One of my favorite photographers, Mary Williams Hyde, just put up an album of pictures from the Traditional Ranch Roping at K Falls. There are some nice horses and hands and good rope handling in the album. It’s fun to look through, from the horse that got froggy in the warm up when the rider took off his jacket (bonus points for stepping in the big loop and not having it turn into a real wreck) to checking out the fancy gear.
For those not familiar with buckaroo gear, any nosebands you see are not tie downs, they are a bosalita with a get-down rope. The rope is tucked into the rider’s belt and will pull free under pressure. The horse is lead with it, to avoid having to lead with the reins of the curb bit. The same goes for the 3d rein on the guys riding in snaffle bits with a mecate rein. Not all fancy silver bits are spade bits. The only way to tell if a bit is a spade is to look at the mouthpiece and there are a lot of fancy bits made with non-spade mouths. The big loops on the ropes and reatas are a point of pride and regional style, as are some of the fancy throws.
Hope you enjoy.
