Mecate, Bosal, Hackamore Vaquero Tack

 Vaquero Horse Tack, Mecate, Bosal and Hackamore

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.

 100% Alpaca Mecate

$100

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.

 AAA Bosalitos Vaquero Style

 $249

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 here) 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.

 Black Beauty Concha Hackamore

$259

 Cadillac Hackamore Set with Fiador and Mecate

$395

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

How to tie a Mecate on your Hackamore Rawhide Bosal

How to tie a cotton mecate on your rawhide bosal hackamore.

 
Watch this video and learn how to tie a mecate on your rawhide bosal just like the Vaqueros (cowboys) of the old west. This particular "rig" was the favorite of the Californio Vaqueros when starting young horses for head set and control, before they were moved in to the bridle.

In this video you can watch Buckaroo John from Buckaroo Leather Products walk you thru how to tie the mecate to suit your needs and size.

Buckaroo John starts with a basic rawhide bosal and the cowboy harness leather hanger headstall. This headstall does not have hardware, just a basic wrap around tie in a cowboy knot for adjustment.

Buckaroo John is using a 23' cotton mecate to tie around the bosal. You can use a cotton, nylon, horsehair, alpaca and yacht rope mecate. The most common type of mecate used by the natural horseman is the cotton/nylon mecate. The Traditional style of mecate is the horsehair, it was used by the Vaqueros of the old west.

Begin by:

Taking the tassel end of the mecate through the "v" part of the bosal, making sure it is facing away from your hanger headstall.

Wrap your mecate around the "v" portion of  the bosal 3 times

Push the mecate down sung

Reach from underneath and pull down the mecate to form your reins in the length you need.

Push down the mecate inside the "v" portion of your bosal.

Pull the popper end of the mecate and continue wrapping the mecate around 2 times above your reins.

You can adjust the number of wraps to accommodate the size of the opening in the bosal. The less wraps you have the larger the bosal opening to accommodate a larger nose.

The more wraps of the mecate on the bosal the smaller the bosal opening to accommodate a smaller nose.

Take the popper end and put it back down in between your last 2 wraps. If you have done it correctly the popper will come across your reins.

The popper end is used as a light lead when you are off your horse. Or you can be like the Vaqueros of old and use the popper in the western style by tucking the popper in your belt while riding.

 Rawhide Bosal

Cotton 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

Crazy Daz of May Sale from Buckaroo Leather

  

 The Crazy Daz of May!!!!

Buckaroo John Brand is going Crazy with all the events in May.....

This WEEKEND.....The Big Loop Rodeo in Jordan Valley, Oregon May 18-19,

Bishop Mule Days on May 21-26, Bishop Ca 

Light Hands Horsemanship Clinics on May 30- June 1, Santa Ynez, Ca.

Hurry before he collects his sanity and take advantage of this CRAZY discount

All online orders from today, May 17th to May 20th  will receive a 20% Discount (excluding sale items) with this Promo code.... just enter the code below at checkout

Promo Code.......maydaze20

and as a special "Bonus" each order will receive an Entry into a drawing for a FREE Jerry Tindell clinic.

Jerry Tindell is a natural horse and mule trainer with an entire lifetime of experience. Jerry teaches you how to have better communication, control and a deeper understanding of your animals behavior for a better, safer ride every time.

Use this great Sale for purchasing amazing quality leather horse tack all made here in the USA!!

Initial Custom Headstall

This Hermann Oak Heavy Harness Quality Leather Headstall is available in 3/4" width. This headstall is made in the old California Visalia traditional styling. And you can have yours or your horses initials!

 

Retro Headstall

This Buckaroo Style RETRO Tooled 1" Headstall is hand crafted of the finest Hermann Oak Bridle leather, It features a straight brow, tear drop cheek pieces and is finished with decorative stitching and easy change nickel buckles at the bit end connection.

Silver Wild Rose Mecate Bridle Set

The Complete Mecate Snaffle Bridle Set includes a 5/8" hand carved Wild Rose scalloped Browband Headstall with SILVER hand engraved buckles and berry conchas and a 5" iron ring snaffle bit, hand carved Wild Rose Slobber Strap and a 23' nylon braid mecate with braided button and tassel.

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

Draft Horse Classic 2012...Come See Buckaroo Leather

The video above is of the Draft Horse Classic at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. The event is September 20th - 23rd 2012.

The Buckaroo Leather wagon will be rumbling up to the fairgrounds to show you our "wares". All your favorite American made leather horse tack will there. The bitless sidepull bridle, our famous lined leather reins, the Pink ribbon cincha, mecates, hackamores and much more.

Come and see us and talk to owner John Brand...he loves "shootin' the breeze" and talkin' about his quality horse tack! We hope to see you there!!!!

The Classic has grown to become the premier Draft Horse show in the western United States, and features six majestic performances along with non-stop entertainment in between classes.  

Along with the majestic draft horse performances there is a craft fair, exhibitors and more.....

 In between visiting the horses in the barns, stroll over to see Art at the Classic, horseshoeing, a clogging jamboree, the agricultural competitions, and the youth art show. Besides the barns being open to visitors between performances, two special guided barn tours will be offered, Treat Street will be serving delicious food, the Western Trade Show will be open for browsing and shopping, and there will be free entertainment at the Pine Tree Stage. 

For more information and ticket information please 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

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

Buckaroo Leather at the Western States Horse Expo

Buckaroo Leather is packing up the "old pack saddles" full of your favorite western leather horse tack for the Western States Horse Expo!

The Western States Horse Expo is June 11-13 in Sacramento California. Buckaroo Leather will be at the Barns by Harrahs booth, space 128 from Friday & Saturday 9-7pm and Sunday 10-5.

The Western States Horse Expo is known throughout the nation as the gold standard of equine expositions, by exhibitors and horsemen alike. This is much more than a large trade show with dozens of world-class clinicians; there is something for everyone, including the Magnificent 7 Stock Horse Championship, an Equine Dream Art Show, Horse Sales, Driving Darby, Young Rider Park, Breed Demonstrations, Seminars, Trail Symposium, BreyerWest, and the Mustang Challenge.

Buckaroo Leather will have all of its quality leather horse tack available for sale. Western riding reins, headstalls, leather breast collars, mecates, hackamores and much more.

Owner,John Brand will also be on hand to answer any questions regarding horse tack care, fitting, or general usage. There will also be how-to-video's on a variety of Buckaroo Leather's popular pieces of horse tack.

Barns by Harrahs, spaces 128, 127, 129 and 3308, will also have the drawing for their Four Stall Gable Breezeway Barn or $5000 cash. The drawing will be held on Sunday, June 13th at 3pm at their main display booth. Barns by Harrahs, with this drawing, has been helping to raise money for the Safe Haven Horse Rescue. Safe Haven will also be on hand with one of their success stories, Excessorized, the great-great-granddaughter of Triple Crown winner Secretariat. She was sold off the track last year and left to starve. Safe Haven cared for her and she will be there at the booth all weekend.

If your are around the Sacramento area this weekend come down to say hi to Buckaroo Leather and Barns By Harrahs. If you are a horse enthusiast, you have to attend this event. This is your chance to visit with the horse experts and see great new products. Buckaroo Leather looks forward to seeing you all there!


Ride American with Buckaroo Leather!

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 TodayBuckaroo Leather Shopping Site

Western Horse Tack- Holiday Savings!

Buckaroo Leather's Holiday Savings Offer!

Purchase $75 - $150 & receive 10% discount
Purchase $150 - $300 & receive 15% discount
Purchase $300 - $500 & receive 20% discount

Buckaroo Leather manufactures all your favorite Western Horse Tack accessories, including quality American made leather headstalls, western reins, western bridles, rawhide reins, trail riding tack, spur straps, breast collars, training horse tack, Alpaca mecates, hackamores, chinks and western chaps, saddle pads and much more!

Do you have a Cowboy/Cowgirl on your Christmas List? Not Sure what horse tack or Saddle gear they need? A Gift Certificate from Buckaroo Leather is just the answer! You can purchase from $25-$300 amounts!

They will love it and there horse will thank you for the new horse tack!

Also check out the Horse Treats!!!

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 Slobber Straps

Buckaroo Leather uses the influence of the Vaquero when creating the many styles of Hackamores and Mecates.

(See my squidoo lens for the Vaquero history!)

The Complete Hackamore/Mecate Set, has an all natural hand braided 14 plait rawhide Bosal and a cotton 23' Mecate with a braided rawhide button.Buckaroo offers many traditional "Old mexico" hand braided Rawhide Bosal.

