Buckaroo John's Blog

This is the quality AMERICAN made western leather loping hackamore bridle you've heard about from cutters and anyone wanting a bitless bridle! This is a round caveson hackamore designed to fit low on your horse's nose and, because it is round, it works more like a sidepull than a hackamore, with a side to side action. It is generally used to lope cutting horses to keep their mouths soft. It has our working 3/4" harness leather double cheek adjustment headstall with a hand braided fiador (throat latch), which is adjustable to hold the fine quality braided rawhide noseband-caveson in position....

As you shop in a tack store, or are on-line browsing the many styles of headstalls available, have you ever wondered what the purpose of a slide ear headstall is?  Ever wondered why you would want to choose a slide ear headstall versus a browband style headstall? Is it all about fashion or is it all about function? Is it both? We will look at both types of headstalls. The first consideration is the type of bit you will be using with your headstall.  Each type of bit has a different action and different effect on the headstall.  When a...

The “female Jesse James”…the “bandit queen”…..all names associated with one person, Belle Starr. Belle began her life on February 5, 1848 as Myra Maybelle Shirley in Carthage, Missouri. Her father, John Shirley, was a successful farmer and owner/operator of the Carthage Hotel. Belle was an educated woman who attended the Carthage Female Academy. Belle’s family moved to Texas, after Belle’s brother was killed during the Civil War riding as a Southern guerrilla. Her family traveled to Texas in two Conestoga wagons. Belle, only 16 at the time drove one of those wagons. After the war, in 1866 Belle married a...

We wanted to dust off this video back from 2008 and share with you how to rig your saddle's laitgo and off side billets. We all have a first time we've had to do this, and I'm sure each one of us has scratched our heads a time or two! Enjoy!  Head over to www.buckarooleather.com to view our selection of latigo and billets!

Evidence exists that the predecessor to the modern saddle was in use by the Assyrians in 700-800 BCE. It consisted of a simple cloth fastened onto the horse with a surcingle. These early saddles had neither a solid tree nor stirrups. By 300 BC, the Samaritans added a breastplate and girth to keep the saddle on. The development of the solid saddle tree was significant; it raised the rider above the horse's back, and distributed the rider's weight on the animal's spine. This change greatly increased the comfort of the horse and prolonged its useful life. The invention of the...