Retro/Vintage Headstall...Classic Old West Style

 
From an old cowboy..........

"the workin' cowboy preferred a plain headstall with nothin' to interfere with his ropin'"........
 
This retro headstall is just what a cowboy wants. Buckaroo Leather has gone retro/vintage. 

We found a beautiful old style tooling (see below) to help create the retro look of this quality leather headstall....Made in America.

   tooling on the retro headstall

The retro/vintage look of this headstall is coming back into style. Old is new again........

This retro headstall is hand tooled and is crafted from the finest Hermann Oak bridle leather. It features a straight brow, tear drop cheek pieces and is finished with decorative stitching. This vintage headstall also features a rawhide braided brow keeper.

This Retro headstall is a classic old west style perfect for that cowboy or cowgirl who loves the old west style and spirit.



 

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

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

Western Leather Reins-The Cowboys Steering

Found this in a book on Cowboys-an old west cowboy describing leather reins in his own words-

Leather Reins

"Reins are the two leather rawhide or horsehair lines runnin’ from the bit ring to the riders hand used to guide and control the horse.

There are 2 types of reins-but many styles –the flat leather, buckled onto the bit. The other’s braided rawhide with romal and is attached to the bit by “bit” chains or “bridle” chains. These are short pieces of chain fastened to the bit ring on one end and the reins on the other end. Some riders like chains because the reins don’t get wet when the horse drinks, also keeps the horse from chewin’ the reins.

Open reins are then not tied together each independent of the other, usually ‘bout seven ft in length” most cowhands prefer open reins because if the horse falls or if the rider is throwed the reins fall to the ground.

Tied closed or California reins are tied together at the ends or the entire reins are made in one piece often made of braided rawhide and worked into a romal at the horse end. Tied reins are not popular with most cowman, California is where the tied reins are used most, handed down by the early Spanish.

The romal is a flexible whip made on the bridle reins when they are fastened together. The Spanish "el romal" means literally "a branch road, a division or ramification thus attached" as it is by the loop to the bridle reins the romal becomes but a ramification of the rein, a handy addition that can be used as a quirt and dropped from the hand with out fear of it getting lost.

The romals’ removed when ropin and placed ‘round the roper’s waist which was the reason most old timers ordered romals to their waist measure.

A light romals no good if used as a quirt (pictured here) in windy weather for the lash’d be hittin’ the user in the face, a long romals no good either for it might cause the hoss to stumble and fall over it."

Buckaroo Leather carries traditional old west style western leather reins. Buckaroo Leather Western Reins have uniform balance through out the complete length Because we take care to cut them side by side. They are PAIRED together, BORN together for that exact same feel & weight for the ultimate signal and communication!

The materials which go into the making of Buckaroo Leather Tack and the craftsmanship employed in it’s making are elements of the highest importance. You could have no higher guarantee of quality and workmanship than the name Buckaroo Leather upon your Tack.

Most anyone can find Tack to meet their particular demands on the Buckaroo Leather website!

Yet, for the rider who has needs for measurements, alterations or changes to bring their ideas to perfection, Buckaroo leather, has skilled craftsmen to meet their demands.

Buckaroo Leather, The Brand to Demand
Visit Our Unique Store Today

Buckaroo Leather Shopping Site

How to Fit Your Western Breast Collar

Western Breast Collars have a very simple but useful purpose. They keep your saddle from sliding back and help the saddle to stay in the best fitting position on your horses back.


The fitting position is also determined by how how well your saddle fits on your horse, the better your saddle fits the less it will move around. So be sure you start with a quality saddle that has a proper fit.

Your decision on which type of Breast Collar to use will be based upon the type of riding you do and your personal preference.

The wider the Breast Collar the more the pressure is spread out across the chest.

Here is a list of the Styles of Breast Collars used for different various types of horse riding:

A breast Collar with a Narrow-1"style- used for a Flat trail, Show ring, or Light performance,

Endurance equestrian sports where lightweight is a factor...

A Breast Collar with a Mid size-1 1/2"-2"- used for a Mountain trail, Barrel racing, Gymkhana,

Cutting, any medium to high performance events.

A Breast Collar with a Wide width of- 2-3"- for Packing, Roping, Ranch branding work, High performance were you will need to dally on your horn.

You have many styles available to match your saddle or personal preference with beautiful hand tooling, stamping, and conchas or rawhide braiding.

Lets talk about fit. Most of the Breast Collars on the market today fit around on the shoulders and connect to the cincha ring. Riders are discovering that this fit is a little restrictive and rubs across the shoulder.

Many saddles now come with a dee ring mounted up higher on the front, for a better Breast collar position up over the shoulder at the base of the neck. Like an old harness collar for pulling a wagon.

An analogy would be the fit of your back pack. If the shoulder straps fall down onto your upper arm it is very uncomfortable.

This over the shoulder fit at the base of the neck is becoming very popular!

Different Breast Collar styles are being made To fit this way--

Many now have an over the neck strap which connects at the upper rings on the Breast collar and goes up over the neck between the saddle and the mane holding the Breast Collar up for proper fit. This strap can be purchased separately.

Some are called Buckaroo Breast Collar, Nevada Breast Collar, Old Martingale Breast Collar, and pulling Breast Collar.


The pulling breast collar pictured on the right is designed to fit any saddle as it wraps up through and around the pommel with one strap on each side of the horn fitting any saddle... even without the upper front Dee rings on your saddle.

This style breast collar is ideal for all medium to ultra high performance events.

Quality Finished Leather Breast Collars are extremely important due to the pressure on the front of your horse. When manufactured the edges of the Breast Collar must be finished off and rubbed down so there are no sharp edges to prevent chaffing.

