Alan Bell

Here is a work in progress. It will be a quirt handle when I finish with it with a 48 strand horse rawhide braid that has a box and zig zag pattern that is hard to see but it really is there!! Vaya Con Dios, Alan

I finally got this hat band on a hat and got a decent picture of it. It is a 12 strand Trenza Patria braid with 1mm wide strings out of horse rawhide and the buttons are Gaucho "Left Hand" knots. The band itself is 1/4" wide. Kinda hard to get a decent picture of it so I hope this shows up clear enough to see. Vaya Con Dios, Alan

Hey Brett, The answer to both questions is the same. The last string is the one that goes around the core and starts to pattern again on the first string. the you work that down tight and even and start to braid the rest of the length in the u1, o1 pattern. The U2 O2 comes when you reach the end and that is why you have to start with the string in thirds not in half. after the turn back you only use half of the strings to go back up so they nee to be 1/3 longer than the other half of the strings. They interweave back up to the top and then the extra on both ends should be about even and everything interweaves back to the middle and gets hidden around the noseband so as to not make a big lump in one spot. Hope this helps. I'm simple minded to and inherently lazy so I like to find the easiest quickest way to get things done right the first time so i don't have to keep doing it over! If I was smarter I wouldn't be cutting off bad knots and having to redo them!!! Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

Greg, that's funny, You pulled a "Harwood" I guess we've entered a new phrase to the English language! For those that don't know Dale Harwood managed to stock up on some real nice Latigo leather and also some linen thread when the US manufactures were quitting production. I think he bought ALL of the final run on the latigo and has enough to last another 10 yrs or so. Dale has a few other things 'you can't get anymore' that help make his saddles unique. Vaya Con Dios, Alan

All the methods mentioned will work the one thing that was not mentioned is to rub either Vaquero Cream or white saddle soap BEFORE you put it in the bag to case over night. This will help the moisture content spread evenly and helps keep it in there while you braid. Also, while you are braiding you can keep a damp barbers shaving brush and dampen with the cream as you go. If you cut strips they will only be as long as the length of the hide and will go through differing thickness while you can cut your circles from parts that are more uniform in thickness. Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

Hey Mike, you need to get Robert Woolery's book because of the way he explains interweaves. Actually it is Ernie LaDacuer's explanation but it helped me look at things a certain way that make interweaves a lot easier. Vaya Con Dios, Alan

Sure it does, that is what I am using. The Hansen string cutter comes with a splitter but I end up using both the Hansen and the Tandy splitters. Keep you blade sharp and split a little at a time and remember you should not be splitting much more than the thinnest part! If the hide ranges from 2 oz to 6 oz the thinnest you will split down to is 2 oz., or you compromise the integrity of the string. Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

Naw, beveling is done with the same sharp knife and a piece of scrap leather protecting your holding hand and holding the knife at an angle and beveling freehand. And I am just holding the end while cutting the strip of rawhide into strings. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Here is what it looks like when you use it. You grab hold of the string coming out the top of the disk and apull gently and steadily and the knife seems to float on down all by itself. Make sure you catch the knife before it reaches the end and falls to the floor or worse still, it stabs you in your foot!! Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

Here is a couple of pictures basically it is a disk cut from a kitchen cutting board. In he center there is an "A" shaped hole and on one side there is a slot cut into that goes just past the apex of the "A". Vaya Con Dios, Alan

Wow, that is funny that you two are cousins somehow and you are both into rawhide braiding and found each other on this forum!!! LOL how COOL is that!! I wonder if I have any lost relatives on here??!!!?? Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Great idea Mike and the way to get those knots better is to take a sharp knife and cut the crappy ones off! You can do better and there is no reason to leave those on there. 4 of the knots on those reins i made you were cut off and re tied!! Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

yes Vaya Con Dios, Alan

CW everything looks good, you will get the little things straightened out in fine fashion if your work is on this level. I try and braid where I don't have to go back and do much tightening but I have to work back through most knots and tighten them up a bit anyhow! Just keep after it and you'll git 'er done! Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

If you cut down the spine you will lose the ability to cut around the whole ide say for reata strings. A lot of folks think and I've seen where a cow that used a back fly rub had a weak line down its spine and that made poor rawhide. There are very few that have the ability to let an old cow starve to death and then be there in time to skin it and make rawhide so who knows if that true. Most string is coming from cows and steer around 600lbs. now. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

