Extra long leading ropes

I personally don’t like most of the NH type ropes because they’re braided nylon, which will give you a rope burn fast if things get sticky and I find 14ft too long on the trail.

I have had 3m (10ft) long jumbo cotton ropes for about the last 20 years, they’re long enough for most stuff (regular lead ropes are 2m/6ft).

For long rides I don’t carry a lead rope (it’s just unnecessary weight to carry and every gram counts), I just have my reins fitted to scissor clips so I can use those, both my continental English ones and my western split ones.
 
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To be honest I've just joined two normal cotton lead ropes together. Get two that have the clips looped on, unloop the clip off one (keep the clip, they're handy), slightly untwist the non-clip end of the other rope and put the end where you took the clip off through then thread the rope back on itself and pull tight - you now have a double length rope :) You could just clip one rope onto the end of the other, but I prefer not to have a clip in the middle as it adds weight and there's always the chance of it catching a horse.
 
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Funny, I dont have a 10ft. None of mine are plastic. I went to a clinic once at which ropes were explained. Certainly no joining but we were invited to feel what the horse feels via various 6 ft ropes., And the difference between metal clips and tying on.

I have 6 ft twisted cotton, 12 and 14. The 12 with clip and 14 with no clip are what I call braided (dont know the technical word).

I used the 12 ft for grazing the old mare in hand. The 14ft is still white and pristine with no clip, a Branaman souvenir from a store in the USA, I would have used it when the yard switched to rope halters, but by then the mare was gone.
 
I personally don’t like most of the NH type ropes because they’re braided nylon, which will give you a rope burn fast if things get sticky and I find 14ft too long on the trail.

I have had 3m (10ft) long jumbo cotton ropes for about the last 20 years, they’re long enough for most stuff (regular lead ropes are 2m/6ft).

For long rides I don’t carry a lead rope (it’s just unnecessary weight to carry and every gram counts), I just have my reins fitted to scissor clips so I can use those, both my continental English ones and my western split ones.
I agree, I don't like nylon. All of mine are cotton, or something natural feeling and soft anyway.
 
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I dont know if I would get rope burn, I was taught only ever to lead wearing gloves. But I do like my ropes. One gets used to the things one uses. My hands are small and the finer (thinner) long rope I have suits me well.
At my current yard, they are off cotton anyway because ropes and head collars (leather) are left at the field all night and in all weathers.
 
I’ve had rope burns when the rope has gone right through the glove, it’s no guarantee.

Same here Jess, I ruined a pair of gloves with a heavy leather palm trying, and ultimately failing, to keep hold of Jim when he was a youngster.
 
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