We ordered a bosal off Steve Guitron which we now have at home. It's a 1/2" raw hide bosal with roo hide nose button. A buckle hanger with bosal shaped buckles (a bit fancy) and a 22' long 1/2" thick horse mane hair mecate.
The bosal is actually a little stiffer than the 5/8" we already had, though that started stiff as well. The nose button on the new one is flatter where it contacts the nose which will give it a slightly different more direct feel. The mecate reins, being new, are also stiffer and have lots of prickly hairs coming out.
When I questioned Dorothy (the lady in California) about this she said you can rub the hairs of with a good pair of gloves, but never ever trim them off. Rubbing takes a good number of hours to do though. Her other comment was to just ride as it is and when the mecate is smooth the horse is probably ready for the next size down of mecate and bosal. That's a lot of riding.
Bonitao will be riding in this for a while, though we haven't tried it yet. Looking forward to seeing how he goes in it though.
Note that in the photo the mecate is not tied to the bosal. They should never be left tied as it will over time effect the feel of the bosal. We always undo our mecate after every days riding. For us it is just part of the discipline of being able to ride in the bosal.
Riding and owning one should never be taken for granted, they are a privilege to use and should be treated as such.
If you think of the hours of workmanship to make one then you'll understand what I mean.
If you ride in it badly you can also undo months of good training so I always take a very disciplined approach to riding in one. This is not because they are harsh, far from it. The snag is if the horse learns that they can push through it with force then it's a lesson they will learn probably for life.
Maybe that is why I find them so effective, they make me ride better with soft hands and feel. Getting into a pulling match would be really bad news.
The bosal is actually a little stiffer than the 5/8" we already had, though that started stiff as well. The nose button on the new one is flatter where it contacts the nose which will give it a slightly different more direct feel. The mecate reins, being new, are also stiffer and have lots of prickly hairs coming out.
When I questioned Dorothy (the lady in California) about this she said you can rub the hairs of with a good pair of gloves, but never ever trim them off. Rubbing takes a good number of hours to do though. Her other comment was to just ride as it is and when the mecate is smooth the horse is probably ready for the next size down of mecate and bosal. That's a lot of riding.
Bonitao will be riding in this for a while, though we haven't tried it yet. Looking forward to seeing how he goes in it though.
Riding and owning one should never be taken for granted, they are a privilege to use and should be treated as such.
If you think of the hours of workmanship to make one then you'll understand what I mean.
If you ride in it badly you can also undo months of good training so I always take a very disciplined approach to riding in one. This is not because they are harsh, far from it. The snag is if the horse learns that they can push through it with force then it's a lesson they will learn probably for life.
Maybe that is why I find them so effective, they make me ride better with soft hands and feel. Getting into a pulling match would be really bad news.
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