Hot New Vintage Traditional Cowboy Style Leather Horse Tack from Buckaroo Leather

This week Buckaroo Leather Products has had a booth at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Vintage Traditional Leather Horse Tack is back!! Cowboys and Cowgirls at the Cowboy Marketplace at Mandalay Bay Hotel love silver conchas and old west style cowboy leather horse tack. 

Take a look at our latest cowboy gear.....Vaquero style leather horse tack....rawhide.....silver.....and much more.....perfect gifts for that cowboy or cowgirl on your holiday shopping list!

Call Buckaroo John at 530-545-0139 or email buckaroojohn@sbcglobal.net if you are interested in any of the horse tack below.

 

Custom rawhide smokin' black hackamore set with 

soft black Latigo nose with tan accents to coordinate 

with the mecate and antique conchas. 

$279

This amazing American made leather Breast Collar is inspired by the old west style breast collars with large silver conchas.

$489

 All around Breast Collar tooled edge with silver conchas and stainless hardware. Beautiful medium oil honey bridle leather.  Your horse told me he or she wants it!

$159

Our newest black Hermann Oak harness with silver concha accent

Quality Leather Breast collars with Basket combo oak rose carving. Beautiful vintage silver conchas. 

$239 

Close up of the conchas

Oak acorn cowboy shaped slidear with vintage pico edge silver conchas. Start at $189 for silver plate and $299 for sterling silver

Traditional rawhide Riata 49'. Has a wonderful broke in feel. Excellent quality.

$425 

 Supple soft oiled harness with red stitch and antique conchas. 

Breast collar & bridle set.

$199

Quality leather headstalls with vintage traditional 

style silver conchas and buckles and rawhide accents (below)

Tear drop slidears (below) basic styles to traditional styles with silver conchas. Start at $59!

 Our new silver studded Breast Collar & headstall set. 2 piece set for $249.

 

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

Buckaroo Leather + a Bohlin Saddle of the "Duke" at NFR this week.....

Buckaroo Leather Products will be 

at the National Finals Rodeo

starting this week, 

Thursday, December 5th to Saturday, December 14th 2013 

in Las Vegas, Nevada.  

Buckaroo Leather products will have a booth at the 

Mandalay Bay Hotel marketplace.

We will have all your favorite leather horse tack like the Cowboy Dressage horse tack, old west style breast collars, reins, and headstalls....including the newest breast collar pictured below.

Buckaroo Leather will also have two amazing saddles.....

This beautiful black saddle is an Edward H Bohlin Saddle. 

(Learn more about Bohlin here). Bohlin was the saddle maker to the old west stars, like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and Clayton Moore (the Lone Ranger). 

The story behind the saddle is that it belonged to 

John Wayne and he gave it to either his stuntman or 

sound man after filming True Grit.

 

This brown saddle is a vintage bear trap tree, probably 

a rare Montgomery Ward.

Come see these amazing saddles and say hi to Buckaroo John and shop for the holidays!!! 

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

Ed Bohlin Saddlemaker to the Old West Stars

Eddie Bohlin ran away from home in Orebro, Sweden at age fifteen, hoping to find an apprenticeship as a silversmith. He was unable to find a position and instead worked his way to America on a four-masted schooner, arriving in New York in 1910. As he had been raised with horses, he headed for Montana, where he soon found his first job as a wrangler, rounding up more than nine hundred horses to be sold in Miles City, then the horse trading capital of the world.

For several years Bohlin worked as a cowboy on long cattle drives, both on horseback and as a hand on the freight trains that took cattle to the Chicago stockyards. Bohlin had an aptitude for art, this inspired him to attend the Art Institute in Minneapolis for four months. There he learned the basic concepts that later results in his artistic masterpieces.

Bohlin opened his first silver and saddle shop in Cody, Wyoming, just across the street from Buffalo Bill Cody's Irma Hotel. It was in this shop that he created his first fancy silver-mounted cowboy gear.

