Mecate Safety - Being Safe Using Mecate Reins

I see more and more riders using Mecates in both competitive and pleasure trail rides as well as ranch sorting. That means they are using a bosal or a snaffle bit which I think is more benign on the horse, especially for fast paced competition.  Sure you can cut a tongue on a snaffle, but you can't get the leverage that you can on a bit with shanks.

For the most part, you can get away with tying the lead rope end of the mecate around your saddle horn or coil up the lead rope and tie it to the saddle using the saddle strings, however when you are in the sorting pen and using roping cattle like Corriente cattle with horns, I think there are some prudent safety considerations to what you do with the lead rope end of the mecate.

The traditional method for carrying the lead rope of the mecate is to make a bite in the rope and tuck it underneath your pants belt or the belt on your chinks or chaps. So if you get thrown from your horse, you have a chance to grab the lead and retain control of your horse, or if you can't grab that end of the mecate, it will pull out from the belt and keep you from being drug as the horse runs away.

The end of the mecate, making a lead rope, is real handy when you dismount as you have a lead to control your horse. On competitive trail rides, points are sometimes given to riders who also carry a halter and lead, usually bridling the horse over a halter and carrying the lead. With a mecate you don't need the halter or lead as you already have something you can lead the horse with while on the ground.

During Ranch Sorting and Team Penning events, I have seen riders configure the lead rope end of their mecate so there is no quick release and if a Corriente gets a horn through the lead, it could a wreck. I've been at the gate during sorting and have disrespectful cows push through a small gap between the panel and my horse and it wouldn't take much for a horn, or a head for that matter, to snag the hanging mecate. The only good news is that it would be exciting.

A common ways to make it less than safe when using a mecate, is to dally the lead end of the mecate several times around your saddle horn. Some people may even clove hitch it around the horn. See the photo below:

Another way is to carry the lead end of the mecate is tucked underneath your belt in the traditional manner, however then flip the mecate lead over the saddle horn to keep it out of the way. This appears to be safe as you still have the quick release under your belt, but horn wrap (especially rubber) will put friction on the rope if a cow gets their horn or head underneath the rope and it won't provide slack fast enough not to cause a wreck. If you do ride this way, you need to remember to move the lead end of the mecate off the horn before dismounting.  I often ride with the mecate looped over the saddle horn to keep it out of the way and I'm embarrassed to say I've dismounted more than few times without flipping the mecate off the horn.  But I won't get in a pen with cattle with the mecate lead end running over the horn.  See photo below.

One more way to riders to carry or secure the lead end of the mecate is to coil it and tie it to the saddle using the front saddle strings - see picture at left.  This has the same safety problems as looping it over the saddle horn or tying it to the saddle horn.  When I work a horse from the ground I'll often tie up the lead end of the mecate this way, and sometimes after ground work, I'll leave the lead end tied up if I ride, I but won't enter a pen with cattle or otherwise work cows this way.  

So really the traditional method for carrying the lead rope of the mecate, making a bite in the rope and tuck it underneath your pants belt or the belt on your chinks or chaps, is pretty much the safest method for most riding with a mecate, just be sure the loop or bite in the rope is small enough so the end of the mecate can't accidentally find it's way into the loop and create a knot. Things won't go good if you come off the horse with that lead knotted to your belt to say the least.

Young Horse With Gate Anxiety

During ranch sorting the other day there was an rider on a 3 or 4 year old gelding whose first time on cows would be that day. The rider was concerned that the horse would spook and bolt inside the pen. I had the rider and the horse stay right behind me and my horse as we approached the pens from the outside while the cows were being pushed into the sorting pens. As you can imagine the new horse's head was on a swivel watching and reacting to any move from the 12 Corrientes's in the pen. After a few minutes we rode away, then rode back to do the same. And each time that horse got better. He still had some anxiety about those cows, but it was time to get in the pens.

I was planning on using my first 90 second run with the new horse and rider just circling the cows to allow the horse to get some confidence about the cows moving away from him, and eventually did that, but when going to enter the pen through the 4 foot gate for the first time, that new gelding wouldn't get anywhere near the gate. Eventually, one of the ground crew led the horse through the gate and we commenced on our first run.

The new horse and rider did another 4 or 5 runs each time having to be lead on the ground through the gate. During a break I talked to the rider about how well the horse is taking to cattle and saying that I actually thought that little gelding probably had some cow horse bred into him as he was doing so well once he got into the pen, but still the gate bothered him and we should try to fix that. I took the rider and the horse over to the larger arena fence where it was also apparent that the sponsor signs on the fence bothered that little horse.