Always check your Quality Leather Horse Tack for safety reasons and make sure there is not any build up of hair, sweat or dirt on the underside against your horses hair as this can chaff and create problems.

Buckaroo Leather has quality American Made Breast Collars on sale in our Valentine Specials category..... take a look at this......

Breast Collar Old Martingale style "Choker"

Price: $171.50
Sale:$150.50
You Save: $21.00

Hand crafted from the finest Hermann Oak Rough Out Oiled Golden Bridle Leather w/ chap lining, this Old Martingale style shaped breast collar (some in the sage call it a "CHOKER") features an over the shoulder fit for a better pulling position. Also featured is the adjustable neck strap and billet. The breast collar is hand edged, rubbed and finished with nickel hardware.

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

The Ropes and Lariats Used by the Vaqueros in the Old West

The Lassos were used by Vaquero’s to hunt wild cattle. Until the late 18^th century, the Vaquero tied the lariat to the horse’s tail. But the development of heavier, more substantial saddles changed this technique. Vaquero’s began wrapping the end of the rope around the horn of their heavy saddles. This wrapping technique called “Dar la Vuelta” ("take a turn" in Spanish) passed over to the American cowboys, who corrupted the Spanish term into “dally” or “dally welter”.

Vaquero’s and the cowboys who copied the practice could slip the rope against the saddle horn and gain leverage against a roped animal. The technique could be hazardous. A thumb caught between the Lariat and saddle horn might be amputated by the whizzing rope.

The Vaqueros skillfully braided long reatas from 4 rawhide stumps. They could make much of their equipment from leather. In making these leather rawhide riatas, the hides were stripped up into long thongs, which were either twisted or plaited with a four or eight plait. Much pounding and rolling was necessary to get them smooth, round, and even, and much greasing to soften and water-proof them. They also wove horsehair into a fine rope called a mecate ("McCarty"- the American corruption)

The Lariats in California ran from 65 to 110 ft in length and about 5/8 of a inch in diameter. In Texas brush country, Vaqueros used shorter ropes that did not become entangled in the underbrush.

In addition to rawhide ropes and horsehair ropes, Vaqueros, used the tough, stringy fiber of the maguey plant to make ropes. Because maguey fiber stiffens in rainy weather, Vaqueros used it only on dry ranges.

Sisal, (pictured here) from the leaves of the agave plant, ran a distant 3^rd to rawhide and maguey as material from ropes.

Vaqueros threw a variety of loops, according to the task at hand. A figure 8 would bring down a running animal. The piale, an under hand toss, caught the animals hind legs as it stepped into the noose. The mangana, an overhand throw opened to catch the animals forefeet.

The Texas Cowboys also used a variety of catches-

Pitch
Slip
Heeling
Backhand slip
Forefooting

By the late 1860’s cowboys had developed the “hoolihan”. The roper swings the loop only once above his head before letting fly. This fast throw is useful for catching horses by the head in a corral. The backhand forefooting catch is the vaquero mangana.

Watch the video below to see a "Hoolihan Catch"..........

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

Western Leather Breastcollars, What They Are, Why and How to Choose and Use.....

Western Breast Collars have a very simple but useful purpose....

To keep your saddle from sliding back and in the best fitting position on your horses back. Keep in mind it also depends

on how well your saddle fits your horse, the better your saddle fits

the less it will move around.

Your decision on which type of Breast Collar to use will be based upon the type of riding you do and personal preference.

The wider the Breast Collar the more the pressure

is spread out across the chest.

Styles of Breast Collars used for different types of riding:

-Narrow-1"style- Flat trail, Show ring, Light performance,

Endurance were lightweight is a factor...

-Mid size-1 1/2"-2"-Mountain trail, Barrel racing, Gymkhana,

Cutting, any med. to high performance events...

-Widest- 2-3"- Packing, Roping, Ranch branding work, High performance

were you will need to dally on your horn.

You have many styles available to match your

saddle or personal preference with beautiful hand tooling, stamping, and conchas or rawhide braiding.

Lets talk about fit. Most of the Breast Collars on the market today fit around on the shoulders and connect to the cincha ring. Riders are discovering

that is a little restrictive and rubs across the shoulder.

Many saddles now come with a dee rind mounted up higher on the front, for a better Breast collar position up over the shoulder at the base of the neck. Like an old harness collar for pulling a wagon...

An analogy would be the fit of your back pack....

if the shoulder straps fall down onto your upper arm it is very uncomfortable....

This theory over the shoulder at the base the neck is becoming very popular! Different styles are being made To fit this way--
 

Many now have an over the neck strap which connects at the upper rings on the Breast collar and goes up over the neck between the saddle and the mane holding the Breast Collar up for proper fit. This strap can be purchased separately......

Some are called Buckaroo style, Nevada style, Old Martingale style, and pulling style....

The pulling style as pictured on right is designed to fit any saddle as it wraps up through and around the pommel with one strap on each side of the horn fitting any saddle... even without upper front Dee rings on your saddle.

This style breast collar is ideal for all medium to ultra high performance events. 

Quality Finished Leather Breast Collars are extremely important

due to the pressure on the front of your horse. When manufactured

the edges of the Breast Collar must be finished off and rubbed down so there are no sharp edges to prevent chaffing. 

Always check your Quality Leather Horse Tack for safety reasons

and make sure there is not any build up of hair, sweat or dirt on

the underside against your horses hair as this can chaff and create problems.

The Brand family at Buckaroo Leather has manufactured the highest Quality safe and durable Horse Tack for 27 years and wants to THANK YOU for taking your time to stop by and be more informed.

We look forward to learning and answering your questions and comments.

BuckarooJohn

Buckaroo Leather

The Brand to Demand