While in Billings, Montana, on a buying trip for his shop, an event occurred that changed his life. Billboards around town advertised a vaudeville performance with live horses on the stage, for which he purchased a ticket. Bohlin recognized one of the act's performers from one of his earlier cattle drives and was introduced by him to the show's manager. When Bohlin showed the manger some of his rope tricks that he had picked up along the way, he got hired. The vaudeville act, no matter how small-time, eventually gave Bohlin an unexpected break.

In Los Angeles, while performing at the new Pantages Theatre in 1922, Bohlin heard a loud voice call out from the audience, "Hey kid! What do you want for the coat?" The fellow had spotted Bohlin's coat of black, white and tan calfskin that he had made for himself. "Thirty-five dollars," Bohlin yelled back. When he returned the following night, the coat was gone from his dressing room and in its place was a thirty-five dollar check with Tom Mix's picture and name on it.

                                                         Tom Mix

In those days the cowboy star Tom Mix (1880-1940) was one of Hollywood's most popular actors. Mix asked his friend and business associate, Pat Christman, to invite Bohlin to the studio and to bring some silver and leather goods with him. Tom Mix quickly purchased various items, including the silver decorated boots Bohlin was wearing at the time, for seventy-five dollars. Mix strongly encouraged him to stay on in Hollywood to produce silver and leather items for the studio market.

With this exciting encouragement, Bohlin immediately gave two weeks' notice to the vaudeville troupe's owner and started looking for a place to set up shop. He was fortunate enough to persuade the First Baptist Church in Hollywood to rent him part of their building on the corner of Cahuenga and Selma Avenues.

The rapid success of his business soon required him to move the shop to larger quarters. He occupied a series of addresses on Cahuenga and Selma Avenues, and hired many skilled leather workers and silversmiths to augment his own skills and vision.

Tom Mix, his first great customer and friend in Hollywood, was joined by many other film stars, who assured Bohlin of a built-in clientele. This connection with the studios quickly brought him the job of supplying the Egyptian-style chariot harnesses for Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments," in 1923, and twenty Roman-style chariot harnesses for MGM's 1925 production of "Ben Hur." Another early studio job was supplying two hundred buckskin suits for Universal's 1923 movie "The Days of Daniel Boone." This order alone came to more than four thousand dollars, a huge sum in those days.

Bohlin's relationship with Tom Mix coincided with the beginning of the era of the super fancy movie cowboy, and his skills were matched by Hollywood's demands for spectacular goods in the Western style. In addition to the early custom work he made for Tom Mix, he produced a richly mounted custom saddle, bridle and breast collar for Buck Jones, and a pair of pistols inlaid with gold and silver for William S. Hart.

                                        Roy Rogers and Trigger and his Bohlin Saddle

Soon, every successful Western star had to have Bohlin equipment for personal appearances, parades and the movies themselves. Bohlin's movie cowboy customers over the next thirty years would include Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Ken Maynard, Rex Bell, Will Rogers, Leo Carillo, Monte Montana, Monte Hale, Gene Autry, Charles Starrett, William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Clayton Moore (the Lone Ranger), and Ronald Reagan.

One of Bohlin's custom saddles was owned by two popular and durable Western actors. Ray "Crash" Corrigan (1902-1976) ordered a special saddle and tack from Bohlin in 1938 which he used in about forty movies. Corrigan appeared in dozens of Westerns and starred with John Wayne in twenty-four episodes of the 1930s serial "The Three Mesquiteers."

Although the fancy saddles Bohlin designed for cowboy stars provided him with great publicity, his stock designs sold to private horsemen were probably his greatest source of day-to-day income. The most luxurious of these made the movie saddles seem understated by comparison. One of the most spectacular of his stock saddles was the "Fiesta" model. In addition to its elaborately tooled leather, the saddle was heavily mounted with chased and engraved silver openwork plates and conchas, and further adorned with eighteen three-color gold steers' heads with ruby-colored gemstone eyes and other gold ornaments.

