Occasionally, I come across a horse that, for one reason or another, does not like to be touched around the ears or face. There are a number of reasons why this might be so, but mostly it is simply a bad habit the horse has formed.
Last year I started working with a neighbor’s horse, which was once a well-trained reining horse. My friends hadn’t spent much time with the horse over the previous couple of years, and he had become a 19 year-old pasture ornament. They invited me to work with the gelding and get him back into riding shape. Right-off I noticed, as they tried to catch and halter the old fellow, that he was very hard to handle to get a halter on him. He did not like to be touched in the poll area or around his ears. After taking a closer look, I found he is required to wear a tight-fitting cribbing collar. He is one of the few true cribbers I have known. I will write another post on cribbing later.
I determined that his cribbing collar hadn’t been removed for a very long time, and that it was making him sore in the poll area, where the head is attached to the neck, up near the ears. When one tried to touch him in that area, he would pull back and raise his head and fight, making it very hard to halter or bridle him.
The mark from the cribbing collar
Here’s what I did to cure him of that:
First, I got him in a halter and removed the cribbing strap. I brushed the area and groomed the horse to calm him and get to know him a little. Next, I stood at his head, facing him, but off to the side a little, so as not to get knocked out of the way when he threw his head up. I held his lead rope, very close to the halter, with my left hand. With my right hand I started at his forehead and quickly swept my hand up and over one ear.
He jerked his head up, but by the time he reacted, my hand was already past his ear and no longer touching him.
I continued to do this until he got tired of jerking his head. I alternated ears as I continued, to get the same result with both ears. He quickly realized that jerking his head did nothing for him, since my hand was long gone before he even tried. I also had my left hand on the lead rope. Adding a little weight there made him physically tired and uncomfortable after repeatedly jerking his head up.
A horse, like any animal, including humans, is physically engineered by evolutionary development, to conserve energy. Instinctively, he wants to conserve energy. The jerking of his head quickly registers in his instinctive brain as a complete waste of energy. It gains him nothing, neither in security, nor in survival, because the perceived danger is gone before he reacts to it.
After about three or four sessions of this, lasting about 15-20 minutes or so each session, he quit reacting altogether. Once he stopped jerking his head, I began to actually run my hand up his forehead and lightly rub his ears and poll. Eventually he began to actually enjoy the attention and now he even likes the insides of his ears rubbed.
Now he likes it
Here is a video I did, that may help you understand the process better.
Often, new horse owners, and sometimes long-time owners with no formal training, have a hard time getting the bridle on a horse and getting the horse to accept the bit. Here is a short tutorial on how to properly bridle a horse.
Now, before I start, it should be understood that there are many reasons why a horse might be hard to bridle. For instance, a horse with an abscess in its mouth might find the bit very uncomfortable. A horse that is head-shy may not let you get close enough to get the bridle on its head. Once physical discomfort and other behavioral issues are ruled-out, however, using the proper technique in bridling a horse will make things much easier on the owner as well as the horse, and will eventually convince the horse that receiving the bridle isn’t such a bad thing, after all.
Now, let’s assume you have the horse haltered, standing, and ready to be bridled. Let’s do a little preparation work. Lay your hand on top of the horse’s head, just behind his ears. The horse should lower his head for you. His head should be at a comfortable working height for you as you bridle him. If he doesn’t, you need to teach him to do this. Here’s how:
Place your right hand on top of his head, just behind the ears, and with your left hand, take hold of the lead rope right at the halter. Put pressure on top of the head, while adding weight to the halter with the other hand. It doesn’t have to be a lot of pressure, just enough that the horse feels pressure and it is a little uncomfortable or irritating to him. Eventually he will bob his head a little.
Put a little weight on the halter and on the poll
When he does, and I mean exactly when he does, release the pressure from both hands and rub the horse’s neck. Do it again, and again, each time holding the pressure a little longer, asking him to lower his head a little further. Pretty soon, the horse will figure out that when you place your hand on his head at the poll (where the neck and skull meet), you want him to lower his head. You can actually train the horse to lower his head and put his muzzle in the dirt, if you want to, but I see no reason for that. I just want him to pay attention and lower his head while I bridle him.
Now, if you are going to leave the halter on under the bridle, you are ready to start. If you intend to remove the halter, unbuckle or untie it, but do not completely remove it. Instead, while retaining control of his head, let the nose band slip off his nose and rebuckle the halter around the horse’s neck. Often I will see people simply drop the halter to the ground as they bridle the horse, or wrap the bridle reins around the horse’s neck. Make it a habit to keep the halter and lead rope on the horse while bridling and always retain control of your horse. If you are out on a trail or horse camp and you completely remove the halter while bridling, the horse may well decide he’s free to wander back home and you might end up on foot for the remainder of the trip!
