Articles tagged with Horsemanship

It’s been eighteen years since a friend gave me my first hair rope, it was a nice little sorrel and white mohair Mecate and at the time, I didn’t have a clue how to use it on my horse so it hung in the tack room as decoration. Years went by before I would begin to understand and appreciate how practical a simple hair rope could be…More

The charming lakeside village of Ascona in southern Switzerland formed the backdrop for an arena polo tournament. When people think polo, they often have visions of fast horses carrying colorful players across large areas of fresh turf but this is arena polo- it’s quite different…More

For the last few weeks I’ve described the history and gear of the vaquero in my own words and from my own experiences. This week will be the final topic; the vaquero’s headgear. Last time we talked about the snaffle and hackamore, this time the two-rein and bridle will be the objects of discussion.…More

For those of you who didn’t catch my last post, I discussed the history of vaquero horsemanship as much as I know it. This time though, I will talk about how the snaffle bit and traditional hackamore are used in starting colts. The snaffle came to America from England and Europe and is a direct pressure bit.…More

I would like to explain the way my dad and I start and train all of our horses on the Wald Ranch. Dad and I follow the Californio Vaquero style of horsemanship and training which originated in Europe and Arabia for war horses. It was then transferred to the Americas by the conquistadores and practiced in the Spanish settlements of Mexico…More

Few pieces of a cowboy’s gear seem to raise more hackles, spark more arguments, yet be more indispensable than a good set of spurs. Spurs are the stuff of passionate debate as well as endearing admiration. People who’ve never even owned a horse collect them as works of art but what about the serious horseman who uses them daily…More