                                                        Bohlin Fiesta Saddle

Understandably the "Fiesta" model was very expensive. Requiring more than six weeks of work, its list price in the 1941 catalog was $1,255. In 1941 the average cost of a new automobile was $925. (Bohlin's most expensive stock saddle in the 1941 catalog was the "P.K. Wrigley" model. With all of its matching tack, the saddle's list price was $5,750.)

Bohlin also designed and produced nearly ninety percent of the hundreds of silver-mounted parade saddles used in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. In all, between 1923 and 1980, the Bohlin Shop designed, produced and sold more than twelve thousand saddles, most of which were extensively adorned with sterling silver ornamentation.

                                                       Bohlin Parade Saddle

Unquestionably the most spectacular and unique example of his artistry was his very own parade saddle, lovingly fabricated with gold and silver over a fourteen-year span and finally completed in 1945. The seventy-pound saddle has gold and silver relief carvings that depict in minute detail scenes of western life and game animals of the Pacific Slope. When completed it was considered the most expensive parade saddle in the world with a value in excess of $125,000. Gene Autry later purchased it for an undisclosed sum. It is now in the collection of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles.

After more than fifty years in the trade, the old master finally semi-retired in 1972. His longtime employee, Bud Phillips, ran the shop for him. Bohlin later suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed until his death on 28 May 1980.



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

A Cowboy and Cowgirl Thanksgiving Prayer.....

Wishing all you Cowboys and Cowgirls a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

A Cowboy's Thanksgiving Prayer
by Steve Lucas

Dear Lord....

I turned it all over to you, Lord. Put my trust in your capable hands.
And I thank you that you let us keep on
makin' a living off of your lands.
Thanks for these good friends and neighbors
and the love and the help that they give.
And I thank you Lord for these old cows
and the cowboy life they let me live....
...so Lord on Thanksgiving,
as we take a break from our chores,
we thank you for this year's blessings,
and for what you have in store.

Support your local business and American made products this holiday season. Start with Buckaroo Leather Products. American made quality leather horse tack for over 30 years!!!

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 History of the Hackamore and Mecate

 Vaquero's

The Hackamore was used by the Vaquero's in the beginning for horse training. The Vaquero's quickly learned that this piece of horse tack was a must for every day riding too. Today the hackamore is wildly popular among the Natural Horseman and women and horse riders still true to the Vaquero ways.

The unique part of the Hackamore is that it does not have a bit. It uses a braided noseband called a Bosal. The Bosal is a special type of noseband that works on pressure points on the horse's face, nose, and chin. 

 

                      Cadillac Hackamore set with Fiador and Mecate



The mecate is the rein portion of the Hackamore.The Mecate is a rope made from horse hair or soft feeling rope. The mecate can act as a lead rope too.

The traditional Mecate used by the California Vaqueros was made from the long hair of a horse's tail and was hand braided. Modern Mecates are made with horse hair and synthetic rope with a horse hair tassel at one end and a leather popper at the other end.

 

Mecate Rein with Leather Popper

 
The history of the Hackamore and Mecate goes all the way back to 4,000 BC. The first Hackamore was probably a piece of rope placed around the nose or head of a horse not long after domestication. These early devices for controlling horses may have been adapted from equipment used to control Camels. Over time, this means of controlling a horse became more sophisticated.

The Persians in 500 bc were one of the first to use a thick plaited noseband to help the horse look and move in the same direction. This was called a Hakma. On this Hakma was a third rein added at the nose, which allowed the rider to achieve more power from the horse. Later this third rein moved from the top of the noseband to under the chin, where it is still part of the modern Bosal style Hackamore with Mecate reins.

Loping Soft Nose Hackamore

The Hackamore used in the United States came from the Spanish Vaqueros in California. From this, the American Cowboy adopted two different uses, the "Buckaroo" tradition closely resembling that of the original Vaqueros and the "Texas" tradition which blended some Spanish techniques with methods from the eastern states.


Bosal Hackamore Style

These types of Hackamores include the Bosal and side pull. The Bosal Hackamore uses the Vaqueros tradition of the braided noseband and the Mecate rope.

