Henry Rifle Forums

Someone was talking about patina on metal, so I thought I'd just share a pic of a set of spurs I have. They are made in USA by E Garcia, and are inlaid silver on what was originally blued steel. The blue is long gone buy they just turned color over time to steel with some age on them. 3" sunset rowels (many dull points close together won't poke a horse) and "jingle bobs" to ring when walking or horseback. Spur music it's known as.

Great gear, RR. Thanks.

Wow, you are the real deal all the way around. Thanks for this great thread. Keep it coming. Show all the gear.

Here's a few items. All good working gear from talented craftsmen.
Bit by Garcia of California, old style bridle by Platte Valley Saddle in Nebraska, and old style leggins' by Wm Brown of Tombstone AZ.

More: the ropes I use are actually poly harpoon line. They are 4 strand with a lead core. The Honda is the part the rope feeds through. This one is steel and has good weight for windy day long tosses.
My saddle is an old style with long stirrup covers called Tapaderos or taps. They protect your boots in the bush and also help when sorting cattle as you can flap them near cows and they'll move off. You see them mostly in the Great Basin area of Nevada and Oregon, and BC and Alberta up here.

I just noticed the little deer in the background of the chaps photo....

More: wrist cuffs are very old timey and only a handful of guys still wear them including me. The protect in the bush and in the old days a cowboy might only own a couple of shirts so they helped keep the cuffs intact.
The woolies are for winter and are the best money I ever spent. Real angora, with leather backs and canvas lined. Even at -20F they are warm.
The Hondas are for the lariat and are braided rawhide. These are stretched out from roping big stock over and over, so I'll soak them and reshape them.

Thank you for all the information. It is really very cool see your working gear. Good leather work is priceless.

Ah, that would be a cool sound...never have heard "spur music."
All of your cowboy work gear is quite interesting, RR. Thanks much for the tour of what you tote each day.

Really makes my former work gear look quite shabby --- a leather briefcase with a few tin silver clasps here & there!

RanchRoper wrote:Someone was talking about patina on metal, so I thought I'd just share a pic of a set of spurs I have. They are made in USA by E Garcia, and are inlaid silver on what was originally blued steel. The blue is long gone buy they just turned color over time to steel with some age on them. 3" sunset rowels (many dull points close together won't poke a horse) and "jingle bobs" to ring when walking or horseback. Spur music it's known as.

...lots of it "made in America" too. The woolies and the wrist cuffs with snaps are by local guys. I'm a gear junkie!
There's lots of mis-information about spurs though. The sorriest man in the outfit is the one who would ever abuse a horse with spurs. They are an aid only. The big rowels I have allow me to touch my horse and roll them on his side IF necessary. 90% of the time he'll just move off pressure from my leg. But if I need him to get out of harms way fast, I'll lay a spur on him.
The bit has a copper mouthpiece to keep his mouth moist, and a roller inside it that he plays with his tongue. It's called a cricket cuz it spins with a chirping sound.

Oh ya, the saddle horn is wrapped with mule hide. In different parts of the country cowboys handle cattle differently. In Texas for example they use shorter ropes (30') and tie the rope to the horn. Tied hard and fast it's known as. In buckaroo country in the Great Basin and up here we "dally" or take wraps around the horn with our ropes. By doing that you can take more or less wraps around the horn and play your cow like a big fish. The mule hide let's the rope slide or "run" around the horn. Both ways have pros and cons. Short ropes better in Texas or Arizona brush, but tied hard if you have a wreck you're in it. Dallying with long ropes (60' plus) is easier on horse and cattle with less jerking but rope running around your horn at 35mph is dangerous. I have an extra short trigger finger to prove it. Just different styles born out of necessity in the regions.