Re: cotton rope vs braided nylon (a word of caution)

[Jacqueline Mansfield <jaxson@leopard.com>]

At 11:44 AM 6/10/98 -0500, you wrote:
<snip>
> He was tied with cotton rope, he pulled back and the rope broke and he
fell backward and rolled over
>in a somersault.  He wasn't injured.  But I have not used cotton since.
It had rotted in the center where you
>couldn't tell.  When it came time to buy my own ropes, I got 5/8 inch
>braided nylon just like we had used on the sailboat.  
<snip>

	The only word of caution I would like to add here is that nylon can give
NASTY rope burns!

	I used to have a (round) nylon lead rope, until one day my horse pulled
back sharply while I was leading him and I received horrible rope burns -
now I use cotton leads (cotton can still give rope burns but it isn't as
slick as nylon so it doesn't slide and burn as bad). I used to use (flat)
nylon reins, until one day my horse spooked, I fell off, and in an attempt
to hold on to my horse I SLICED my hand open (I still have the scars to
prove it! = ) on the edge of the reins - now I only use leather reins. I
also saw a guy who was loading his horse into a trailer slice his hand down
to the muscle tissue from a nylon lounge line.

	These are just my experiences, other people may have stories just the
opposite. Nothing stings worse than bad rope burns. I now use gloves
everytime I use nylon leads or reins.

	Jacqueline Mansfield