Hunter Tack: Cavesson Noseband

The cavesson noseband is the only noseband that you are allowed to use in the hunter ring. Since there is no option regarding its use, it might not seem very important. How you adjust the noseband can, however, change the look of your horse's head.

Adjusting the cavesson so that it sits too low will make your horse's head look longer than it really is. The longer the head, the coarser the horse will generally look.

My rule of thumb is to adjust the cavesson noseband so that it's about two fingers width below the jaw bone. Depending on the horse's conformation, it might need to go up or down a hole from there to make it look just right.

This photo is an excellent example of a cavesson that is set too low on the horse's head. The long, empty distance between this horse's eye and the noseband makes the head look even longer than it really is. There is room for it to go up at least a couple of holes before it reaches the ideal position.















You can compare the above photo to these next photos which have correctly adjusted cavesson nosebands, sitting right below the jaw bone:

Both heads look in proportion and complement the overall picture of the horse rather than detract from it.