Custom Designed Leather Horse Tack Made in America

 
The Vaqueros and the Californios of the old west took pride in not only their horsemanship and horse training skills but also their leather horse tack. Many Vaqueros were skilled in rawhide braiding and would use this skill to create unique leather horse tack.

Californios and Vaqueros also adorned their unique leather horse tack with beautiful silver conchas and hand tooling.

Buckaroo Leather carries on the Vaquero tradition with custom handcrafted leather horse tack designed by YOU!!!  Beautiful conchas, hand tooling in unique patterns, rawhide braiding, quality leather all available to you to custom design your own unique piece of leather horse tack.

Below are some examples of custom designed leather horse tack manufactured by Buckaroo Leather and designed by YOU the customer.....

Call John Brand to order your custom leather horse tack today....... cell # 530-545-0139
 

 A Cowboy Mecate Snaffle Bridle Set

                                              

 Alpaca Custom Bridle Set

                                         Custom Martingale Breast Collar

 Custom Pulling Breast Collar

top and bottom pictures

 Custom Star Headstall & Breast Collar

 Scalloped Custom Set

Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving the Western Horseman the safest most durable Quality American made leather horse tack....... Buckaroo John Brand 
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand 
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site

Californio Vaquero Horse Training in the Old West

Californio Vaquero Horse Training in the Old West

The Californio Vaquero's prided themselves on their horsemanship and horse tack. They took great care too hand braid their horse hair mecates and romel reins. The Vaquero hand braiding techniques are still used today.
The rawhide bosals, riatas and quirts, headstalls, hackamores, are all part of the Vaquero "tool box" to train their horses.

The Vaqueros trained their horses for 7-10 years, starting at 4 years old, to react with very little pressure from the rider. At the end of training, the horse and rider would be one.

The 3 stages of the Vaquero horse training....

The 1st stage - starts with a hackamore bitless braided rawhide headstall to teach the horse to yield to pressure. The reins were long hand braided horse hair mecates.

The 2nd stage - called "Two Rein". The Vaquero would use a thinner simpler version of the hackamore nose piece, the bosal. This bosal was lighter for this part of the stage. The mecate bridle had a spade bit and a braided rawhide romel rein. During this stage of the training the Vaquero would hold both sets of reins and the horse would be controlled with mostly the bosal and light on the bit. Then the Vaquero would transition to only using the bit and would then get rid of the bosal all together.

The 3rd stage- is called the "Straight upon the Bridle". The Vaquero handles the horse with just the spade bit. The Bit is connected with romel reins. The bosal and mecate are used under the bridle to lead the horse.

This extensive training enabled the Vaquero to control the horse with little pressure. The Vaquero's horse was a skilled cattle horse and would be tested....

The Vaquero use to test their horses skills by tying a thread to the links section of the chain part of the romel reins. The Vaquero would then bring the horse to a stop with a "light" pull of the reins. If the thread broke- the Vaquero needed to pull to hard.



Another way to show off their skills.....trying to rope Grizzlies!!!

Can you imagine the horsemanship skills and the communication of the horse and rider to stop and move in an instant to rope a Grizzly!!!!!

Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving the
Western Horseman the safest most durable
Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site

Old Vaquero Mecate Reins-how were they made?

"The Mares would take a dislike to the stallions if we cut their tails"
a quote from and old Vaquero.

This quote is referring to how the old Vaqueros and cowboys made their mecate ropes/reins.

Different colors of hair were hand braided into a strong and beautiful mecate rope/reins. The hairs used, were cut from the Mare's tails and manes.

The stallions were used for breeding and working on the range and their manes and tails were never cut......

Mane hair mecate reins are still used today. They have the best feel and communication with the horse.

The mohair mecate reins used today, still have great feel and communication between rider and horse but are a little easier on the hands-especially if you have a softer grip.

The newest style of mecate reins are the 100% Alpaca reins. Their feel and communication with rider and horse are also good.

Buckaroo Leather carries all 3 styles of Mecates Reins......




Mohair Mecate-
They have pretty much the same body and feel as the good mane hair mecates. These are the best we have found braided in the old California Vaquero style! The mecate reins are available in brown, grey, palomino, and black.

100% Alpaca Mecate

Hand Woven 100% Alpaca Mecate Reins. The Alpaca fibers used in these Mecates in grown on a family ranch in South East Colorado. The Alpacas are shorn each year and the fibers are processed in the U.S. Each piece is hand made by these artists to ensure the quality and craftsmanship of each Mecate. Available in 3 sizes.

Hackamore Set w/Fiador & Mecate

Complete Hackamore Set includes an all natural color beautifully hand braided 16 plait 5/8" All rawhide core (no cable core) rawhide bosal w/ Hermann Oak 5/8" harness browband with traditional fiador (throat latch)and Mohair or Mane Horse Hair Mecate 5/8" - 22' long, 6 Strand Braid. This Hackamore features our best quality all rawhide core bosal; a beautiful piece of "Old Style" rawhide braiding. For large Horse/Mule include a nose circumference measurement in the comment box at checkout. This set has mohair, mane, or alpaca mecate reins.



Buckaroo Leather also offers Nylon Yacht Braid Roping/Trail Reins and Cotton Roping/Trail Reins........



Cotton Roping and Trail horse rein with Hermann Oak Harness or Black latigo leather buckle on slobber straps. Your choice of black, brown, white, black/pink, black/lime, and more. Great for trail riding, barrel racing, gaming events and pleasure riding.

Nylon Marine Yacht braid trail/roping rein with reins snaps on both ends. This is the yacht braid feel all the Natural Horseman talk about.

Our family has been dedicated for 30 years in serving the
Western Horseman the safest most durable
Quality American made leather horse tack.......Buckaroo John Brand
Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today
Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site