| Issue #5 |
Old Style Western Horse Tack
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Quick Change Headstalls & Reins
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Horses w/Pigeon Toes
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Lead a Horse into Battle?
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Buckaroo Deal!
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Gene Autry's "Ten Commandments of the Cowboy"
1. A cowboy never takes unfair advantage.
2. A cowboy never betrays a trust.
3. A cowboy always tells the truth.
4. A cowboy is kind to small children, to old folks, and to animals.
5. A cowboy is free from racial and religious prejudice.
6. A cowboy is helpful and when anyone's in trouble he lends a hand.
7. A cowboy is a good worker.
8. A cowboy is clean about his person and in thought, word, and deed.
9. A cowboy respects womanhood, his parents, and the laws of his country.
10. A cowboy is a patriot.
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Rawhide Horse Tack
Rawhide, a brief history
Rawhide is the hide of an animal that has been kept it is natural state and not treated. Leather is the hide of an animal that been altered by a special "pickling" process called "tanning." After the tanning process is completed the hide is termed "tanned." The look and feel of leather is different than the look and feel of rawhide, and its strength and utility properties are different than those of rawhide.
Most rawhide originated from the skin of buffalo, deer, elk or cattle. It is prepared by removing all fur, meat and fat. The hide is then usually stretched over a frame before being dried. The resulting material is hard and translucent. It can be shaped by rewetting and forming before being allowed to thoroughly re-dry. It can be rendered more pliable by bending repeatedly in multiple directions. This happened by rubbing it over a post and even sometimes using a traditional method of chewing. It may also be oiled or greased for a degree of waterproofing.
To read more about Rawhide and romals and quirts please click the links below,
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Old Style Western Horse Tack Making a Comeback!
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09/27/09
Buckaroo John
Do you remember the western TV shows, The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and Trigger, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Bonanza, and Rawhide, to name a few. The shows told tales of the old west cowboy and their lives on the horse trail. The vintage cowboy dress, the western towns built to make the old west come alive all added to the nostalgia and stories of the shows. But did you ever notice the western horse tack? What types of headstall or breast collar adorn Trigger?
Today, we can see those same types of western horse tack make a comeback.
The old style Martingale Breast Collar can be seen on Trigger, Roy Rogers horse and the Lone Rangers horse, pictured below. The Breast Collars are adorned with silver conchos and are truly works of art.
The Headstalls used by the western cowboys were truly one of a kind. The Headstall had a browband and a noseband, with a chain of silver conchos connecting the two. This piece of old west horse tack was not only elegant but a necessary tool. This old west Headstall is pictured below.
Both the old west martingale and Headstall are making a comeback- the old west styles of horse tack are becoming new again!
Buckaroo Leather is proud to bring the old west style horse tack back- please visit our website www.buckarooleather.com
 
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Quick Change Headstalls and Reins |
09/2709
Buckaroo John
Buckaroo Leather's new quick change Headstalls and reins make it easier to change the horses bits! The quick changes are at the bit ends-just too easy!
Take a look at these new styles-
Quick Change Browband Headstall 5/8" Oiled soft supple BLACK Harness leather. With old tyme silver dot/studs. With new QUICK changes at the bit end making it super easy to change bits! Beautiful double & sewn with dyed edges and double cheek adjustment for the perfect fit.
Quick Change Oiled super supple broke in feel Split Harness reins 5/8"- 8'. For QUICK & easy bit changes. YOU will love the feel and ease of using these reins. Made to match Headstall-LH100-71QC .
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Horses with Pigeon toes /
The Dynamics and Risks
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09/27/09
John Silveira
The pigeon toed horse.
Left off last time with you recognizing the direction of your horses knees in relation to the direction of it's feet. We established that even if your horse appears to have "Perfect conformation" (Feet pointing straight ahead) it's most likely still pigeon toed and that the reason for that is most horses knees point outward and the feet just don't point in the same direction. My findings in over 17 years is approximately 98% of horses to be pigeon toed. Only 2-3 horses per 100 have feet that line up with the knees. So lets dig alittle deeper into all this and what it means to you and your horse. lets break it down.
Most horses point outward at the knees, what this means is the direction of the knee dictates the exact point of breakover of the foot. So if the knee points straight ahead the breakover of the foot will be exactly in the same direction ( Straight ahead ). Now STOP !! I didn't say the foot would break over in a balanced way ( or dead center of its foot ), all I said is the foot will break over , so keep in mind - "If the foot doesn't line up with the knee then the foot will breakover somewhere else other than dead center of the foot ".
