Members grumpyguy Posted May 15, 2008 Members Report Posted May 15, 2008 (edited) Larry, Beautiful Job! Too nice to get scuffed! I bet you would do well at a doin's like the Stampede. Yonatan, I have heard the same. In packer and cow camps I have been around this has been atopic of much discussion. Several guys I know use the buckle inward sets which are popular in the Sierra Nevada foothills and up to the Sierra crest. (I see almost as many buckle outward sets though too.) They pointed out the buckles and conchos could catch on brush, but I countered if yer feet stay in the stirrups where they belong the the buckle won't be able to catch. (I illustrated the point by mounting back up so they could see.) I usually build the buckle outward just cause I like it that way. The other complaint they had was after a long day of riding and your sore and stiff, it's easier to reach the buckle in the inside. (A point I was painfully aware of, but I was younger and folded in half better then.) The thing about both areas are similar, the country is generally rugged with lots of thick and thorny brush. (Usually what's not covered in leather comes back shredded, so protecting expensive boots is a valid point.) I have yet to see anyone caught by the buckle of thier spur strap. (Not so with the spurs themselves though.) If anyone out there has, I'd like to hear about it. Truth is cowboys and buckaroos follow their traditions just because that is the way it's always been done. (Myself included) As another example out here no one rides with a quirt! You see plenty of open reins, closed reins with rommels and mecates with poppers though. Point is they serve the same pourpose as the quirt, popular with Texas cowboys. (Don't misunderstand here I never would use these to solve a problem with a horse that can not be solved another way, time and patients, with a dab of wisdom applied here. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast sort of thing!) Quirts, rommels and the like are good tools, not always so much for riding a horse but also a great tool to get stubborn cattle moving along. Edited May 15, 2008 by grumpyguy Quote
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