Now, with the halter around the horse’s neck, drop the reins on the ground, or loop them over your arm, so they don’t get in your way. Place your right forearm on top of the horse’s neck, such that your right hand is hanging over his forehead between his ears.Your forearm and elbow on the horse’s neck gives you some control while you are handling the bridle with both hands.
Hold the headstall with your right thumb
Now take the top of the headstall in your right thumb, so that the bridle is hanging with the bit below the horse’s mouth. Take the bit in your left hand and capture the horse’s muzzle between the cheek pieces of the bridle. This give you a little more control (not really, but the horse thinks it does, and that’s what counts!). Cradle the bit in your left hand, as shown in the photo below. Your thumb should be on top of the bit, with your first two fingers under the bit, and your last two fingers outside the bit shank. The chin strap should be lying on your wrist, as shown.
Cradle the bit in your hand
The way the bit is positioned in your hand is important, as you will see in just a minute. Now, drop the bridle down, by bending your right wrist (the one on the horse’s head) down, to where the bit is hanging just below the horse’s lips. Now lift with yourright wrist (not the one with the bit in it), gently lifting the bit up between the horse’s lips. Some horses, at this point will simply open their mouths and you can lift the bit right on up into position. Most, in my experience, will not, and you will need to coax them to open their mouth.
Do this by inserting your thumb between the horse’s gums in the side of his mouth.
Insert thumb into his mouth
You will feel his tongue. Wiggle your thumb a little and the horse will open his mouth. When he does, simply lift with your right wrist (again, the one on top of his head) and lift the bit into position. At this point the horse will close his mouth on the bit and hold it while you hold the bridle in place with your right hand. Check to make sure the chinstrap has come into the correct position behind the horse’s chin.
Now, holding the top of the headstall with your right hand, slip your left hand through the headstall and pull his off-side ear (the right one) through, then do the same with the near-side ear, or simply tuck it through with your right thumb. Let the headstall settle into place behind his ears. Adjust the mane and forelock, so that there are no uncomfortable tangles or lumps of hair under the bridle. Now check to make sure the brow band is in place and not covering an eye or bothering his ears. Check the other side of the bridle to make sure the throatlatch has not gotten hung up in the bridle. Now pull the throatlatch under the horse’s throat and buckle it. If the bridle has been used on this horse, or a similarly sized horse in the past, you will likely see a mark on the throatlatch where it has been regularly buckled at the correct position. Use that mark as a reference, but check anyway, to make sure it is not too tight or too loose.
Check the throatlatch fit
The only purpose of the throatlatch is to keep the bridle from slipping off over the horse’s ears, should it somehow get snagged on something, or in case the horse should try to rub it off on a tree or post. It should not be tight. Check the fit by slipping your fist between the horse’s jaw and the throatlatch, as shown in the photo. Now check to make sure the bridle is sized properly and that the bit is hanging in the right place in the horse’s mouth. If the bit is too high or too low, adjust both sides of the bridle’s cheek pieces until it is right.
The bit should rest between the horse’s gums on the bars between his front and rear teeth. Normally, you will see one or two slight wrinkles in the sides of the horse’s mouth if the bit is in its proper place. A bit that hangs too low can bang against the horse’s front teeth and become uncomfortable. A bit that sits too high can hit the molars, or allow a horse to “get the bit in his teeth”. If that happens, you can lose control of the horse in a hurry (ergo the common phrase relating to a stubborn or out-of-control person). Many horses, particularly geldings, grow “wolf teeth” just in front of their molars that can interfere with the bit and become uncomfortable if it is not in the correct position. Many owners have these teeth removed when the horse is young.
Contrary to uneducated, but common opinion, a bit is not uncomfortable in a horse’s mouth. Even the harshest-looking bit is only harsh when it is used improperly by the rider, when the horse is not trained sufficiently to the bit, or when the horse is disobedient. Many bits are made of “sweet steel” and actually taste good to the horse. Some bits have a “cricket” or roller that the horse can use its tongue to play with. This sometimes calms a horse with a nervous temperament.
Now, to properly un-bridle a horse, simply reverse the process. First, get a rope or halter around the horse’s neck. Remember, always be in control. Now, unbuckle the throatlatch. Next, put your right hand on top of the poll to ask the horse to lower his head. Now place the right hand and forearm on top of the horse’s head and neck for control. Hook the top of the headstall with your right thumb. Place your left hand under the horse’s mouth. Slip the headstall over the horse’s ears and gently lower the wrist, lowering the bit into your waiting left hand. Be careful not to bang the bit against the horse’s teeth as you lower the bit.
