# Bosals



## GoldenPony (May 30, 2014)

I wasn't sure which western sub-forum to put this in...but I am looking for a bosal and mecate that's GOOD quality. They have cheap ones at my local tack store but I want something well made that has the right balance and shape-ability that also has quality materials that won't fray or rub my horse raw. Suggestions?


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

subbing for the same advice.


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## LilyandPistol (Dec 2, 2014)

You have a local tack store?! LUCKY
Sorry, had to. Lol


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

How much are looking to spend?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## GoldenPony (May 30, 2014)

LilyandPistol said:


> You have a local tack store?! LUCKY
> Sorry, had to. Lol


Sort of. It's a farm store with 2 aisles of horse stuff. I still have to order 99% of my stuff online.


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## GoldenPony (May 30, 2014)

COWCHICK77 said:


> How much are looking to spend?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Well the one's I've seen in person are all $40-$60ish so I'm sure really nice ones are more expensive but I really don't know what the price range is for bosals and mecates. I am willing to pay for quality but can't afford to spend hundreds on each piece.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

This as cheap as I can recommend. Anything cheaper is going to be a waste of money.
Product Listing - BW
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Rawhide (Nov 11, 2011)

COWCHICK77 said:


> This as cheap as I can recommend. Anything cheaper is going to be a waste of money.
> Product Listing - BW
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I have the one far right B87 , and agree with your statement . It is my cheapest one . In pic it is paired with a Rother mecate .
https://www.steverotherhorsemanship.com/shop/mecate-rein-2/
Buy best you can afford .


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## kewpalace (Jul 17, 2013)

I bought an expo "special" from Steve about 5-6 years ago - bosal, hanger, mecate ... here's the pic of the one I got:








You can call him and get a different set up probably (as long as the equipment is the same price-wise); he was very flexible with us as far as colors, etc., for the equipment. 

No. 8 on this page is his current special ...


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## LilyandPistol (Dec 2, 2014)

GoldenPony said:


> Sort of. It's a farm store with 2 aisles of horse stuff. I still have to order 99% of my stuff online.


Ah, I see. In that case we have a local tack store too lol xD They don't have hacks or saddles or bosals tho, if you want that you have to go to the cowboy shop and even then they don't have bosals xD


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## GoldenPony (May 30, 2014)

Thank you all very much for the recommendations! That's a very good price for me. Seeing as neither my horse or I have much experience with bosals, I don't want to invest a huge amount of money into our...experiment. Not until we see how it goes anyway. If he becomes a bosal horse for the rest of his life I'll invest more. He's a well behaved horse and has had good training, he just hasn't been happy in any bitting arrangement I've tried. He seems happiest in the rawhide nose rope halter I have been riding him in, but I want some more refinement and clarity for him as that is pretty soft and floppy.


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## GoldenPony (May 30, 2014)

COWCHICK77 said:


> This as cheap as I can recommend. Anything cheaper is going to be a waste of money.
> Product Listing - BW
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


One question, do those come with the hangers?

EDIT-Nevermind.


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## kewpalace (Jul 17, 2013)

Hangers are a separate charge. Product Listing - BHH


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## Rawhide (Nov 11, 2011)

GoldenPony said:


> One question, do those come with the hangers?


No not those you have to buy them separate . I buy mine from and not necessarily in this order. Among other places Martin Black has good stuff to.
1.Buckaroo Businesses | Bosal Hangers
2.Contact Us
3.Buckaroo Leather - Search

Some of the more high dollar bosal / bosal hangers do come as a set . :gallop:


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

kewpalace said:


> I bought an expo "special" from Steve about 5-6 years ago - bosal, hanger, mecate ... here's the pic of the one I got:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Kewpalace,

I voted for that picture in the HF photo of the month, last month I think it was.

Is that the B87 bosal in the package?


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## kewpalace (Jul 17, 2013)

anndankev said:


> Kewpalace, I voted for that picture in the HF photo of the month, last month I think it was.


Aw, thanks so much Anndankev! :loveshower: 




anndankev said:


> Is that the B87 bosal in the package?


Well, the special says it's a 12 plait - B87 doesn't say whether it is or not, so maybe/maybe not, LOL. B1261 (under work/show) is a 12 plait. But it's pricey, so maybe not. I know the bosal I got with my package is really nice, so more like B1261. We had our choice of different colors in the bosal and in the metates and had our choice in Latigo hangers - with or without brow band. But that was so long ago, he's probably changed what's in his package from when I bought it.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

The biggest thing to remember with bosal hangers is if it allows the bosal to move as it's intended.

We build ours and all they are is stripped down Latigo hide. They need to allow the bosal to raise and drop and not interfere with the balance/signal as a thick, lined and stitched headstall would. All it is meant to do is hold it on the head and break away in terms event of a wreck as opposed to tearing up a McCarty or your bosal.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Shimmer07 (Aug 4, 2013)

Don't want to steal the thread but just wondering, how do the rope mecates like those in the links compare to mane hair in terms of feel and weight?


