Girth. Made with horse hair. *
Yesterday, my daughter and I went to the National Western Stock Show. I love going to the stock show. When I first started going it was because there are amazing things to look at and dream about buying. In other words, great shopping! There are products that are only sold at trade shows like this. Artists whose work I only see at the stock show. If you want a great photograph, go to the stock show. Metal art anyone? See it at the stock show.
rope *
My current love is looking at animal tack. Way before nylon existed there was hair. Horse hair when the culture held horses. However, not all cultures are near equines so one can substitute fiber from yak, alpaca, curro sheep or anything else that can be spun. Since tack is used to hold and manipulate animals, the qualities needed for the fiber change. Strength of the fiber is more important than the softness of the fiber.
tack used on a Yak
A 1500 pound bull isn’t going to care if the rope is soft. The handler, on the other hand, will care if the rope breaks. Ropes don’t have to be a pretty color either. This allows the rope to be made with colors other than white. Tack is going to get dirty so why dye it another color that is going to be smothered in brown. Within those two restrictions comes great beauty. There are a great variety of colors in animal hair. There are all kinds of browns, blacks, whites and any mixture in between which can make a wide variety of patterns with the express purpose of moving animals.
Isn’t rope grand?
Rope work made with horse hair *
* Made for Vaquero Real Cowboy Stuff. E-mail vaquero_brand (at) hotmail.com
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