I'm going to continue this because it is a bit important as it relates to form and function even though it is not strictly about braiding. A bosal/hackmore is designed to work much like a snaffle in that they are designed to be used with TWO hands. That is the form and function of both. The snaffle is designed with the hinge in the middle so that you can affect a direct response from the horse by applying pressure in the corner of it mouth and across the bar on one side of the mouth without a major cue on the opposite side. When I want to go left I use the left rein and the snaffle bar on th left side of the horses mouth comes into contact with the jaw and/or corner of the mouth and the horse will tip its nose in the direction of the turn so the horse will stay in frame. That is the essence of the snaffle. A two hand bit meant to help teach the horse fundamental cues while maintaining frame. The hackmore will cue the horse indirectly by pushing on the opposite cheek/jawbone. When I want to go left I make contact with the left rein and the hack pushes the horses nose from the opposite jaw/cheek. This is the essence of the bosal/hack to help teach a horse fundamental cues while maintaining frame. In the snaffle if you cue to stop or basically to cease forward movement using both reins equally yo are setting up a situation where the joint in the middle of the snaffle can cause it to scissor the jaw of the horse and allow the joint to poke the horse in the roof of its mouth. With the bosal if you cue to cease forward movement then you are setting up a situation where the horse can use its head, neck and spine to brace against the pull. The horse will feel it down its spine and will try and transfer the energy into the ground. With both the snaffle and the bosal you can cue to cease forward movement and also to begin backward movement with one rein by making the connection between the rein, the bit or bosal, the nose or mouth, the neck, spine and to the horses feet NOT into the ground. When the horse feels that connection it will respond. Form and function for the snaffle and the bosal. That is why they are able to be used alternately by many trainers but you have to understand the form and function of what you are using. For me in addition to the already similar function I can use a bosal to help the horse frame up in a collected manner by feeling out the horses nose and searching for a bit of tuck while driving the horse onto the hackmore. The same can and is done with the snaffle but I find the bosal being outside of the horses head makes it easier than the snaffle inside its mouth. The horse is more "worried" when asking for collection with the snaffle than the bosal because the snaffle can cause pain to the sensitive inside of the horse mouth while the hack or bosal is on the outside. A difference in the form and function that I think is important and more importantly i think it is important to the horse. As braiders we should understand the form and function of the gear we make or don't make it. Make something you truly believe in! Study from folks that know what you are trying to learn. Don't just take my word for this ask, experiment, seek explore! Then when someone ask you why you do or don't do this or that and why you would use this instead of that you have an answer that makes sense and helps the person asking the question to improve. Braiding is almost a lost art. It is an art and worthy of study. But the art comes from taking something that is a tool and making it EXTRA SPECIAL! But don't forget........IT IS STILL A TOOL! Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

If the horse is scratched up under it's chin it is notthe bosal that caused it but the person! And yes i have. But with that same bosali have also started one that did not get scratched and right now i have a colt that has a blaze face and in the summertime his nose will scratch with the same bosal that I've used on him and 2 other horses that have never been scratched! You are still not thinking about the bosal or the bit in the correct manner. A snaffle pulled equally on both reins will scissor the horses jawbone like a nutcracker and then the hinge in the middle will poke the colt in the roof of its mouth! But it is the rider that causes that to happen NOT the snaffle. Far more horses become head tossers and nose pokers because of improper use of the snaffle than the bosal has ever seen Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Entiendo, Que Paso no Etiendes? The bosal just SIT THERE on the horses head! It can not be harsh it has no way to do anything. It is an inanimate object! It is the hands of the rider that decides whether or not a bit or bosal is harsh. Are you saying that in your hands a bosal is just to harsh? Then LIGHTEN UP!!! LOL Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Very NICE Troy.. Haven't done anything like it but I apreciate seeing someone stretch the boundry a bit.!! Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

Found it! It looks real good. Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

I ouldn/ find it or you. Vaya con Dios, Alan

Johanna, I just found this thread after all this time benefiting from what you started I feel a little stupid! I hope you realize how much you've done to actually pay forward folks that you otherwise may have never known. As it has been written "A servant shall lead them" you have shown us all the way to improve who we are by improving what we do! Thanks and... Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell Bob Marley - Kaya

I used to use a larger dowel but folks complain that the slides don't stay put! If you were to use say a 1/2" dowel then your slide may not stay with you when you are out for a ride on your pony unless you keep checking up on it! I still have mine from the 1/2" dowel but I don't use them because of that. Vaya con Dios, Alan

Charlie, I think my mandrel is a 5/16 dowel. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Hey Rawhider, the main part of horse makes a dark rawhide and you usually bleach the belly with hydrogen peroxide. actually the lighter of the horse is a hide I bought that originated in Peru and the dark interweave is a hide I made from a neighbors mare. The Peruvian hide is a little odd and almost in between rawhide and leather and kinda like buckskin and stretches and lightens in color to that smoky look when you braid.I'm making a set of romal reins too and I'm using the Peru Horse rawhide for the buttons and they make a cool contrast to the yellow/amber cow rawhide. Vaya Con Dios, Alan