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## Boo Walker (Jul 25, 2012)

Also be sure you understand the "art" of the bosal (i.e. you don't pull back on both reins for a whoa, etc.) The Hackamore Reinsman book is a good place to start your education before you teach it to your horse.


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## GoldenPony (May 30, 2014)

Boo Walker said:


> Also be sure you understand the "art" of the bosal (i.e. you don't pull back on both reins for a whoa, etc.) The Hackamore Reinsman book is a good place to start your education before you teach it to your horse.


Thanks! I'll check that book out. To introduce myself, I've started doing some reading online and found some videos so I think I get the gist of it. My horse is by no means finished but to stop him all I have to do is think "stop". Backing up is a light touch on the reins and as long as I keep gently tapping with my legs he'll back up. He neck reins pretty well. We're still perfecting it though. I haven't had him all that long, but he doesn't seem to like or understand riding on a consistent contact with the bit (I took dressage and huntseat lessons for years so that is what I was used to up until I got him).


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

Boo Walker said:


> Also be sure you understand the "art" of the bosal (i.e. you don't pull back on both reins for a whoa, etc.) The Hackamore Reinsman book is a good place to start your education before you teach it to your horse.


OOps... we have boofed then. One of our horses is a bosal guy and he whoa's with a pull on both reins plus changing ones seat to a "done riding" position.

He will back fast and as long as you want with a pull, release, pull, release and the verbal cue of back.


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## enh817 (Jun 1, 2012)

GoldenPony said:


> Thanks! I'll check that book out. To introduce myself, I've started doing some reading online and found some videos so I think I get the gist of it. My horse is by no means finished but to stop him all I have to do is think "stop". Backing up is a light touch on the reins and as long as I keep gently tapping with my legs he'll back up. He neck reins pretty well. We're still perfecting it though. I haven't had him all that long, but he doesn't seem to like or understand riding on a consistent contact with the bit (I took dressage and huntseat lessons for years so that is what I was used to up until I got him).


A few notes I've picked up about riding a hackamore:
You shouldn't neck rein in a hackamore. Ideally your mecate never touches the horse's neck (same as your reins in a snaffle), you want to teach the horse to stay between your reins, never giving him anything to lean on. 
Wide hands, always. Wider than your swells, higher than your saddle horn, don't let them get too low. Knuckles up, using a rocking motion, to cause side-to-side action in the bosal. Always either one hand or the other, never both at the same time, which would cause the bosal to put pressure on the underside of the chin, causing the head to go up. When you pick up one hand, push the other hand forward, like you must when steering bicycle handlebars, to make sure you put enough slack in the non-active rein. Never apply solid, holding pressue; instead use a rocking action, to bump the horse's nose in the direction you wish. 
It is pretty easy to dull a horse's nose and you must take caution to never get in a pulling match. You do not have the ability to muscle a horse around in a hackamore, if he figures out he can lock up or push through it, he'll almost definitely be ruined as a hackamore horse. This is one reason for only picking up one hand or the other (horse can lock his neck up and get very resistant when his neck is straight, but he cannot do that with the same strength with his neck hinged one way or the other) and the reason for never using constant pressure (you will never win a match of pulling strength with a horse). *The hackamore is just there for you to give direction to the nose.* Always remember - your feet move his feet, along with any vocal cue. All the horses I ride are taught that cluck means move your feet and my legs mostly tell them _where_ to move their feet. There is of course, the supporting rein used at times to set parameters for movement, but that is another topic for another time and I wouldn't worry about that as a novice to the hackamore. I also would recommend not worrying about things like the horse being "bridled up" as the term suggests, that's business for once a horse is being finished in a bridle. A good hackamore horse will ride around with a relaxed head and neck carriage, clearly very sensitive in the nose to direction given, but obviously could wear nothing on it's head and be ridden entirely off leg and voice (I prefer just clucks and 'woah'), or off a cow's movement.

I'm not sure what you know about the history of the hackamore, but in traditional vaquero style training it's used as a vital step for getting a horse into the bridle and is still used by NRCHA trainers (and other smart horsemen). It forces you to get the horse very broke off your legs and seat (and on a cow), since you cannot manhandle their face like you can with a bit. It also teaches a horse the concept of moving their nose away from pressure on the side of their face, as they'll feel in a spade bit when finished in the bridle, opposed to following the direct pull of a snaffle. 


I'm sure there's more nuances I've failed to mention. I'm far from an expert, but I have picked up quite a bit knowledge in my time apprenticing for an accomplished hackamore trainer. 
He once told me - "The best hackamore horses are the ones that have spent the least amount of time wearing one"
He didn't mean that so much literally, as just to say the more times that bosal touches that horse's face, he gets just a little bit more sacked out to it, a little less sensitive. The best hackamore men are the ones who've figure out how to use it in the most effective manner so as to not allow that to happen.


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