Thanks, George, for the information.
The word "Hackmore" has been in usage for over 
100 years in Texas. I learned to ride horses on 
our Central Texas property when I was old enough 
to crawl up to the top tree trunk of the old time 
corral. I got up there and just fell on the 
horses back. Of course I was a SPOILED BRAT in those days.

DP

At 10:08 AM 8/15/2008, you wrote:
>Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com
>
>hackamore
>• noun a bitless bridle which operates by 
>exerting pressure on the horse's nose.
>— origin mid 19th cent.: perhaps from Spanish 
>jaquima, earlier xaquima ‘halter’.