I had the rider ask the horse to move towards the arena and letting the horse stop when he needed to. The horse, being curious would soon become comfortable and take a step forward on it's own motivation. And while I was explaining that to the rider, the horse moved forward a step much to the rider's delight. Within a few minutes that horse was nosing the signs, licking his lips and starting to look around.

Then I dismounted and demonstrated moving the horse following the lead line between me and the arena fence, asking the horse to roll his backend over and bring his front end across and follow the lead between me and the arena fence.

I was using a Bosal and a mecate, while the rider was using a leverage bit, so the rider retrieved a halter then started doing this exercise with the new horse. And at first the new horse skitted through between the rider and the fence like something bad was going to happen in that confined space. After a few times of back and forth following the lead between the rider and fence the horse became much more comfortable and I had the rider, give the horse a break for a few minutes, then close the gap and continue. Another few minutes and that was old hat to that young gelding.

So then I had the rider ask the horse to stop between him and the fence then to rub on the horse. Then I had the rider continue at a slower pace and stop the horse mid way in each direction and rub on him. There as a big difference in that horse and the rider saw it. I said let's give it a go and see if he'll move through the sorting pen gate on his own. That young gelding moved through the sorting pen gate like he'd been doing it all his life.

The photos below show what I described above in having the horse follow the lead between you and the fence.  You may have to use a flag to help the horse go forward and the horse may hurry through it in the beginning.  Once the horse gets comfortable following the lead, rolling his back end away from the fence and bringing his front end over and going through again, you can have him stop between you and fence.  Giving him a release here.   They quickly become desensitized to the fence.   And in the case of the little horse at ranch sorting who was fearful of the sorting pen gate, the gate becomes a non issue.       

What are You doing with Your Horse?

Not too long ago, I wrote about Cross Training for horses and how some are taking advantage of the different opportunities to make their horse better. Not necessarily better in a competitive event way, but in the making of an all around horse.

I received a few comments from people who said their horses did better in the arena when they took them on trail rides.

Using competitive events to make a better horse usually requires the rider to push away thoughts of scoring, but also thoughts of what other people think of you and your horse. After all, it's about your horse. And like the saying go's - "there's always tomorrow".

During Arena or Trail Obstacle Challenges, where the horse and rider approach and move through obstacles usually within a time constraint, some rider's will try and push their reluctant horse across a bridge or through a curtain only to meet resistance from the horse. He just isn't ready. To try and push him through the obstacles usually builds anxiety within the horse, justify his initial apprehension, and decreases the chances of him completing that obstacle in the time allowed. And if your horse totally refuses to complete an obstacle and the rider moves on to the next, the horse has just learned he can refuse an obstacle and out wait you. I think the rider's who are thinking long term, will wait on their horse to approach the obstacle in a willing manner.  In the video below, I intended on letting my horse set the approach to the yellow slicker.  I took a slow jog towards to the slicker, letting my horse look at it and drop his nose on, and as he showed no big issue with it, I asked him forward so I could position up to retrieve the slicker. 

More than one rider tried to urge their horse towards the slicker before that horse was ready to accept getting closer and in each case it didn't work out well as the horse was on his own schedule.  The difference between approaching the obstacle when the horse is ready and trying to push him to the obstacle because of a judges clock, is often only a few seconds.     



When a rider pushes aside the time constraint, and doesn't worry any judging or scoring, time can be taken to use that obstacle to make a better horse. I've seen rider's run out of time then ask the judge if they can continue, and I have seen rider's work on the obstacle after the competition is over. In both instances, thinking of their horse.

The same goes for Ranch Sorting. It has become became pretty popular. While it's a timed event, you can approach your runs as slow as you like, providing your partner thinks the same, and focus on letting your horse get comfortable with what you asking him to do, and build on that. If someone brings a new horse, unexposed to cows, we'll let that horse and rider follow a seasoned horse and move among the cattle getting that horse used to not only the cows but a crowded environment.

Sometimes you'll see an otherwise considerate rider caught up with the competitive aspect, trying to sort as many cows as they can in 90 seconds, regardless on how his horse feels about it. Jerking and pulling on the horse's mouth until the horse is forced to move his feet to keep his balance, or if the horse raises his head and starts backing to get away from the pain of the bit, which slows his forward movement, the rider applying spurs in less than a judicious manner to move the horse forward - in both these cases the horse is getting second billing and the event becomes detrimental to advancing the horse creating some things that have to be undone, which is sometimes harder than teaching something new.

The video below is a Ranch Sorting run by two friends of mine. Aside from just looking like fun, these two work quickly when they need to and take their time when that's necessary. While their horses are old hands at this, this is an example of riding without creating anxiety in your horse and making his worse.