized rope throatlatch called a fiador (although this aspect of the headstall has been eliminated in more recent years for pleasure showing). On the noseband, there are braided-in knots on the sides that apply pressure on the face/jaw bones. The bosal is designed to be used either with a sort of pulling around of the head or by neck reining. It comes in a variety of weights and thicknesses so that as the horse becomes more responsive, it can graduate up to a smaller and lighter bosal until it is ready to move into a very thin one that is used with a bit (generally a spade or half-breed). Once it carries and responds well to the bit, the bosal is removed.

So, basically, the mechanical hackamore is somewhere between a shank bit and a bosal....generally used on a trained horse in place of a shank bit (for neck reining only). The boasl is a training tool that should be used in a particular manner by a skilled trainer, selected for the level of trainning that the horse is in and used as a transition to a "power steering" bit.

Often, the mechanical hackamore is used on horses that either are lightly responsive (ride in a halter), fail to respond well to the bit (hard mouthed), or do not do well with a bit because of certain teeth/mouth issues. The boasl is generally considered a training device that will not be used once the horse is finished.