July 25, 2009 has been designated as National Day of the Cowboy. Started in 2005 the mission of the National Day of the Cowboy nonprofit organization is to contribute to the preservation of America’s Cowboy heritage so that the history and culture which the United States Congress’s National Day of…
Today’s cowgirls ride as the cowboys do with their feet on each side of the saddle but it wasn’t always that way for women. Women from earliest times rode horses as we do but in the middle ages the idea of a “proper” woman riding style was born. The first…
The most commonly used bit for a horses mouth is called a snaffle bit. A bit is a snaffle because it creates direct pressure without leverage on the mouth. That means it transmits exactly the same amount of pressure on the mouth as the cowboy is putting on the reins….
When thinking about a saddle one of the most important, but least thought about, details is the rigging of the saddle. The rigging basically determines where the saddle will sit on the horses back. Rigging is the metal (occasionally leather) hardware that attaches directly to the tree or is build…