Re: Slobber Straps & Mecate Reins with Hackamore?

On 2005-11-11 14:37:32 -0800, "Tamara in TN" <CDHOWARD@xxxxxxxxxxxx> said:


cindi wrote:
 In the proces of neck reining, you don't ride on contact.

Slobber straps, on the other hand, are meant to be used with "western"
type green horse contact.  They function by acting like a hinge - when
you start to pick up on the reins, the slobber strap beings to lift
before your rein gets tight, to give the horse a pre-warning of what's
to come.

Mostly they just weight the bit in the horse's mouth and keep it stable. And they keep your mecate from getting wet, because horsehair gets stiff as a Calvinist's neck when they're wet.

there is no pre signal in this piece of gear...the cues are 
the seat then the reins

Mrrrph, mumble--cues are _always_ seat first then something, says the Californio rider.

(normally of a prickly hair type in the greener 
horses) moving on the neck and then the face


The mecate portion of your reins is also somewhat useless when using a 
mechanical hackamore.  The long portion is mean to be used to send your
horse around on a circle and loosen him up,

Nah, it's really more in the way of a lead rope.

       no one could ever lunge a horse in a bosal...it is not designed
for that sort of sideways pressures and it would send a most AFU signal
to a horse who wore it, it works one way  by being balanced down and in
the center of the lower jaw

It's possible to do some ground doubling (indicated when your colt has a hump in his back higher than Pike's Peak) and if he is truly lunge trained you can send him around you in a small circle, but you DON'T TAKE THE SLACK OUT OF THE LEADROPE (colina, get-down rope, mecate tail).

                       the only thing that ever came close to lunging
was what they calleded working in range colts a "hard pull"...the horse
took off down the fence and about 20 or 30 feet from you you braced
your hand on your hip and turned him to you using the bosal and a long
enough rope....but he HAD to be moving straight down the fence or he
could pull out and away from you to the side...in the end if it were
properly done he ended  up facing you

And this one of the times when it's actually appropriate to use the knotted rope halter, AKA breaking halter/breaking jaquima, AKA "Parelli halter."


        I cannot fathom why someone would ride a non bosal horse in
mecate reains anyway....what could possibly be the point ?

It's one of those "cowboy engineering" situations: creating the irreplaceble in the face of the unavailable. They are commonly used on snaffle colts out here in bridlehorse land.



     Tamara in TN


--
Phetsy

======================
"Such an educated feller,
"His words just come in herds."
	The Zebra Dun
======================
Phetsy Calloway-Calderon
<phetsyATearthlinkDOTnet>

.

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