Maintain control of the horse’s head throughout the un-bridling process, as some horses will want to immediately spit the bit out and raise their head. Spit and run! This is a bad habit and should be stopped. If the horse attempts it, simply raise the right wrist and pull the bit back into the horse’s mouth and retain control with your forearm on the neck. Wait until the horse is compliant before removing the bit from its mouth. Removal of the bit should be a reward for good behavior, not for spitting and running.
Watch the video I made on this topic. It will help you understand some of the details above a little better.
I just had a marvelous time looking through the Outfitters Supply website! I opened an account on the site and filled my “Wish List” with more than $1,000 worth of ….er..um..equipment and supplies…for my GWT trip. You should take a look, if you are into horse/mule packing.
Crossbuck Pack Saddle with no rigging for $89. That’s probably cheaper than I could make one for, if I value my time at all. I expect I’ll be making an order fairly soon.
Canvas saddle bags
Crossbuck pack saddle tree
They also list a set of canvas saddlebags, that are very similar to a set my dad has that have lasted through more than 40 years of trail riding and packing, for $50.
All in all, guys, this is a great place to go for all your horse and mule packing needs, whether you are just getting into horse camping and packing, or a seasoned professional guide or outfitter. It’s all there.
On top of that, the site has several how-to articles about horse/mule packing and related topics that are well-worth reading.
Had a bit of a lazy day today. It was cold outside and not conducive to going out and getting anything done. Or maybe I was just lazy. I finally got up the gumption to go out to the workshop and piddle around. I lit a good fire in my Virginian iron stove and looked around for something I could accomplish with not too much effort. Funny how just accomplishing something…anything…can make you feel pretty good. So, when I’m like this I just look for some little thing I can get done. Sometimes it leads me to get something else done, and before you know it I’ve ruined a perfectly good lazy day and gotten some work done.
So, anyway, there I was in my shop, when I spied the farrier’s hoof stand I welded up last week. Needed paint. Well, it was too cold to paint.
My home made hoof stand
Better wait until it’s warmer…maybe April, or May.
Aw, hell. I’ll just set it on the stove and let it get warmed up, and then I’ll paint it.
So it began. I warmed up the stand, then warmed up a can of Rustoleum primer and a can of paint, and painted my hoof stand. I left it sitting by the stove to dry. Looks pretty good. It’ll make folks think I know what I’m doing while I trim my horses’ hooves.
Then I picked up a rifle and revolver that I had fun shooting a few times on New Year’s Day, and spent a few pleasant minutes cleaning them. It was kind of…I don’t know, meaningful in some way, I guess, that the rifle was a new, modern Ruger Model 77 in .17HMR, and the revolver was a copy of an old 1873 Colt .45 in a cowboy holster I made myself. The old and the new. There’s probably some great, very impressive word, with deep meaning for that… but I can’t think of it.
So, what next? Well, there’s that block of wood I glued up last week for a pony saddle cantle. It needs to be cut out and carved to shape. I guess I can do that.
So I put it on the workbench and marked out the pattern. Then I carried it over to the band saw and eyeballed, checked, rechecked, then checked again, to make sure I had the angles right, then told myself, “What the heck? If I screw it up, I’ll just glue up another one!”
So, to cutting I went. It actually turned out pretty well. Sanded off the rough edges on the belt sander I have mounted upside-down on my workbench, and it looks pretty good. Now I need to carve out the concavity of the seat with an angle grinder with a carbide carving blade…which I don’t have. I’ll have to pick one up tomorrow.
So, what next? Hmmm. Yep, there’s the cantle for the old “cactus saddle”, the Visalia I showed in my previous post. I still need to glue up the Poplar pieces for that.
Visalia cantle glued up
There we go. All clamped up and curing. It will be ready to cut and carve tomorrow.
I was so satisfied with myself that I sat in my soft chair by the warm stove, made an entry in my personal journal, and had a bite of chocolate.
In response to a question on a horse forum I participate in, I posted a short instructional on the proper and safe way to mount a horse in a western saddle. It occurred to me that it would make a good post here on my blog, as well. Several months ago I made a short video on it, so I will link that at the end.
The mounting technique I am going to explain was developed more than a century and a half ago, and has been practiced since, by cowboys who, often as not, rode half-broke broncs every day as part of their job. They broke horses by roping them, saddling them, then hopping in the saddle and riding them until they stopped bucking. Many of those horses never really got fully broke, and many mornings the cowboys enjoyed a short rodeo session to warm up on before heading out for a day of punching cows.
Because of that, they developed a method of mounting a horse that allowed them to maintain full control of the animal from the ground until they were fully seated in the saddle. Even if the horse bolted or launched into the sky in a full-bore bucking fit as the cowboy started to mount, he could safely continue into the saddle while maintaining full control of the horse’s head with a free hand on the reins. This technique has been largely lost nowadays, and I have seen reputable instructors and trainers who mount improperly, at least not the way the cowboys “back in the day” did it.
