Night Latches on Saddles

I have had a couple e-mails asking me about Night Latches on Saddles and if I have ever used one. A Night Latch is simply a piece of rope or leather strap ran through the gullet of your saddle and provides the rider something to hang onto as the horn of the saddle is tough to grasp - even tougher to hand onto if you have a wide Wade type horn.

The Night Latch got it's name from night riders watching over cattle herds. The rider would sink one of his hands into the night latch, much like a bull rider does on a bull riding rig, primarily so that if he fell asleep he would not necessarily fall off.

Night Latches have use when riding green broke horses as you can wrap your hand around the night latch, palm towards you and your elbow into your side to give you the best chance of riding out a bronc ride.

I have a Night Latch on my colt saddle and would not hestitate using one on any saddle or any horse if I thought I needed it.  The picture at left shows the part you would be holding onto.  I keep it just lose enough so I can rotate it to the other side of the horn, so if I'm riding in a halter using just the lead rope I can flip the lead rope to the other side and change the night latch to the opposite hand.   


I imagine in the old days Cowboys made Night Latches out of ropes, spare leather straps or even a spare belt. The Night Latches I use are from Craig Cameron, who calls his version a Harness Leather Bucking Strap, which is made out of premium harness leather with a quality buckle, visable in the picture at top right, made out of stainless steel I believe.   I had two of them at one time but I loaned one out and haven't got it back yet.  Again, you can use a belt, but you would not be disappointed in this thick harness leather bucking strap.