My bosal is done! Homemade block & more questions again!

[Fillabeana]

Regarding the Buck clinic. I’ve heard stories, so I wouldn’t just walk in their with my hackamore thinking I’m all that!

No, I wouldn’t think so. You’re not as…oblivious? self centered? Rawhide-Barbie-Outfit-concerned? Decal-on-the-trailer-RFD TV trainer-disciple?..as those I’ve seen get lambasted.

I’ll likely start off the first two days in the snaffle to make sure that Mac and I are doing okay and we’re on the same page, then I would ask Buck about trying the hackamore on the third or fourth day but bring my snaffle with me in case it is a disaster. I just figure that if I could get some instruction/observation/guidance from him, I might as well go for it!

Buck has been giving people a list of please-get-these-things-working-before-you-show-up-in-a-bosal items at his clinics. I think I shared that list after my clinic last summer.
Another helpful thing might be to rent Buck’s ‘The Making of a Bridle Horse’ DVDs. There’s a Snaffle Bit one, a Bosal one, a Two-Rein video and a Bridle video.
Giddyup Flix ought to have them.

I know Buck appreciates it when people go to him with questions having already done some homework. Your chances of getting the best help, would be if you had his teaching under your belt already.

And I am really looking forward to your clinic reports, though they may be six weeks away yet

[Plumcreek]

For the mecate, if you ever watch TV, you can sit there with a 6"-8" section looped between your hands and work it back and forth length-wise to soften it. I do this with new thick reins.

Once I wrote my name inside the popper, and hung my new braided reins in a practical joke-trading trainer friend’s tack room for a couple months. They were nice and soft when I retrieved them, showing him the name and saying Thanks!

[Aces_N_Eights]

Pocket Pony, congrats on your purchase! Bill Black makes a nice one
Don’t be afraid to shape on it. I have shaped and reshaped a bunch of ours from using them on different horses or traded for used bosals that needed reshaping. I refuse to spend money on a block of wood with a chunk of latigo string tacked to it so I do the same as fillabeana.
Looks like from your pictures that yours needs to be brought in on the sides. Someone suggested a great idea the other day on another forum- use craft wire to make a model of the shape of your horses face then use it help you decide where to tie in tight and where to spread it using the pumpkin can. I also slightly dampen the bosal, just like if I was cleaning it, and it will help shape it and retain the shape after it has been taken off the shaper.
I don’t take my mcCartys off of the bosal when I am not using them(unless I won’t be using them for quite some time), I know people suggest you should, but I still do hang them upside down from the heel knot.
Who made your mcCarty? I have found that depending the maker and how they are twisted makes a difference on how easy they are to break in.

[froglander]

Why do some call it a mecate and some a McCarty? Is it the same thing? Slang?

[Aces_N_Eights]

[QUOTE=froglander;7453741]
Why do some call it a mecate and some a McCarty? Is it the same thing? Slang?[/QUOTE]

It is the same thing
I have noticed the pronunciation is regional. Same with bosal. Here we pronounce it ‘bo-zel’. When I lived in TX they seem to pronounce it ‘baw-sel’.

[froglander]

Lol, and I think I’ve heard it pronounced “bo-zal”

[Aces_N_Eights]

[QUOTE=froglander;7453784]
Lol, and I think I’ve heard it pronounced “bo-zal”[/QUOTE]

LOL! That’s a new one for me!

[Pocket_Pony]

Ok, new pictures! Mr. PoPo kindly made me my own bosal-shaping block today!

First I measured Mac’s nose with Romex and held the shape and traced it onto paper:

http://i1310.photobucket.com/albums/s654/PrincessFishCheeks/Big%20Mac%20%202005%20BLM%20mustang/20140301_151525_zpswxg8eu3u.jpg

You can see here how much the sides need to come in, as I laid the bosal over the tracing:

http://i1310.photobucket.com/albums/s654/PrincessFishCheeks/Big%20Mac%20%202005%20BLM%20mustang/20140301_151549_zps5vf8qog8.jpg

Here’s the wooden block that Mr. PoPo made for me:

http://i1310.photobucket.com/albums/s654/PrincessFishCheeks/Big%20Mac%20%202005%20BLM%20mustang/20140301_172832_zps3klahmal.jpg

And here it is tied up with one of Mr. PoPo’s hockey skate laces:

http://i1310.photobucket.com/albums/s654/PrincessFishCheeks/Big%20Mac%20%202005%20BLM%20mustang/20140301_173134_zpsrhmsonc4.jpg

How long do I leave it tied like this for? Does it need a break? Would I always keep it stored like this and then hang it? Should I wrap the mecate while the bosal is on the block?

[Zu_Zu]

It’s really lovely ! Enjoy ! Thanks for sharing !

[B]
It is really lovely !

Thanks for sharing ! ENJOY ! [/B]

[Fillabeana]

Mr. PoPo kindly made me my own bosal-shaping block today!

First I measured Mac’s nose with Romex and held the shape and traced it onto paper:

OK, you have a fabulous Mr, and I love your problem solving skills.

My reaction would be that you would want to shape the sides ‘farther’ than needed, and bring the nose in ‘closer’, because that’s what happens on the pumpkin can. In other words, you’d want the block wider at the base, and let the nose come in closer than the block allows.

But of course, with lots of use on the horse’s nose, a good bosal should shape to the nose.

Will you be so kind to take a picture of the bosal, over the tracing, like yuo did before,(this one) http://s1310.photobucket.com/user/PrincessFishCheeks/media/Big%20Mac%20%202005%20BLM%20mustang/20140301_151549_zps5vf8qog8.jpg.html

… after the bosal has been on its cool block for a couple of weeks?

I am especially fond of the long yellow hockey shoelace…

[Aces_N_Eights]

I agree with fillabeana:

@Fillabeana;7459554

OK, you have a fabulous Mr, and I love your problem solving skills.

My reaction would be that you would want to shape the sides ‘farther’ than needed, and bring the nose in ‘closer’, because that’s what happens on the pumpkin can. In other words, you’d want the block wider at the base, and let the nose come in closer than the block allows.

I love your block!
I might tie the top of the bosal in tight use the can in the bottom for a while then use your block to maintain the shape once you get it, especially if you aren’t using it all the time?
The amount of time using the can or block will depend on how stiff it is. Put it on for a few days, use it and if it doesn’t maintain the shape or you find a spot you need to fix put it back on the can/block. The only way you’ll hurt it is if you decide to use to break ice out of the water trough with it…LOL