Parelli bridle

[Rea]

Anyone know why they dont sell them anymore, they just have the new cradle bridle on their website.

Does anyone know anywhere else I can get one from?

[Crystal Fire]

It's just a western bridle with mecate reins, have a look round some western tack sites.

[Rea]

I've had a look at some western sites. Now I dont know anything about western tack, but I've been struggling to find one I like in black, why are most of them brown?

[Harry Hobbes]

...I've been struggling to find one I like in black, why are most of them brown?Tradition mostly. Western saddles are following a long line of tradition that originates from the working cowboy.

Cowboys don't wear a lot of black, and they don't put a lot of black tack on their horses, as it's considered gauche in cowboy country. (Black being reserved for funerals.)

The color was used by equine-oriented entertainers, such as those out of Hollywood that made the western movies and serials, or other entertainers that want a saddle that matches or contrasts with the horse.

Western saddle makers will dye leather to the customer's specifications, but black is a color that is rarely demanded; certainly not by working cowboys. (It's that tradition again.)

Also, black tends to obscure tooling, so that the "art work" tooled into the leather is obscured, and if one has paid large sums of money for the tooling, why obscure it? (Although dyeing the saddle black is a good way to compensate for lack of tooling - or poor tooling - of the leather.) In addition, getting an even dyeing across the leather is much more difficult with darker dyes.

Nonetheless, you can find production western saddles in black, but they'll be few and far between, relative to other color choices.

Best regards,
Harry

[SavannahIce]

I had emailed Parelli about this. They still do sell them, they just took them off their site because they were thinking of changing the designs but put that on hold. You have to call to order them.

[Crystal Fire]

What price are they quoting? How important is it to you to have the Parelli logo on it? Have a look at the prices here, there are some really nice bridles.
http://trekkerswestern.co.uk/public_html/headstalls%20menu.htm
Then all you need is a sweet iron snaffle, some mecate reins (get from EBay) and maybe buy the leather swingy things to go between the bit and the reins from Parelli (they do sell them separately) - then you'll have your logo!

[LodgeRopes]

Another great thread on NR
Harry H gives us an insight into western customs, I had also been told that the black and silver showy tack was popular with the 'pimps' of the day, therefore not favoured by a hard workin, god fearin, sod bustin cowboy.

Crystal fire raises a good point, What price for a logo?
We had a parelli bridle and bit leathers, got them in a swap for some rope, the bridle was well made and stitched, as were the bit leathers, but were they worth the retail price?....no way! We sold the bridle and got enough for it to feed our horses till the year 2078, well it seemed a lot at the time :D The bit leathers are still hanging in the tack shed......nice Parelli stamped logo on them, too nice to use...lol.

Rea, if you have a paypal registered email address, just go online and buy a similar bridle for 10 -15 quid from any of the US sellers on ebay.com, just ask them to send it as a 'gift' to limit duty.( i never said that :D It was a computer glitch, a typo, the meds are kicking in, the dog ate my homework)
If the leather is not super soft, just use an aerosol shaving foam then a good oil and it will feel like it was made by Stubben.
But a good bit is worth spending a few extra quid on, on ebay.com there has been some real nice john Lyons sweet iron snaffle bits going for US$12 as the design is being replaced. Good quality and good price.
Good Luck with it
Rob
LodgeRopes

[LodgeRopes]

Back again...
I just checked out the link that CF posted, then did a google search for UK tack stores doing western gear. You guys in the motherland are paying premium price for average gear, get registered with paypal then go to Green River tack in the US, or any of the hundreds of online stores and save a fortune. just watch the duty trap when importing.
A good mate of ours in Utah, USA, Johnette Curtis at Horsearoundtack.com, sometimes has show quality bridles and halters from a local craftsman at bargain prices....check out johnny and say LodgeRopes sent you. (i know that sounds naff, but johnny is a good mate and will go out of her way to help out any of our customers/friends if she can, check out her champion QH at her websight http://horsearoundtack.com)

better get back to working on Crystal Fires halter.......

cheers all
Rob

[Rea]

Thanks for all the advice.

I wasnt too bothered about the Parelli brand, it's just theonlt plain black western style bridle that I'd seen. The other black western bridles I'd seen had lots of silver on which I wasnt too keen on.

I think I might try and get hold of on from the US. Does anyome know how US sizes match up the the UK. i've noticed most western bridles just say FULL, they dont seem to have an imbetween size like the UK COB size.

Now I know this is a massive generalisation and all the US people will prob dissagree with me but from what I've see most (no all!) horses in the US are around 15hh.....is this classed as full size in the US as in the UK I would have classed 15hh as being cob

[LodgeRopes]

Rea
Great point.... there is a big difference between UK sizing and US sizings.