The Mecate is tied to the Bosal in a specialized manner that adjusts the fit of the Bosal around the muzzle of the horse and creates both a looped rein and a long free end that can be used for a number of purposes.

For the mounted rider, the free end is coiled and attached to the saddle or tucked under your belt. When the rider dismounts, the lead rein is not used to tie the horse to a solid object but used as a lead rope and a form of lunge line when needed.

Bosalitos Vaquero Style

                                        
A properly tied Mecate knot allows wraps of rope to be added to the knot in front of the rein loop in order to tighten the Bosal noseband on a horse or the rope can be unwrapped to loosen the Bosal.

This Vaquero style of Hackamore is used in Western Riding and is an indispensable part of the Vaquero way of making a California reined horse. It is also used with horses that have dental issues, where a bit would be painful. Some riders also like to use this style of Hackamore in the winter instead of a frozen metal bit. 


Sidepull Headstall / Hackamore

The side pull Hackamore or headstall is a modern design inspired by the Bosal style. This style has a heavy noseband with side rings that attach the reins on either side of the head. This allows very direct pressure to be applied from side to side.

 

                             Loping Sidepull Hackamore


The noseband is made of leather, rawhide, or rope with a leather or synthetic strap under the jaw. It is held on by a leather or synthetic headstall.

Visit the Buckaroo Leather Website for our full collection of Hackamores......









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

Rose Dunn Old West Outlaw????

 

Rose Dunn, outlaw or rebellious teenager??? One may look back at Rose Dunn’s actions as just a young rebellious teenage girl in love, but history has called her an outlaw. Rose was an attractive young girl who was born in 1879 near Ingalls, Oklahoma. Even though she was from a poor family, she received a formal education at a convent in Wichita, Kansas.  Rose learned to ride, rope and shoot from her 2 older brothers who were minor outlaws when Rose was young. Through her 2 brothers, Rose met George "Bittercreek" Newcomb and it was "love at first site."

Rose or Rose of the Cimarron, as she was called by Newcomb, became romantically involved with him around 1893 when she was either 14 or 15 years old. Newcomb and his gang the Doolin-Wild Bunch Dalton gang worshiped Rose because of her good looks and her calm and kind demeanor. The gang was extremely protective of her and in turn she was especially loyal to them. Rose being completely infatuated by Newcomb began supporting him and his outlaw lifestyle by going into town for the gangs supplies since the law wanted all in the gang.

George "Bittercreek" Newcomb

While Rose was helping the Doolin-Wild Bunch Dalton gang and Newcomb, her 2 brothers left the outlaw life and became well known bounty hunters called the Dunn Brothers. Soon Rose's outlaw life would end too.

In 1893 in Ingalls, Oklahoma the Doolin-Wild Bunch Dalton gang was in George Ransom's saloon. Soon U.S. marshals surrounded the saloon demanding the outlaw’s surrender. Needless to say the gang did not go quietly. The gun battle started and quickly became an intense shootout; know today as the Battle of Ingalls. Now there is some speculation on whether this part of the story is true. It has been said that Newcomb was badly injured during the shootout. While he was lying in the streets, Rose ran from the Pierce Hotel to bring him two belts of ammunition and a Winchester Rifle. When she got to Newcomb she fired the rifle at the Marshals while Newcomb reloaded his revolvers and was able to escape. 

During the shootout 3 deputy Marshals were killed and Newcomb and Charley Pierce were wounded, but they both managed to escape. Newcomb, other members of the gang, and Rose hid out for at least two months. Rose nursed all the injured back to health. At this point there was a $5,000 bounty out for Newcomb, dead or alive.

Now, remember Rose's brothers were bounty hunters. On May 1895 Newcomb and another gang member, named Pierce came to visit Rose at her home. The Dunn Brothers shot both Newcomb and Pierce as they dismounted their horses in front of the house. Rose was later accused of setting the outlaws up by letting her brothers know when they were coming. The Dunn Brothers and Rose denied this fact. Rose was never prosecuted for her involvement with the gang. Rose's life of crime ended and she married a local politician and lived the remainder of life as a respectable citizen until her death at the age of 76.

