Buckaroo John's Blog

When you picture a cowboy, he is more than likely wearing a cowboy hat on his head. It is the iconic symbol of the cowboy and of the West. There are three main types of materials the hats are made from: straw, palm leaf and felt. Within each of these are low to high quality materials and craftsmanship. The number of X's on the band indicate the quality, be it mixtures of fur or weave of straw.  Straw hats are typically a hot weather hat, and provide decent ventilation on those scorching summer days. They are generally more affordable than...

Many of us that ride in Western saddles, especially Wade saddles, have noticed a piece of leather wrapped around the horn. That piece of leather, or rubber, is called a horn wrap and it is used for roping.  J.M. Capriola describes the horn wrap beautifully: "Horn wraps made of mule hide or elk hide are used on saddle horns in the Great Basin’s “slick-horn” buckaroo country, as opposed to rubber or being tied on hard and fast as is done in the southwest.   Both of these types of horn wrap allow the dallies to slide as the roper demands, which...

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!