Fiador (tack)

A fiador /ˈfiː.ədɔːr/ term of Spanish colonial origin referring to a hackamore component used principally in the Americas. In English-speaking North America, the fiador is known principally as a type of throatlatch used on the bosal-style hackamore. Its purpose is to stabilize a heavy noseband or bosal and prevent the bridle from shifting. It is not used for tying the horse.

A fiador-like design and fiador knot is also used under the jaw on some rope halters, usually ending in a loop to which a lead rope can be attached. This, however, is not an independent "fiador," nor generally labeled as such; it is simply an integral part of the halter itself.

The origin of the word fiador in its equestrian sense is obscure but appears to be of South American origin. In Spanish, the word fiador has numerous senses, all related to safekeeping. For example, an 18th-century Spanish—English dictionary defines fiador as surety, bail; he that is bound for another. In falconry, the small long line that is fastened to the hawk's leash when she is first lured, to bring her back at pleasure. [...] also the loop of a cloak that comes about the neck to button, that it may not fall off. An early 19th century Portuguese—English dictionary also gives the senses of surety, bail, and falconry long line (creance). By the mid 19th century (prior to 1860) the equestrian sense was in wide use in Argentina, and it also appears in a 1911 dictionary of argentinismos.

The term fiador refers to different styles of equipment in different parts of the western hemisphere. In the United States and Canada, the fiador is a type of throatlatch used on heavier styles of bosal hackamore. This design crosses over the horse's head at the , with a knot under the jawbone, and attaches to the hackamore at the noseband or bosal. The knot under the jaw is usually a fiador knot, and the fiador may have a second fiador knot at the point where it attaches to the heel knot of the bosal.

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