the American pronunciation. A mecate is a rope made of mane or tail hair and is used for many reasons, but the most important being the feel it brings. As a horse can feel a fly walk along its hide, the horse can very well feel this prickly horse hair rein grazing his neck, and respond, long before you even need to make contact with the bosal itself. The 2 Rein stage is following the hackamore stage and would be embarked on once the horse is very responsive and working well with a light weight hackamore. The 2 Rein stage consists of the use of a bridle with bridle bit attached to romal reins, accompanied by a small bosal. This would be a 3/8” or less bosal with the same size mecate attached, thus providing 2 sets of reins. Bitting the horse for the first time is a process as well, with care taken to let the horse adjust to having a bit in his mouth. The 2 Rein stage of training allows you to slowly introduce your horse to carrying the bit, working primarily off of the bosal rein in the beginning, eventually transitioning to working primarily off of the bridle reins. The final stage is referred to as “straight up” in the bridle and is the mark of a horse that one has poured a lot of time and care into, if done properly. The horse is able to carry the bit comfortably and work off the very slightest signal from the rider’s body and the romal rein on his neck. The bit, the rein chains, the romal reins themselves, all these things are weighted precisely to work off a balance. If the horse carries the bit in balance and the rider makes use of this balance, by sending signals and then returning to balance, the horse can govern off of these subtle signals and respond accordingly with the utmost lightness and softness. It is one of the most beautiful, dignified, and elegant forms of equestrianism I have ever witnessed seeing experienced bridlehorsemen work their horse. It should be noted, any form of gear is only as good and useful as the hands it is being used by and that vaquero horsemanship is not defined only by its unique gear. It is primarily and most importantly defined by the use of a signal/balance method. The rider’s weight, seat, leg and hand as well as the gear, all work together to contribute to this signal/balance method. The degree of subtlety due to the signal primarily coming from the rider’s shift in balance in weight is like nothing I have ever seen. It is the ultimate in doing very little and getting a whole lot! I hope this has given you a taste of why
this Barbie wants to be a buckaroo! Perhaps you want to be a buckaroo too! I would encourage you to dig deeper and find out more about this beautiful and practical form of horsemanship. It is one of my missions in life to learn all I can about, teach, and promote this way with horses because I truly feel it does right by the horse. And that’s tops in my books! Wishing you and your horse sunny summer trails ahead.
Elisha Bradburn and her husband, Clay, own Faithful Farm, an equestrian center in the Fraser Valley. Elisha’s passion with horses lies in psychology based horsemanship, with a strong consideration for the horse’s point of view. Elisha is available for clinics, expos, demonstrations and speaking engagements and can be followed on her Legacy Horsemanship pages on Facebook and Instagram or e-mailed at legacyhorsemanship@shaw.ca (See her listing in our Business Services section under TRAINERS)
Elisha & Boone in the 2 Rein at Horse Expo Canada Photo Credit: Red Deer Advocate
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JULY 2022
SADDLEUP.CA • 15