If you have shoes on your horse or even a barefoot horse , if you look closely you'll see a wear pattern on either the shoe , or on the hoof if the horse is barefoot. If you study it you'll see that wear pattern is exactly in line with where the knee points. Keep in mind the horse's feet don't necessarily have to point inward (pigeon toed) but can also point outward (toed out) in relation to the knee as well.
Allright , so exactly what's going on here in these cases? What happens is when the feet don't point the same direction as the knees the foot breaks over sideways on the foot , either inside on a toed out horse or on the outside of Pigeon toed horses. Now I have to say i've only seen maybe 2 truely toed out horses in my carreer so most are Pigeon toed.
Several things happen on pigeon toed horses. 1) The foot is breaking over the outside which twists the joint. The quick example is: stand with your toes pointing each other and try to walk. Your feet are breaking over the outside edge which is exactly the same for a horse - except for one big difference , horses joints are not designed to twist like ours are. 2) When the foot's not balanced and breaking over the side it puts excessive loads on the outside of the foot. My good friend Patricia Reszetylo sent me this neet link to this website to demonstrate exactly what i just said. Follow this link and then quickly backspace your browser to finish up reading here. http://www.goinfrared.com/success/ir_image/1174/industry_id/1049/#
You can see the extra heat on the outside of the infrared photos. So not only are joints being twisted but the foot itself is being over stressed as well. Next , 3) Since the foot's not breaking over correctly your horse will now have an incorrect gait , namely the feet will Wing Out. What winging out means is after the foot breaks over and comes off the ground the foot will swing out to the outside of the horses body most likely intefering with the rear legs as the rear comes forward - NOT GOOD !
If your horses feet get longer the condition becomes worse and so do the risks of lameness. If your horses feet aren't doing what they are supposto do your risk of lameness goes up. If you're in the Horse show circuits with Morgans , Saddlebreds , or Standardbreds, or Foxtrotters , any horse with long feet, then, the leverages on the feet and joints are increased and the feet are flying every which way. You don't win shows that way , and your risk of lameness on your horse is not worth the risk in my opinion.
Now , what do you do about these issues. Number one , do not let your farrier use the Old school methods of correction. The old school teaches to shorten one side of the foot , now the foot is not level and more problems come. Don't let that happen. Instead keep the foot level. You can find a very short video here on the blog describing the level foot - listed under "True level". Also remember shortening one side of the foot will force twist into the joint which can also cripple your horse.
John "TheFootDoctor" alias "The Renegade" Silveira
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Author Bio: John Silveira, Farrier, Aikido practitioner, spiritualist, born and raised in San Mateo California the bay area. For information on his shoeing method and the 100% track record just go to
Care4Horses and leave contact information.
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Why Will a Horse Allow You to Ride Him Into Battle?
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09/27/09
Jay Koch
I was having a Twitter conversation with my friend, Daniel, this morning about horses, and I had some thoughts that just wouldn't fit in 140 characters.
I was talking to Daniel about how smart horses are. They aren't smart in the same way we are. They are smart in the ways they need to survive. Since horses are prey animals, they must always be aware of their environment. Their survival depends on being able to discern what is dangerous and what is not. If they perceive something to be dangerous, they are hard coded to run. On the other hand, they can't run at every leaf that rustles in the bushes. As a result, horses are black belts at reading body language.
Daniel then asked an astute question: "Why do horses allow us to ride them into battle?"
My tweet was: "Leadership. Develop a strong relationship with your horse, and he will follow you anywhere. Same w/ people."
Here's the part that doesn't fit in a tweet:
Horses crave leadership. In a wild herd, the lead stallion or mare, or the two working as a team, are always on the look out for danger. This allows the rest of the herd to relax and graze. When you meet a horse for the first time, his biggest question to you is, "Can you keep me safe?" If you can show the horse that you can be an effective leader and keep him safe, he will be happy to let you lead him.
As your relationship grows, and the horse trusts you more and more, the two of you will be able to work together and do things you could not do separately. This includes going into battle.
The same thing works with people. Most people are better followers than leaders. They are happy to let someone tell them what to do and where to go. When a leader can convince his followers that he has a vision and can protect them, they will follow him anywhere.
Horses are great teachers of leadership. If you are not an effective leader, your horse will not follow you. Unlike with people, a horse's feedback on your leadership skills are unadulterated, immediate, and honest. There is no pretense. You are either a good leader or you are not. The horse will follow you only if you can lead.
You don't have to have a horse to learn how horsemanship will help you be a better leader. Let me share my life lessons I learned while astride my horse.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Koch
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