Her rebellious teenage years or her life as an outlaw however you decide to look at it did one thing and that was to catapult her into the level of a western legend.

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

Buckaroo Leather Wagon Filled with American Made Horse Tack Coming Soon....

The Buckaroo Leather Wagon will be rumbling up to 3 amazing events.....

The wagon will be filled to the brim with American made quality leather horse tack from the manufacturing tables of Buckaroo Leather Products. There will be all the usual favorites, Breast Collars, leather headstalls, western leather reins, and also new favorites like the new line of Vintage horse tack and the Vaquero horse tack including 

the popular flat brimmer hats. 

WSRRA - Western States Ranch Rodeo Association Finals

Thursday, October 31st - Sunday, November 3rd 2013

Winnemucca Event Center

Winnemucca, Nevada

The WSRRA is an association started to allow the full time and the average day working cowboy, workings men and women, to have an opportunity to compete in sanctioned ranch rodeo events.

The Finals will have the....

Top 15 ranch bronc riders battling it out over 4 rounds and 60 horses.

Top 15 women's steer stoppers who will compete in 3 rounds of action.

34 qualified open division and 8 womens division ranch teams will compete representing sanctioned ranch rodeos from 11 western states.

Cowboy Dressage Finals Show Hosted by Cowboy Dressage World

Friday, November 15th - Sunday, November 17th 2013

Ranch Murieta Equine Complex

Rancho Murieta, Ca

This will be a full weekend of clinics and Cowboy Dressage with world renowned horse trainer Eitan Beth Halachmy. There will be a clinic and Gathering on Friday and  Saturday and Sunday will have 2 full days of a Cowboy Dressage Shows with $10,000 in prizes. There will also be a Youth and Amateur Partnership Tests. A Bar-B-Que, Vendors (including Buckaroo Leather Products) and entertainment will be there too.

National Finals Rodeo

Thursday, December 5th - 

Saturday, December 14th 2013

Thomas and Mack Center

Las Vegas, Nevada

This event showcases the very best of the Best!!! The town will be a buzz with cowboys, horses, cowgirls and Buckaroo Leather Products. 

The Mandalay Bay will have their 10th Anniversary Roper Cowboy Marketplace. Buckaroo will be an exhibitor December 5th- 14th. This is a great excuse to head over to Vegas. 

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

American Horse Tack & Horsemanship on The Best of America by Horseback

A few weeks back Buckaroo Leather Products visited Justin Dunn's beautiful Ranch in Guffey, Colorado. While at the ranch the good folks at "Best of America by Horseback"  came to Justin's Ranch to film Justin's Mustang Horsemanship and his equine program at Nighthawk Ranch, a camp for children recovering from cancer. 

Cinnamon with the bitless sidepull

photo by Ory Photography

During the filming, Justin and Buckaroo John filmed a commercial featuring Justin's Dunn bitless sidepull and the Justin Dunn signature saddle both manufactured by Buckaroo Leather products. It was a great experience and such a pleasure to work with the folks at "Best of America by Horseback".  

 Harley (showing off the saddle) and Justin filming

 photo by Ory Photography

You can also see Justin's two amazing BLM mustangs, Cinnamon and Harley in the commercials showing off the saddle and bitless sidepull made right here in America!

See a sneak preview of the commercials to air below..

The commercials will begin running on November 5th on RFD TV during the "Best of America by Horseback" show. 

(see show times below)

Buckaroo John, Cinnamon (showing off the saddle and bitless sidepull) and Justin filming

 photo by Ory Photography

 

The episode on the "Best of America by Horseback" about Justin and his equine program at the Nighthawk Ranch will start in January.

Best of America by Horseback show times


Tues. at 4:30 pm (ET) 3:30 pm (CT)
Wed. at 2:30 am (ET) 1:30 am (CT)
Fri. at 12:30 pm (ET) 11:30 am (CT)
Sun. at 12:00 am (ET) 11:00 pm (CT)

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