Before we start the tutorial, just a few basic tidbits of information. Cowboys always mounted from the left side of a horse. There is a reason for this. It is because most folks are right-handed. That means the cowboy wanted his reins in the left hand. Why that? Mostly tradition. That’s the way it’s been done throughout history. Soldiers, warriors, and folks in general have always been mostly right-handed. They had to have their right hand free to handle their weapon. The cowboy had to have his right hand free to palm his trusty revolver in case something needed killing, or to pull out his lariat and rope a steer. His right hand was for working, while the left was for handling the horse. Most trail riders will also train a horse to allow one to mount and dismount on the right side, since you never know when that might be necessary on a mountain trail. You never want to mount or dismount on the downhill side. You might pull the horse over on top of you.
Now for a little nomenclature on the western saddle. You have a horn. It is to hold onto, and to dally a rope to, or to hang stuff on. It sits up front on top of the pommel. The pommel is the big thing between your legs that the horn sits on, sometimes known as the fork, or the swells. Many saddles from the late 1800s to 1950s have large swells, which allow you to hang on with your knees while your horse sows his “wild seeds”. See? Then there is the seat, which, obviously, is the part your tush sits on. Behind the seat you have the cantle, which is like a mini-backrest. It rises up to sort of cradle your bottom and helps you stay in the saddle. English saddles don’t really have a cantle,
Antique “high-back” saddle with brass horn
nor a horn for that matter (which is why English riders wear helmets rather than cowboy hats!). Then you have the stirrups. They hold your feet, so your boots don’t fall off while riding. They are suspended from the saddle by leather straps called, surprisingly, “stirrup leathers”. Stirrup leathers normally have a sweat flap attached, which protects your leg from the sweat of the horse. The whole shebang is held on the horse by a cinch, sometimes known by the original Spanish term “cincha”. The cinch is normally a belt woven of mohair or cotton strings, that wraps under the horse’s belly and ties on either side to the “rigging” of the saddle by leather straps called a “latigo” (left side) and a “billet” (right side). Some modern cinches are made of neoprene or felt, for those high-speed, low-drag folks leaping into the 20th century on horseback…wait, what century is this, anyway?
Western bridle with curb bit, chin strap, and reins
Now for the bridle. You have a headstall. It hangs over the horse’s head, held in place by the horse’s ears. It hangs down and generally holds a metal bit in place in the horse’s mouth. Connected to the bit is a chin strap (self-explanatory) and a set of reins.
In today’s world, many people prefer bitless bridles, but that’s another discussion for another post. For our purposes here, just assume a bit.
First, we’ll assume the horse is properly saddled and bridled.
Take the reins in the left hand above the horse’s neck, just forward of the saddle. Now snug the reins up until you feel contact with the horse’s mouth, through the bit. This keeps the horse from wandering off while you’re trying to mount. Some experienced horse trainers, on a greenbroke (barely broke, barely trained) horse, will shorten the left rein and pull the horse’s head around to the left as they mount. This helps the rider maintain control of the horse while mounting, by not allowing the horse to lower his head and engage his rear end to buck.
So, there you are with the reins snugged up. Stand right by the horse’s front left leg and face the rear of the horse. That way the horse can’t reach you if he decides to kick you. A horse can kick out forward and sideways with his rear hoof, in what we call a “cowkick”. If you mount a horse that is prone to cowkicking in the way most folks mount, you are liable to get a surprise right in the back pockets.
Now, without letting go of the reins, take a big ole handful of mane, about a foot in front of the saddle, with your left hand. I mean a big ole handful! It’s not like pulling hair on your head. It doesn’t bother the horse at all. So, now you are standing facing the rear, with your reins and a big handful of mane in your left hand. With your right hand, grab the stirrup and turn it, so you can put your left foot into it. Now put your foot into it.
Big ol’ handful of mane and the horn
Now, reach up with your right hand and grab the horn. Again, grab the horn…not the cantle. So, there you are, with your left hand holding the reins and a big handful of mane, your left foot in the stirrup, and your right hand on the horn…again…on the horn. Novices, and some smart folks who don’t know better, will grab the horn with their left hand and the cantle with their right. I’ll explain in a minute why that can get you hurt.
Now, using your left hand and right hand to pull your weight until you can use the strength in your leg, stand up in the left stirrup. Stand straight up, not bent over the saddle. You may need to give a little “hop” to get up. That’s fine. Just don’t hop up and over. Keep your balance and stand straight up. That’s important. Now just swing your right leg over the cantle and sit into the seat. Find the stirrup with your right foot, poke it in, and there you are. Properly mounted in a western saddle.
