FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved halter primarily for use on horses. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many horse owners put halters on horses when they are at pasture or in corrals so that when they are caught for riding or other purposes it is a simple matter to attach a lead rope to the halter and to lead the horse to the place where it is to be saddled or put to some other use.

Past experience has shown that horses with bridles sometimes catch portions of the bridles on fence posts or other anchored structures and in an attempt to pull free often injure themselves.

It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved halter construction which, when a horse or like animal wearing the halter becomes entangled by the halter with some anchored object, the horse can create sufficient force to break the halter to thereby free itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a halter for horses and like animals, said halter comprising:

(a) a neck piece with an upper portion and a lower portion;

(b) a nose piece with an upper portion and a lower portion;

(c) a pair of face straps connecting the nose piece to the neck piece; and

(d) a jaw strap connecting the lower portion of the nose piece to the lower portion of the neck piece;

wherein the neck piece and the nose piece each comprises one or more straps, and wherein the neck piece strap(s), the nose piece strap(s), the face straps and the jaw strap are all made of silicone rubber having a Shore A hardness in the range of 50-80. According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the neck piece strap(s), the nose piece strap(s), the face straps and the jaw strap are all made of silicone rubber having a Shore A hardness in the range of 55-75 or in the range of 60-70. It is preferred that the upper portion of the neck piece comprises one strap or two straps, and that the lower portion of the neck piece comprises one strap. It is preferred that the upper portion of nose piece comprises one strap, and that the lower portion of the nose piece comprises one or two straps. According to an embodiment of the invention, the upper and lower portions of the neck piece are joined together by a pair of neck piece rings, the upper and lower portions of the nose piece are joined together by a pair of nose piece rings, and each face strap is joined to a neck piece ring and a nose piece ring thereby connecting the nose piece to the neck piece. The jaw strap may be connected to two straps of the lower portion of the nose piece by a jaw ring. Here, the neck piece rings, the nose piece rings and/or the jaw ring may be made of a silicone or plastic material having a hardness being greater than the hardness of the neck piece straps and the nose piece straps.

It is preferred that the upper portion of the neck piece comprises a buckle made of a silicone or plastic material having a hardness being greater than the hardness of the neck piece straps and the nose piece straps. Here, the upper portion of the neck piece may be made of two straps being held together by the buckle. The two straps of the upper portion of the neck piece may be joined to the strap of the lower portion of the neck piece via the pair neck piece rings. The strap of the upper portion of the nose piece may be joined to the strap or straps of the lower portion of the nose piece by the pair of nose piece rings.

It is also within an embodiment of the invention that the lower portion of the neck piece comprises a snap made of a silicone or plastic material having a hardness being greater than the hardness of the neck piece straps and the nose piece straps.

It is preferred that the neck piece rings, the nose piece rings, the jaw ring, the buckle, and/or the snap has a Shore A or Shore D hardness in the range of 85-95, such as about 90. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, part of or all the silicone rubber straps have several through going holes located about the middle of the straps. Here, the distance between the holes may be in the range of 2-6 cm, or in the range of 3-5 cm, or about 4 cm. The holes may have a diameter in the range of 2-5 mm, such as in the range of 3-4 mm, such as about 3,5 mm.

It is preferred that part of or all the silicone rubber straps have a width in the range of 20- 30 mm, such as in the range of 22-28 mm, such as about 24 mm. It is also preferred that part of or all the silicone rubber straps have a thickness in the range of 2-6 mm, such as in the range of 2-5 mm, such as about 3 or 4 mm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the head and neck portion of a horse wearing a halter, illustrating possible areas where the horse may be entangled by the halter to an anchored object, and

Fig. 2 shows a halter according to an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Fig. 1 is a side view of the head and neck portion of a horse 101 wearing a halter 102. Different part of the halter 102 can be caught by an anchored object, which is illustrated by arrows 103, 104, 105, pointing to a neck piece 103, a nose piece 104, and a face strap 105, respectively, of the halter 102. Breakaway safety halters have been described in the art, where the halters may be made of leather, nylon or polyester, and where the halters may be designed so that one part of the halter can separate when the horse creates a force to thereby free itself. Usually, it is the neck piece 103 that is designed to be separated. However, it will be less damaging for the horse, is the halter is designed to break or be separated at any part of the halter being caught by an object. Such a halter is provided by the halter of the present invention. Fig. 2 shows a halter 200 according to an embodiment of the invention. The halter 200 may comprise the parts of a conventional halter, and therefore may have a neck piece with an upper portion 201 and a lower portion 202, a nose piece with an upper portion 203 and a lower portion 204, two face straps 205, 206, and a jaw strap 207. The upper portion of the neck piece comprises two straps 208, 209 joined by a buckle 210, whereby the neck piece can be adjusted to fit the neck of a horse. The lower portion of the neck piece comprises a single strap 211 , which is connected to the straps 208, 209 of the upper portion 201 by two neck piece rings 212, 213 and a snap 214, where the snap connects the strap 211 to the ring 212, and where the ring 212 is further connected to the strap 209. The other end of the strap 211 is connected to the ring 213, which is further connected to the strap 208.

The upper portion 203 of the nose piece comprises a single strap 215, and the lower portion 204 of the nose piece comprises two straps 216, 217 joined by a jaw ring 218. The strap 215 is connected to the two straps 216, 217 by two nose piece rings 219, 220, respectively. The jaw strap 207 is connected to the lower portion of the nose piece by being connected to the jaw ring 218, and the jaw strap 207 is further connected to the strap 211 of the lower portion of the neck piece by a loop encircling the strap 211. The face strap 205 is connected to the neck piece ring 212 and the nose piece ring 219, and the face strap is connected to the neck piece ring 213 and the nose piece ring 220.

All the straps 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 21 1 , 215, 216, and 217 of the halter 200 are made of silicone rubber having a Shore A hardness in the range of 50-80. It is preferred that the silicone rubber straps 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211 , 215, 216, and 217 have a Shore A hardness in the range of 55-75 or in the range of 60-70. By using straps made of silicone rubber, the straps will break when a horse being caught creates a force to free itself.

The silicone straps 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211 , 215, 216, and 217 have a width about 24 mm, but the width may be in the range of 20-30 mm, or in the range of 22-28 mm. The thickness is in the range of 2-6 mm, or in the range of 2-5 mm, or about 3 or 4 mm. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the neck piece rings 212, 213, the jaw ring 218, the nose piece rings 219, 220, the buckle 210, and the snap 214 are made of a silicone or plastic material having a hardness being greater than the hardness of the neck piece straps 208, 209 and the nose piece straps 215, 216, and 217, such as a

Shore A or Shore D hardness in the range of 85-95, or about 90.

For the halter shown in Fig. 2, all the straps 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211 , 215, 216, and 217 have several through going holes located about the middle of the straps. The distance between the holes is about 4 cm, but may be in the range of 2-6 cm, or in the range of 3-5 cm. The holes have a diameter in the range of 2-5 mm, or in the range of 3-4 mm, or about 3,5 mm. The through going holes may for example be used for fastening different items to the halter to thereby personalize the halter.