Readers Questions -

I held onto several questions sent to me by e-mail, so I have enough of them to answer them all at once.

I often get asked who makes my Hat’s and what type of crease my hat has. I basically buy of the shelf hats, because I am pretty damn hard on them and can get immediate replacements. Generally I’ll buy a hat, chocolate brown in color, with a 6 inch crown and a 4 inch brim, then I form the crease into what I call the “Old Army” crease. This is a pretty common crease for Cavalry and standard Army hats in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Just seems to suit me.

When asked where I recommend buying some good working gear from, I always say there are lots of good tack makers out there, depending upon how much you willing to pay. Horse.com offers some really economy on general tacks such as bits, bridles, reins, and other horse gear. I probably have enough gear to last me several lifetimes. I have bought a lot of gear from Craig Cameron who offers very good working gear at reasonable prices. http://www.craigcameron.com

Two other great places for working gear are: Big Bend Saddlery and Sawtooth Saddle Company

I had a question on my rope, where I buy it from and how long of rope do I like. I buy my ropes from National Roper Supply and always get the 60 foot 5/16 inch nylon ranch rope with the Buckaroo Honda (or what I have been calling the Great Basin honda) which is a long oval, slightly curved aluminum Honda that swivels to allow for twists in the rope to be rapidly shook out. I will then cut my ropes to 50’ and burn the end. This is more than enough rope for me and keeps the coils as small as possible so I can get better control of them as I handle the reins. http://www.nrsworld.com

Someone must have been admiring my boots to ask me where I buy my boots from. I order store bought boots from the Olathe Cowboy Collection. These boots has an 17 inch upper, under cut heel with spur ledge, and, double thick leather soles. I prefer leather soles as they are quicker (and safer) to get out of the stirrup with. I actually order these boots from Drews Boots in Oregon. http://www.drewsboots.com/olathe.htm

Another question I am often asked is if there are what DVD’s are available on Horsemanship and what I would recommend. Hands down I would recommend Craig Cameron’s Ride Smart DVD and Book Combination. Also, his Back to Basics and Dark Into Light DVD’s are also first class and explain in common sense terms the modern day method of understanding horses and gentling colts. http://www.craigcameron.com

The last question I’m going to address in this post is what do I mean by "Functional Horsemanship". What this means to me is a combination of knowing enough to be safe with a Horse and giving that Horse a fair life. There are many exceptional clinicians and trainers who can greatly increase your skill and understanding of horses and training, but they are largely unavailable to most horse owners. And these horse owners are generally the people who need that training and education the most in order to be safe and give their horse a fair life. It just pains me to see neglected horses and I will be posting a video soon of the latest neglect case I am working on. Safe Journey.

Tack and Horse Equipment – Saddle Pads

There are many different types of saddle pads. People buy them sometimes just to match their saddles, bridles or horses, and sometimes making a mistake of trying to compensate for a poor fitting saddle. Saddle pads should be chosen for their fit and functionality – how they fit the horse and what level of comfort it provides.

Saddle pads can come in many different types materials and thickness. Common types are wool felt (top left), neoprene, and wool blanket with fleece liner (bottom left) with real or synthetic fleece). I like a wool felt pad as they can breathe and also wick away heat and moisture from the horses back.

I won’t use neoprene as I don’t believe it allows the horse’s back to breathe very well and traps heat and sweat. However, I have also used wool blanket with a fleece liner (combination pad and blanket), either real and synthetic fleece, and that seems to keep the horse comfortable as well as Wool Felt.

Pads come in different thickness. Common Wool Felt pads are ½, ¾ and 1 inch thick. You can purchase Wool Felt Pads with cutouts for low withered (mutton withered) horses and contoured centers to protect the horse’s backbone. I use Wool Felt pads with Impact Gel pads built in-between the layers of Wool Felt to aid in absorbing or dispersing the weight of the rider and saddle. I also use a thin wool blanket, doubled up, over the saddle pad.

But what I wanted to talk about today was two overlooked tips on saddle pads.
The first tip is to regular clean the Wool Felt saddle pad using a grooming brush to remove excess hair and to scrap away crystallized sweat that, if not removed,, can scrap up a horse's back cause hair loss and discomfort.

The second tip is to always “tent” your saddle pad over the withers and brush away any mane hair so as you cinch the saddle down you don’t end up pulling on the mane and making the horse uncomfortable.

Tip #1



Tip #2

Tack and Horse Equipment - Get Down Rope

In response to a reader question on Get Down ropes and how I use one:

Get Down Ropes are a pretty traditional piece of equipment, use by the Horseman to lead his horse when on the ground or to tie his horse to a tie rail or other suitable tie spot.

Notice I say suitable tie spot. A panel fence, fence gate and flimsy things like this are not good tie spots. Use something that is meant to tie your horse to such as a tie post, tie rail, D ring on a trailer, etc.

There are a group of Horseman that will not ever lead their horses nor tie them by the reins. However, I will not go so far as to say good Horsemen never lead by the reins or tie by the reins. I certainly have, no excuses, but I'm just a Horseman in training. I'm sure the reader can understand that leading a bitted horse, that is a horse carrying a bit, by the reins can cause problems such as the bit clanging around the horse's mouth and even chipping or busting teeth.

Riding a Hackamore or a mechanical Hackamore is alot different, but if you don't have a Fiador, you may pull the nose band and bridle off the horse.

In riding with Hackamores and Bosals, remember a Bosal is just the nose piece which, combined with a bridle or hanger, becomes a Hackamore. Some Horsemen use Mecate or McCarthy reins which are a one piece rein, becoming like a set of roper reins and tied so the last 8 feet or so become a get down rope connected to the Bosal or noseband heel knot. Traditional Mecate Reins are made from horse mane hair, newer ones are made from round yacht braid or kermantle rope.

Other get down ropes are separate from the reins and are clipped or tied onto the Fiador loops (next to the noseband heel knot) in order to lead a horse on the ground.

I use a modified rawhide noseband tiedown and bridle as a Hackamore and I carry a 1/4 inch soft cotton rope to tie onto the tiedown ring on the noseband for when I want to lead a horse any moderate distance on the ground or over rough terrain.