We ship a lot of gear to both countries and have had to work out a way of dealing with it.
The big problem comes with the Uk native cobs, dales, fells, welshys etc etc, as these breeds are much larger than cob size in the rest of the world. A US full halter or bridle may adjust down to most of these breeds. But the US dont even mention cob sizings, it is foal, yearling, or full and the sizings are based on an average QH. sometimes the arab gets a mention, but thats about it for stock sizing.

15hh would be full in the us and australia, it is only the UK natives that have pushed up cob sizing. Just this week we had an order from the uk for a cob size, we then got the measurements to custom make the headstall, and the measurements were our standard full sizing!!!!!! So we always try to get measurements for uk orders.
In OZ, there has been a trend to get a finer arab style in some breeds....
so stock sizings are a problem. No horse is a standard size or shape, stock sizing was only introduced to allow you to buy off the shelf in a store. In past years, tack was always custom made for the horse.

cheers
Rob

[Lili & Morgan]

an aerosol shaving foam then a good oil and it will feel like it was made by Stubben.
Rob
LodgeRopes

Aerosol shaving foam ??? the thing for shaving hairy male facial???
Really ? how does it work?

[LodgeRopes]

Lili
Not sure how it works, but mens shaving foam is an excellent leather cleaner.
Cant even tell you where i heard about it but if you have some old dry leather give it a coating of shaving foam, leave it for half an hour, then wipe down with a damp cloth.......it is as good as the best expensive leather treatments. Then give the leather a good oiling, most times it comes up a treat.
I also did this treatment on a stiff new bridle (a cheap import from asia), the foam seemed to clean the bridle, opened the leather pores and allowed the oil to get into the leather.
We use a mix to oil leather, 90% neetsfoot oil, 5% Equinade lanolised liquid saddle soap and 5% cold pressed flax seed oil or if we run out of flax seed we just use blended vegetable oil at a pinch. Shake well before use. It spreads easily, soaks in quickly and can be polished to give a sheen if that takes your fancy.

cheers all
Rob

[Harry Hobbes]

Harry H gives us an insight into western customs, I had also been told that the black and silver showy tack...not favoured by a hard workin, god fearin, sod bustin cowboy.
One of them cowboys down here in Broadwater County got wind that someone had labelled him a "sod buster." Being rather proud of his calling (not to mention protective of his culture), he promptly recruited the other cowboys on the spread as a Lynch Party.

They strapped on their hardware (.45s all), gathered up a good rope and their cow ponies, and were about to ride on over and "stretch the neck" of that feller that called them "sod busters" (which is a farmer.)

We got them distracted with a beer each in front of them, and seeing that it's Friday night, and they're at the Commercial Bar, and when the cowgirls started drifting in, managed to convinced them that Rob was really a cowboy hidin' in the bushes and just funin' 'em; and they promptly started bragging to the cowgirls how they almost "hung that feller." (Needless to say, they are now fully occupied; and probably won't remember a thing tomorrow.)

But it was touch and go for awhile. ;)

Best regards,
Harry

[LodgeRopes]

LOL Harry........
To be honest harry, i was too afraid to use the term 'cow pokin' so I mistakenly thought sod bustin was the wiser choice. I clearly see the error in my thinking.
Tell the boys i owe them a round of beers, but knowing my luck i would end up getting Bud and Coors would be the cowboy beer of choice, and that hank of good rope would be back in a flash.
what is the most popular beer in Broadwater county? If i was passing thru Townsend and felt a little parched, what should i order ???

BTW Harry, we have a friend to your North, based in Whitefish, he does Border Security patrols on horseback. Montana sure looks beautiful.

cheers
Rob

[Harry Hobbes]

Tell the boys i owe them a round of beers, but knowing my luck i would end up getting Bud and Coors would be the cowboy beer of choice, and that hank of good rope would be back in a flash.
what is the most popular beer in Broadwater county? If i was passing thru Townsend and felt a little parched, what should i order ???One that is spelt: "B - E - E - R" :p

BTW Harry, we have a friend to your North, based in Whitefish, he does Border Security patrols on horseback. Western Horseman Magazine did a feature story of your friend's Border Patrol outfit in the December issue. Great article. It featured Agents Kartchner, Pinkerton, Perkins and Williams, with various photos of them and their mounts.

Seems they really like Mustangs (trained in the prison colt starting program) because of their hardiness. (Smart folks.)

Best regards,
Harry

P. S. Cowboy Math: A sixpack divided fours ways equals thirty-nine empties, the Dodge in the ditch, and $100 to the Justice of the Peace. :eek: