How to Fit the Very Popular Sidepull Bitless Headstall

Ultimate Padded Sidepull Headstall w/exotic hair on overlay

How to Fit the Very Popular Sidepull Bitless Headstall

To begin, we want to have a willing horse. By walking up and offering the Sidepull and allowing your horse to willingly put their head into the bridle should help get the process started. It also creates an understanding and ease between horse and rider. Wait for the queues from the horse to let you know they are ready to begin. What you want to do once the horse is ready is to adjust the side pull out very wide to get the Sidepull on. That way we can easily adjust it on the horse. You will want to ensure the wide nose band is not adjusted too low. This will cause irritation to your horses breathing and nasal passages. Once on and properly adjusted you want to understand the horses facial configuration. Some horses can be very narrow, other may have more prominent cheek bones, and that will affect how we want to adjust the jowel strap. Make sure you set the horse to their individual configuration. The jowl strap prevents the Sidepull from moving side to side when pulling on the reins, which can cause irritation as well.

Adjustment will really depend on the individual horse, and using your best judgement. You want to make sure of a few things: Ensure the nose band is not putting pressure on the nasal passages, and ensure you can get 2 fingers under the jowel strap, which is probably the most important piece for stability. You want the jowl strap to fall just below or at the horses cheek. The chin strap is not vital to stability, and really lends more to preference. The looser the chin strap the more freely the horse will be able to open and move their mouths.

The main concerns when adjusting your Sidepull are to ensure the noseband is not laying too low and properly adjusted above the nasal passages, that the jowel strap lands at or below the cheek bone and you can get two fingers underneath, and that you pay attention to the signs from your horse. They will tell you what needs to be adjusted and what may be irritating them. Once you have these steps down you are ready to ride!

(the above information is from an article on the Infohorse.com)

 Buckaroo Pro SidePull-Stainless

 Hermann Oak quality 5/8" Harness leather or Black latigo, flat leather nose, double stitched with soft chap lining; hand edged, rubbed and oiled for a soft supple feel. It features an adjustable throat latch, chin strap and additional jowel strap for more stability.

There are different noseband options for the sidepull available from Buckaroo Leather Products. The type you use depends on how much pressure you want to excerpt on your horses nose. The single lariat rope nose gives the most in a narrow area across the nose. The double rope spreads the pressure out. The flat leather nose gives the least amount of pressure for the more trained and experienced horse.

Buckaroo Leather Products has a great selection of these very popular headstalls. Bitless Sidepulls with rawhide noses, the Justin Dunn Bitless Sidepull, a rolled nose sidepull plus many more. We also offer the bitless sidepull headstalls in large and draft horse sizes, small horse, cob, pony, regular horse and mule sizes.  

 Buckaroo Ultimate Sidepull with Rawhide Nose

 This is a Side Pull style with a width of 5/8". This Ultimate Headstall has a soft chap lining and is oiled for that soft supple feel. It has a flat leather nose with Braided Rawhide around the nose and is finished with Nickel or stainless hardware

 Justin Dunn Bitless Sidepull

 We are proud to work with Justin Dunn of Justin Dunn Mustang Horsemanship to bring you his proven designed signature Sidepull Headstall. Made from the finest quality heavy weight Hermann Oak Harness leather or Black Latigo for a smooth, rich, "broke in" feel. Oiled for that soft supple feel.

 Justin Dunn Sidepull - Draft horse size

Rolled Nose Sidepull Bitless Bridle

The Buckaroo Ultimate sidepull Headstall is just that- THE BEST. Made from the finest heavy weight Latigo for a smooth, rich, "broke in" feel. This  Buckaroo Headstall is double and sewn with a soft chap lining, and oiled for that soft supple feel.

 

 Ultimate Sidepull Oklahoma Conchas

This Buckaroo Headstall is double and sewn with a soft chap lining, and oiled for that soft supple feel. Now with silver OKLAHOMA HAND ENGRAVED CONCHAS...  This Headstall is a bitless Side Pull style with a width of 5/8"

Buckaroo John, in the video below will demonstrate the SIDEPULL, aka "Bitless Bridle", its variations and the reasons to incorporate this useful piece of horse equipment.

 Play this How to Video on the Bitless Sidepull Headstall

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 
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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