Mecate Tricks – J.M. Capriola

Of all the things cowboys might be famous for, the least well-known might be their ingenuity and talent for improvising. From cow-camp toothache remedies to temporary baling twine tack repair, working cowboys seem to have a certain knack for “making do” that’s born of necessity. The proverbial bag of cowboy tricks is deep and sometimes dubious, but there are some practices that can come in handy for both working and recreational horsemen.

The basics of setting up a mecate outfit were discussed in our previous post. The adjustable rein length and get-down are convenient and even necessary for cowboys, as are these techniques we’ll show you through.

When a halter isn’t available, it’s important to know how to safely tie up a horse with a mecate outfit. Just tying the get-down to a fence post isn’t the best idea for young or spooky horses, or for any horse that needs to be tied up for a long period of time.

Instead, try this.

Start by shortening the length of your rein loop by undoing the mecate knot on the left slobber strap and feeding the mecate through. It will take some experimenting to find the right length. Then, cross the loop over itself to make a smaller loop.

Then put the new small loop over the horse’s head.

Repeat making half hitches until most of the slack has been taken from the loops around the horse’s neck.

You can then safely tie up using the get-down. While it might not look very pretty, tying up using this method puts the pressure evenly around the horse’s neck instead of just on the left side of the snaffle bit outfit if the horse should pull back. If your horse is properly trained for it, you can also use your get-down to hobble him once you’ve made the neck loop arrangement. To do this, start by setting your get-down up around the horse’s front legs as shown.

0526) Cross it over itself repeatedly between the horse’s legs.

Make a loop around the left leg with the tail end of the get down.

The finished set up should not have too much slack anywhere.

Adding these “tricks” to your riding repertoire can help keep your gear from getting torn up (and save you from having to make one of those back-country baling twine repairs).