Now, why am I so anal-retentive about this technique? Let me “splain”. Let’s say you are mounting a horse you don’t know, in the way your buddy at the boarding stable showed you. You take up the reins with your left hand, grab the horn with it, stick your left foot in the stirrup, then grab the cantle with your right hand.
Left hand on horn, right on cantle – Not!
Now you hike yourself up with a mighty heave…but while you are on your way up the horse gets spooked by your snot-nosed little brother, who thought it would be fun to see what happens when he shoots the horse in the rump with a rubber-band gun. So, there you are, hanging on for dear life as your horse charges through the stable area. You can’t pull the reins, because your left hand is holding onto the horn. If you let go of the horn, you will lose your balance, because your other hand is way back behind, holding the cantle. You can’t continue to mount and get up into the saddle, because your right hand is blocking you…it’s holding the cantle. You can’t let go of the cantle, because you’ll lose your balance, because your other hand is way up front holding the horn…and the reins. So, you hang onto the saddle, hanging off the side of the horse, with your left foot dangerously stuck in the stirrup, with absolutely no way to control the animal, until either the saddle finally slides off to the side, dumping you on the ground (hopefully your foot slips out of the stirrup), or the horse rubs you off on a gatepost or barn door. Don’t ask me how I know all this.
Now, let’s look at the same scenario while using the proper technique I just outlined above. You confidently grasp the reins, snugging them up until you feel the contact with the bit. You use that same hand to grab a big handful of mane. Now you use your right hand to help your left foot into the stirrup. You reach up and grab the horn with your right hand, and with a nice, controlled lift, you begin to stand up into the stirrup – when suddenly!…well, you remember.
Keeping control while mounting
So, the horse leaps into action with you only half-way up into position. Not to worry! You’re holding on firmly to the horn with your strong right hand. You quickly release the mane with your left hand and give a strong pull on the reins, quickly bringing the terrified animal back into subjection, while at the same time, calmly swinging your right leg over the cantle, bringing you into the saddle under full control. No sweat at all! Now to go see about that brat little brother of yours!
Now do you see? There really is a proper and safe way to mount a horse in a western saddle. It was developed by the old cow hands for a reason. That reason remains today and better horsemen continue to use it.
If you want to see how it’s done with a little better entertainment value, watch Kevin Kline mount a horse in Silverado, or John Wayne in all his movies, or Tom Selleck in Quigley Down Under or Monty Walsh. Picture perfect mounting technique. These named fellows are actually excellent horsemen, besides being movie stars.
Now, I’m not trying to say that you can’t safely mount a particular horse in other ways. There are people with handicaps, people who may be vertically challenged (as they say), and even folks in their “golden years” who may find it difficult to mount in the way I have described. You make adjustments as necessary and “you do whatcha gotta do”. Most of our horses nowadays are solid broke and mounting up is pretty much anticlimactic, so it’s not as important as it was in days past. However, if you are able, the technique I have described actually is the correct way and the safest way to mount a horse in a western saddle. It could save your hide in that once-in-a-million circumstance in which a horse bolts on you while mounting.
Hope that helps. Here’s the video link I promised. It could be better and I’ll eventually re-do it, but it’s sufficient for this post.
You can subscribe to my Youtube video channel, where I’ll be posting more videos over time. I intend to create a series of instructional videos for beginners on horse care, handling, and horsemanship, directed mostly to those who are just starting out with horses and those contemplating getting a horse for the first time.
Here’s where things stand up to now with regard to my long ride in 2015.
The plan is for my buddy, Dale, and me to make the ride from March to about mid July, or whenever we get to Canada, 2015. I had figured the mileage would be between 2,000 and 2,500 miles. The mileage by road is about 1500 miles, as I recall, according to Google Maps. The Great Western Trail website, greatwesterntrail.org, says the trail includes 4455 miles of trails, however that includes the mileage for all the trails in the GWT trail system, not just one direct route. Some sites indicate the mileage to be approximately 3,000 miles, but I have not yet found any indication of how they came to that number. As far as I can tell, nobody has ridden the entire trail from Mexico to Canada in one shot. I have found mention of several individuals who have ridden from either Canada to Mexico or Mexico to Canada, but through California, Oregon, Washington State, on the Pacific Rim Trail and not on the GWT.
The website for The Arizona Trail, which is the Arizona portion of the GWT, has a much better website. It has precisely detailed maps of the entire trail, including GPS data points, and information regarding trail conditions, regulations, etc.. They show the Arizona Trail to be 800 miles from Mexico to Utah. As a grand finale, of sorts, it passes through the Grand Canyon and ends near Jacob’s Lake at the Utah border.
There is a group of four young men, including Ben Masters, who are currently gathering funds to make the trip in 2013. You can find them under the name “Unbranded” on Kickstarter here. They are doing the ride to benefit the preservation of the American Mustang, a worthy cause, and to promote wilderness preservation. They will actually be riding and packing mustangs purchased at auction from the Bureau of Land Management and trained by themselves. They are currently seeking contributions for funding and are hoping to make a documentary film of it. Look them up and lend a hand. I am looking forward to monitoring their progress to help with the planning of my own trip. I have made contact with Ben via email. He was very cordial and free with his help and advice. I plan to keep in contact with him and pick his brain and learn from his experience as much as possible.
I am currently in the early stages of gathering equipment for the trip. I am going to need a lot of new equipment, since my stuff has worn out over the past 40 years or so, less from use than from storage, while I moved around the country with my career. I am going to need a new saddle, at least two pack saddles, all associated tack, new camp gear, and even new horses.
Right now I have a 7-8 year-old Quarter Horse mare I’m working with to see whether she has the makings of an excellent trail horse. So far she’s doing fine. I bought her about 18 months ago as a green-broke and have been slowly bringing her up. Since I retired in March, I have been able to work with her regularly and have been able to get her training pretty much up to speed.
Problem is that there isn’t anywhere to ride out here in Virginia that even closely approximates the trails I’ll be riding on the GWT. I plan to get her out into the Shenandoah National Park several times this year to put some miles on her. I’ve read there are over 180 miles of trails there, however, overnight camping with horses, it says in the regulations, “is allowed, but discouraged.” Now what does that mean? Do you set up camp and the park rangers come by to give you a hard time? One rule says that if you can see your horse’s hoof prints on the trail, then you can’t ride on that trail and you must stay on the improved gravel trails. What?!
So you see. While there are places to ride out here in Virginia, it’s truly a different experience than out on the western trails.
I will need to purchase at least two pack animals in the coming year and get them trained up and ready. I’ll need to get them out on some long, multi-day trails to get the kinks worked out of them. I will also need to train them as saddle horses. No sense in having horses you can’t ride.
I plan to build my own saddle and pack saddles. This is something I have wanted to learn to do for many years. I particularly love antique saddles. I love to see a brass horn and a tall shovel cantle. While I was visiting my parents in Arizona during November, my dad gave me an old saddle he has had in his workshop for many years. He can’t even recall where he got it. He called it his “cactus saddle”. It didn’t look like much. The only leather left on it was the pommel cover. The rawhide on the tree had been cut away in places, as repairs were made to the tree. I stripped off the leather and rawhide and took the tree completely apart and found the cantle and fork broken and the bars badly damaged. The brass horn is a little bent, but not bad. I found the remnants of rawhide braid around the base of the horn, evidence that the brass horn was hidden under braided rawhide. I was surprised to find hidden under the rawhide on the top of the seat-side of the cantle, a label that said “Visalia”. I expect this saddle was once a Walker Visalia saddle, which would have been very collectable.
My antique Visalia saddle tree
17″ swells and a brass horn
Five inch shovel cantle
Original Visalia label under the rawhide
repaired cantle, duplicate in process
It may have once looked like this
I have since repaired the cantle and fork and am in the process of repairing the bars. Since old saddles don’t fit modern horses very well (we like our horses big and fat, while horses back in “the day” were generally trim and fit), so I recut the angles on the fork to give the bars a more modern angle, of about 90 degrees. I also re-cut the cantle angles to make it fit the new bar angle. It now has what might be considered “semi-Quarter Horse” bars.
I temporarily assembled the tree with the new bar angle and tested the fit on my mare, who has low withers and a broad, flat back. It still fit a little narrow for her. I have the use of a 22 year-old Quarter Horse, who looks more like about 16, so I tried it on him. The tree with the new bar angles fits him like a custom-made saddle.
So, now the plan is to duplicate the saddle tree and cut the bar angle on the duplicate to fit my mare, then build both saddles. I will have a saddle to fit my mare with full-Quarter Horse bars, or thereabouts, and another saddle to fit horses with taller withers and narrower, sloped backs. The saddle I build for my mare will be the saddle I ride on my trip.
Incidentally, I am also rebuilding a pony saddle in the same way. The original belonged to my brother-in-law, but was in less than restorable condition. I have disassembled it and am in the process of duplicating the tree. I will build the pony saddles before I start my saddle. I hope it gives me the necessary experience to do a decent job on a good work saddle for myself. It certainly won’t be a show saddle, but functionality and a look that won’t embarrass me are what I’m aiming for.
Sometime in the next month I will order leather and start the saddle projects. I will also make myself a set or two of good leather saddle bags. I actually prefer canvas saddle bags, but I haven’t been able to find a good pair recently. Everybody seems to have gone to nylon and cordura. I’ll try a leather set and see how I like them.
My dad has a couple of pack saddles he would let me use for my trip, but I think I’ll go ahead and build a set for myself. I have always used the crossbuck style packsaddles, so I expect that’s what I’ll stick with. I have no opinion as to whether the crossbuck style or the Decker style is better, I just like the crossbuck style. It’s just what I grew up with, I guess. I’ll use Dad’s pack saddles for patterns for both the trees and rigging.
I still have just over two years to get all this done, but I expect to get the saddle gear done this year, so I can start using it and getting all the kinks worked out of the horses. If any of the horses were to prove too much of a knothead for the trip (remember, I’ll be going through the Grand Canyon and they’ll have to go through a tunnel and cross that long suspension bridge at the bottom!), I’ll have to have time to sell it and get another and get it worked out before the trip.
Lots to do. I get excited just thinking about it.
Ben Masters and friends, good luck to you in your endeavor. I just sent you a small donation. I’ll keep up on your progress.
How many times have you been out riding in the winter and had your toes get so cold they hurt? Let me tell you a couple of tidbits that won’t make you feel like you’re in Hawaii, but will help you keep your “tootsies” a little warmer in the winter.
Most people simply add socks until their feet just barely fit into their favorite riding boots. While that may seem like the logical thing, in practice, it doesn’t work very well.
Let’s first start with the part that gets cold…your toes. Make sure your feet are dry. You might consider using foot powder around your toes before you put your socks on.
Believe it or not, your feet sweat, even when they are cold. Keeping them dry is key to keeping them warm.
Moving on to socks. Until a few years ago, I thought the best arrangement for the cold, was a pair of cotton athletic socks, or even two pairs, under a pair of thick wool socks. Nice, huh? Thick, comfortable. I always ran into the problem, though, like I mentioned above, of fitting into my boots. My feet were usually so cramped in my boots, that my feet likely got cold from lack of circulation!
What I didn’t know then, was that cotton socks, while comfortable, absorb and hold moisture next to your feet, right where you don’t want it. A few years ago, I invited my wife to go with me on a deer hunt. We were going to horse pack into the Blue Wilderness Area in eastern Arizona, set up a base camp, and stay several days. I wanted to make everything just right for her, so that in the future I might get her out to do it again. Linda gets cold feet. So, I did some research on how to keep your feet warm. What I found out surprised me.
The recommendation was, and I have found it to be true, to wear a thin pair of polypropylene or nylon socks next to your skin. These socks provide little warmth, but neither do they absorb moisture. They actually act as a moisture barrier of sorts. Moisture from your feet passes through the poly material and gets trapped in the outer layer of sock. In recent years I have found it hard to find polypropylene socks. You have to get them at a specialty shop. Even some well-stocked outdoor sports stores don’t have them. As an alternative, I have found that mens’ nylon dress socks are thinner, but do almost as well. You can still find them in the “old men’s’” section at clothing stores.
Left to right: Wool boot sock, poly liner sock, cotton athletic sock
The next layer of your sock combination depends a little on your shoes or boots and the weather. If the weather is such that you are going to wear your regular riding boots or shoes, then a thick pair of wool socks might not fit. In that case, you can go with your cotton athletic socks. In extreme cold, however, cotton socks always come off second-best to wool. A good, thick pair of wool, or wool-blend socks over your thin poly socks will hold warmth around your feet, while wicking away moisture, as it passes through the poly socks. It works much the same way as plastic diapers do on a baby — thin liner and thick absorbent inner material. Wool has special properties, as well, that allow it to stay bulky and full, and therefore hold warmth, even when damp or wet. While other materials, such as synthetics, or cottons, may feel soft and comfortable, neither has both the ability to absorb moisture and stay bulky as well as wool products. Cotton absorbs moisture and compacts, synthetics remain bulky, but do not absorb moisture.
Which leads us to our next topic: Insulation. One of the problems with wearing a bunch of bulky socks, is that when you stuff your feet into your boots, all that bulkiness gets compacted, losing much of its insulation value. Wearing a thin pair of “liner” socks, such as the poly socks described above, under your bulky wool socks, helps with this, as opposed to wearing two pairs of bulky socks. Buy a pair of riding boots for winter wear, that are at least a half-size larger than what you normally wear, so you can wear a pair of bulky woolen socks without making the boot fit tightly. You might consider buying boots with an insulating liner in them, such as “Thinsulate” which is one brand name of footwear insulation used by Cabelas.
Hathorne Explorer Packer Boots, by White
Personally, I prefer boots with no insulation. I recently bought a pair of Hathorn Explorer packer boots, in preparation for my Great Western Trail trip (I figured I had better buy them early and have them well-broken in before the trip). These boots are made of very heavy leather (they are made by White, which is well-known for making high quality Logger and Fire-fighter boots), but they are not insulated. This allows me to decide how warm my feet need to be and to choose my sock combination accordingly. Additionally, I purposely bought boots that were a half-size too large for me. At the same time, I bought a pair of high-quality insoles for them. The insoles make it so I can wear the boots all year round. I wear them with a pair of regular boot socks in warm weather, with the insoles in place, and I remove the insoles to wear them with my cold-weather combination of socks in the winter. The extra room, without the insole, makes it so my socks do not get compacted, while still allowing my boots to fit comfortably snug. The main point with boot fit for cold weather is this: Leave room for your “dogies” to breathe! If your feet are tight in your boots, they will be as cold as if you wore regular warm weather socks.
A little about moisture control. We’ve discussed moisture from inside the boot…from your foot. The rest of the moisture comes from outside the boot. There are a lot of theories about waterproofing footwear, and the best I have found is called “Gore-tex.” Of course that is a brand name and there are other names for very similar materials, but I like Gore-tex. Gore-tex is a revolutionary synthetic material that is breathable, yet waterproof. Almost as good as wool! You can now buy everything from footwear to hats that are lined or made of Gore-tex. It is good stuff. However, if you are like me, and your champagne taste is tempered by a root-beer budget, Leather is the way to go for most situations. Leather boots cannot be made absolutely waterproof without a Gore-tex lining. But, you can make them very water-resistant.
For those who want water-resistance and to keep their leather in top condition, there are oils, such as mink oil, manufactured under various brands, as well as other kinds of “shoe grease” that will soak into the leather and make it very near impervious to water. However, these types of leather treatments are essentially liquids themselves, and tend to get cold in cold weather. They are not the best choice for damp winter weather, in my opinion.
Left to right: Kiwi Dubbin Shoe Grease, Kiwi Mink Oil, Kiwi Wet-Pruf Wax Water Repellant
I recommend a good quality boot or shoe waterproofing wax treatment. I have used a waterproofing wax made by Kiwi with satisfactory results. I have found that the wax application must be repeated several times each winter, as the wax does not soak into the leather like the oils do, but rather fills the pores of the leather on the surface, and therefore gets scraped off with wear. As it is not a liquid itself, and therefore is not wet to begin with, it does not seem to get cold like the oils do, and my feet stay dry and warmer.
For winter riding in which one is expected to encounter extreme wet conditions for an extended period, I recommend boots with a rubber foot, such as the ones in the picture, from the Cabela’s catalog.
Cabela’s 10″ top waterproof boots
As I said before, no leather boot will stay dry for an extended period in wet conditions, unless it is lined with Gore-tex, in my experience. However, I find leather boots to be more comfortable than rubber-footed boots, so I will elect to go with leather in most circumstances.
One last tidbit has to do with boot soles. I always prefer to ride with smooth, leather-soled and heeled western riding boots. Not only do they make me feel and look like John Wayne (as long as you’re looking at my feet only), but they are actually safer to ride in than rubber-soled boots or riding shoes. They easily slip into and out of the stirrup, which greatly eases getting on…and unloading in a hurry, when necessary. Leather soles, however, get wet when used on wet surfaces. The moisture will eventually get through to your socks and your feet. Rubber soles are completely waterproof, so I recommend them for winter riding. Rubber-soled riding boots tend to grab the leather tread most stirrups are made with, and keep the boot from slipping in or out. A rubber lugged sole, such as you see on some western-style boots, can actually be unsafe for riding. The lugged sole can become locked in place in the stirrup if the foot
My Hathornes with a Vibram sole
And my Tony Llamas with a leather sole
Cabela’s Men’s waterproof boots with 10″ uppers
is placed at any angle other than normal. When deciding on a winter riding boot, consider the type and size of your stirrups. Your riding boot should slip easily into and out of the stirrup. You may find you need to invest in a pair of winter riding stirrups, for comfort and safety, along with your winter riding boots.
So there you have it, the gospel according to Tony, for keeping your toes warm during winter riding.
But it looks like I’m going to have to rebuild from the ground up. I have fixed some bugs that I introduced into the previous site, and hopefully I have learned enough to be more careful in the future.
New: I have integrated the WTR site with the Forum and Gallery, so that when you register on the WTR site, you are automatically registered for the other two. If you encounter problems, let me know and I’ll see if I can screw it up…er…I mean, fix it.
I changed the “Comments”, and “Share” buttons. It is not quite as busy as what I had, so let me know whether you like this or prefer the traditional facebook boxes. I am not yet sure whether facebook comments will be integrated with it yet. We’ll see.
Those who previously “followed” or subscribed to the site or posts may need to do that again.
I am working on restoring my previous posts. I may end up having to rebuild those as well. I will also reload my photo albums to the Gallery. I should have everything back up to speed by the end of the week.
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