A variation of the Hackamore is called "Mecate Snaffle Bridle Reins". It is used as a rein system for a bridle with a bit. The Mecate Reins are meant to be used with slobber straps and snaffle bits..

The slobber straps protect the Mecate and helps provide a quick release for training the horse. This variation is used by the Natural Horseman. And has become very popular with Nevada and High Desert Buckaroos...

Buckaroo Leather makes slobber straps to attach your Mecate to your snaffle. Our most popular slobber straps are the ones with a buckle. The buckle allows you to buckle on or off the bit without having to untie your Mecate.

Buckaroo Leather makes plain slobber straps, to get the job done or a fancy style slobber strap.

Buckle on Slobber Straps (pictured here) are made from Hermann Oak Harness Leather, Red or Black Latigo leather or oiled chestnut. The Slobber Strap is Hand edged and Hand rubbed and has a Solid Brass or Nickel Plate Hardware. This strap is designed for an easy Mecate change.

This Slobber Straps (pictured here) has Engraved Silver Buckles and is hand crafted from Premium Hermann Oak Harness Leather. It is hand edged and hand finished. It is Designed for easy Mecate Change.

Buckaroo Leather Co. has all your Hackamore, Mecate, and slobber strap needs. We have many styles to choose from and all are fashioned from the highest grade leather, from Hermann Oak Leather. The quality of our horse tack can not be beat!! You will love our style but come back for the quality!

Please see our Video on attaching the slobber straps in the Blog above, or 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

Mecate Reins and Hackamores- A Brief History....

The Mecate Reins are fast becoming the Rage of the Sage because they are so versatile....

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

This style of Hackamore is great for beginning riders.

Buckaroo Leather Uses the Vaquero Influence

Buckaroo Leather uses the influence of the Vaquero when creating the many styles of Hackamores and Mecates.

The Complete Mecate Snaffle Bridle Set (as pictured above) has 3/4" Harness Cowboy Knotbrow Headstall, Hand Tooled Basket Design Slobber Straps, and Earth Tone Mecate with hand Engraved "OLD MEXICO" Silver or Brass Conchas and Buckle Sets to match!

Buckaroo also offers many traditional "Old mexico" hand braided Rawhide Bosals.

A variation of the Hackamore is called "Mecate Snaffle Bridle Reins" (see how to tie video). It is used as a rein system for a bridle with a bit. The Mecate Reins are meant to be used with slobber straps to connect to the snaffle bits.. The slobber straps protect the Mecate and helps provide a quick release for training the horse. This variation is used by the Natural Horseman. And has become very popular with Nevada and High Desert Buckaroos...

Buckaroo Leather makes slobber straps (pictured above) to attach your Mecate to your snaffle. Buckaroo makes many different styles from plain get the job done to custom hand tooled leather. Our most popular slobber straps are the ones with a buckle. The buckle allows you to buckle on or off the bit without having to untie your Mecate.

Buckaroo Leather has all your Hackamore, Mecate, and slobber strap needs. We have many styles to choose from and all are fashioned from the highest grade American Made leather, from Hermann Oak Leather. The quality of our horse tack can not be beat!! You will love our style but come back for the quality!

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

To watch Video on Tying
Mecate to Snaffle Bit Bridle
Click Here

The Natural Horsemanship movement has created highly functionable Horse Tack......

The Natural Horsemanship Movement has
evolved tack items as Mecates, slobber straps,

Rope Halters and complete Mecate Bridles

into very popular training and pleasure

riding choices. They are all so versatile........

Rope halters of course have no hardware and

are so adjustable. They are designed to place

pressure points were needed and roll up into
an easy pack away size or leave on under your bridle.....

There are now designs with rings tied into the cheeks

to connect your reins to and ride on down the trail......

Side pull headstalls have evolved somewhat from

this also.....

Mecates tied onto your bridles with slobber straps

have become so popular because they are available

in so many different materials to fit your personal

preferences. Also because you can easily adjust the

length of your reins......

Slobber straps are also available in many different

styles. From plain get the job done, to custom

hand tooled, also with silver conchas and buckles....

The popular ones lately buckle on and off the bit

without having to untie your mecate.....

Our family has been dedicated for 28 years in serving the western horseman the safest most durable Quality American made leather horse tack.......
Please take a moment to leave a comment(just click on the word comments below each post)with any questions
or suggestions on future posts you would like to see talked about.
BuckarooJohn Buckaroo Leather
The Brand to Demand