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A hackamore is a type of animal headgear which does not have a bit. Instead, it has a special type of noseband that works on pressure points on the face, nose, and chin. It is most commonly associated with certain styles of riding horses. Hackamores are most often seen in western riding and other styles of riding derived from Spanish traditions, and are occasionally seen in some English riding disciplines such as show jumping and the stadium phase of eventing. Various hackamore designs are also popular for endurance riding. While usually used to start young horses, they are often seen on mature horses with dental issues that make bit use painful, and on horses with mouth or tongue injuries that would be aggravated by a bit. Some riders also like to use them in the winter to avoid putting a frozen metal bit into a horse's mouth. There are many styles, but the classic hackamore is a design featuring a ''bosal'' noseband, and sometimes itself called a "bosal" or a "bosal hackamore." It has a long rope rein called a mecate and may also add a type of stabilizing throatlatch called a fiador, which is held to the hackamore by a browband. Other designs with heavy nosebands are also called hackamores, though some bitless designs with lighter weight nosebands that work off tension rather than weight are also called bitless bridles. A noseband with shanks and a curb chain to add leverage is called a mechanical hackamore, but is not considered a true hackamore. A simple leather noseband, or cavesson, is not a hackamore; rather a noseband is generally used in conjunction with a bit and bridle. Like a bit, a hackamore can be gentle or harsh, depending on the hands of the rider. It is a myth that a bit is cruel and a hackamore is gentler. The horse's face is very soft and sensitive with many nerve endings. Misuse of a hackamore can not only cause pain and swelling on the nose and jaw, but improper fitting combined with rough use can cause damage to the cartilage on the horse's nose, or even break the fine bones that protect the nasal passages. ==Origins== The word "hackamore" is derived from the Spanish word ''jáquima,'' meaning headstall or halter, itself derived from Old Spanish ''xaquima''.〔Oxford English Dictionary, ''()'' OED online edition, accessed Feb. 20, 2008〕 The Spanish had obtained the term from the Arabic ''šakīma'', (bit), from ''šakama'' (to bridle).〔"hackamore." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 24 Feb. 2008. Dictionary.com The first hackamore was probably a piece of rope placed around the nose or head of a horse not long after domestication, perhaps as early as 4,000 B.C.〔R.M. MIller, p. 222〕 Early devices for controlling the horse may have been adapted from equipment used to control camels.〔Bennett, pages 54-55〕 Over time, more sophisticated means of using nose pressure were developed. 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.〔 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 third rein later moved from the top of the noseband to under the chin,〔Bennett, page 60〕 where it is still part of the modern ''mecate'' rein used on the ''bosal''-style hackamore. The techniques of horse-training refined by the Persians later influenced the works on horsemanship written by the Greek military commander Xenophon.〔Bennett, page 57〕 This heavy noseband itself came to be known by many names, retaining the name ''hakma'' in Persio-Arabic tongues, but becoming the ''cavesson'' in French, and the ''bosal'' in Spanish.〔 Another modern descendant is the modern longeing cavesson which includes a heavy noseband with a rein at the nose, but it is used for longeing, not for riding. The tradition of hackamore use in the United States came from the Spanish Californians, who were well respected for their horse-handling abilities.〔Connell, page 4〕 From this tradition, the American cowboy adopted the hackamore and two schools of use developed: The "buckaroo" or "California" tradition, most closely resembling that of the original ''vaqueros'', and the "Texas" tradition, which melded some Spanish technique with methods from the eastern states, creating a separate and unique style indigenous to the region.〔R.W. Miller, p. 103〕 Today, it is the best known of the assorted "bitless bridling" systems of controlling the horse.〔R.M. Miler, p. 225〕 The word "hackamore" has been defined many ways, both as a halter〔''see, e.g.'' Rollins, page 151: ''The antithesis of the severe bit was the "hackamore" (from Spanish "jáquima," a halter)."〕 and as a type of bitless bridle.〔''see, e.g.'' Brown, Mark Herbert and William Reid Felton. ''Before Barbed Wire'', 1956, p. 219: "A hackamore is the bitless bridle, so to speak, which is put on a wild horse as his first introduction to the bridle"〕 However, both terms are primarily descriptive. The traditional ''jaquima'' hackamore is made up of a headstall, bosal and ''mecate'' tied into looped reins and a lead rope.〔 It is neither precisely a halter nor simply a bridle without a bit. "Anyone who makes the statement that a hackamore is just another type of halter . . . is simply admitting that he knows nothing about this fine piece of equipment."〔Williamson, pp. 13–14〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hackamore」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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