Horse Training by the Californio Vaquero's

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’s hand braiding techniques are still used today. 

The rawhide bosals, riatas and quirts, headstalls, and 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 were….


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 - or "Two Rein" is where 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!!!!!

Buckaroo Leather Uses the Influence of the Vaquero when handcrafting our Hackamores

A Rawhide Accented Hackamore

A Cadillac Hackamore Set with Fiador & Mecate

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

Review of the Get Down Rope with Bosal By TnT Ranch

Tom and Traci Davis own and operate TnT Ranch in Texas. They recently wrote a "glowing" review of Buckaroo Leather's Git Down Rope with Bosal and Hanger.

Below is their review and more information about their ranch, training and blog. I encourage you to follow them on facebook, twitter and visit their blog and YouTube videos for training techniques.

Tom Davis Horsemanship –

Tom is an excellent trainer and clinician! Tom takes horsemanship extremely serious and wants only the best for horse and rider! Tom has 20+ yrs experience and knows horses. He offers Private Lessons, clinics and full care training for your horse.

“The foundation of your colts career is everything – without it you will have nothing.” -Tom Davis

To learn Tom’s quiet methods of starting colts, and have hands on experience with Tom demonstrating and coaching you along the way. Book Tom to come to your facility or sign up for a clinic here at TnT Ranch. Tom will guide you and your group in the ways that have worked for him for years.

Interested or need more info – email spurtlvs@cbnn.net or call 254-433-0806

Traci Davis is a wife, mother, author, brokers horses, fitness team organizer, multitasking extraordinaire. TnT Ranch has AQHA/APHA horses of all types for all riders for sale, they will match you with the horse that is right. If you have one to buy or sell please contact them! They can find you a new one maybe help sell the old one!! www.Cowboy4sale.com

Get down rope with Bosal and Hanger

Attention Horseman and Horsewomen!!!

Are you looking for quality tack and leather products? Well Buckaroo leather let us try a great product that they offer and wow – we really liked it! Tom put the Git Down Rope w/Bosal & Hanger to work! This is a great product and very usable.

Buckaroo leather offers quality tack at good pricing. This Bosal and mecate is a very well crafted. Tom has used it with everyday riding and also was able to use it during a ranch rodeo and one of his horsemanship clinics. The small bosal is great for leading and tying your bridle horse so to not put undo pressure on your horses mouth.

........John will treat you right and sell you quality tack and leather items for your horse.

Most anyone can find Tack to meet their particular demands on this 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.

To read the whole review click here........
















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

New Traditional Vaquero Mecates...Horse Mane, Handmade, Top notch,

Buckaroo Leather has found a true Vaquero Mecate............

This is our newest most unique find yet. These new mecates are top notch!!! They are made by 4th generation Mecate Makers from the Idaho Owyhee desert.

They make all of their Mecates by hand from horse mane hair only. They do not believe in using cores of any kind in the center. They have used their Grandmother's traditions from the early 1900's. They believe horse mane is the best for their ropes because it is soft, and easy to work with.

All of their ropes are one of a kind! No two mecates are exactly alike.

They have kept the family art of Mecate making going by making these traditional Vaquero type Mecates with a little "twist"................

with these stylish Sheekaroo colors............

Mecate Sheekaroo Mane Hair-
Color Hippy Chick Sheekaroo

(pictured here)

Mecate Sheekaroo Mane Hair- Color Midnight Black w/Lavender/Purple.

(pictured here)

Mecate Sheekaroo Mane Hair-
Color Aqua, Midnight Black with Star bright Sheekaroo.

(pictured here)

Mecate Sheekaroo Mane Hair-Color Denim, Midnight Black with Oatmeal Sheekaroo.

(pictured here)

Mecate Sheekaroo Mane Hair-
Color Sorrel w/Bright Turquoise Sheekaroo.

(pictured here)

Watch our How-to-Videos on How to Tie a Mecate Rein to a Rawhide Bosal



How to Tie the Mecate to a Snaffle Bit Bridle with Slobber straps. Buckaroo John Brand demonstrates the proper way to tie a Mecate to a Snaffle Bit Bridle with Leather Slobber straps. This combination has won the favor of many Western Horsemen.



Buckaroo Leather has horse hair mecates, mane hair mecates, alpaca and mohair mecates.

Mecates have evolved to be a popular piece of horse gear and art for cowboys and buckaroos all over the world. Mecates are used for lead ropes or tie ropes. Some cowboys call them get down lines, snaffle bit reins and leads. Also two-reins, bosal reins, and western hackamore reins.

To use your snaffle bit with the mecate rope you will need slobber straps. Slobber straps connect to the snaffle bits and the mecate is attached to the slobber strap. Slobber straps for mecates have one large hole in each end to allow the mecate to be pushed through and tied.






Buckaroo Leather Slobber straps are made from quality leather. There are plain leather with a buckle or beautiful hand tooled and carved straps, with an acorn or rose design. (pictured here)









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

Mecate Reins a Popular Piece of Horse Tack

Buckaroo Leather, due to popular demand, has added new colors to our popular Cotton Mecates.

Cotton Mecate L507c

Perfect for the beginning stages of Cowboy Horse Training and/or pleasure riding. Soft Cotton Mecate with Rawhide button. Available in 1/2" - 23' in many colors. Designed to compliment the Buckaroo Snaffle Bit Bridle along with our Slobber Straps. You can use this Mecate as a Hackamore Rein for your Bosals.

Color to choose from:
Natural/White
Solid Brown
Brown/Gray/Black Multicolored
Black/Gray/Burgundy Multicolored
Black/Brown
Black/Gray
Solid Black


The Mecate is the rein portion of the horse tack, called the Hackamore. The Hackamore is a type of headgear for horse training. 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. The Mecate is a rope made from horse hair or soft feeling rope that serves as reins and lead rope.

The 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.

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.

A properly tied Mecate knot (please view the how to video ) 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.



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