The Californian Bridle Horse

The History

The Californian Bridal Horse tradition is something l have been interested in for some time but living across the pond from where it all began makes it far less accessible. The birth of the Vaquero’s began with the arrival of the Spanish missions in Californian back in the 1769, although its roots go back around 500 years. Researching its history is as fascinating as the art itself.

The missions were set up to covert the natives in to Roman Catholicism and the Spanish Padres and soldiers arrived with a strong desire to control, convert and spread their power and control through California. With them they took their beautiful Spanish horses with all the refinery in the way they were dressed but also in the way the horses were trained. The local indigenous people which consisted of several different tribes along with settlers from New Mexico looked on and observed the Spanish horsemanship spectacle from the ground.

These local people lacking status were forbidden to ride themselves, a rule instructed by the Spanish King and if they did it was answerable by death. But when the cattle market started to develop with beef, tallow and hide the Spanish needed the locals to work the cattle so they taught them to ride. This was the birth of the Vaqueros that developed a unique blend of artistic horsemanship not seen anywhere else in North America. The Vaqueros created an art of horsemanship that had a classical style because of influence from Spanish military and padres. They developed their own bridle-ware, the Jaquima ‘braided hackamores ‘, bits and saddles. The Vaqueros past the knowledge down from generation to generation by word only and very little was written and recorded.

Today there are horseman keeping it alive despite the dramatic changes in ranching !
Hopefully it keeps it status and its importance in history not as a lost art but a growing discipline because of its beautiful classical balanced form.

The training of a bridle horse

When l first started training my horses with the la Jaquima ( hackamore ) l really didn’t fully understand it because I began using it more like a normal bridle or a side pull ( bitless bridle).
By this l mean with the pressure and release concept that is associated with natural horsemanship. So when l picked up the reins l would wait for the horse to soften to the pressure as his hind legs reached under himself which helped relax and release at the poll.
I think some would say this is like a horse being on the bit.
For those who are unfamiliar with the traditional vaquero Jaquima ‘hackamore’ it is made up of three pieces, a hanger that keeps it on the horses head, a hand braided rawhide or leather bosal which goes around the horses nose and a 22ft braided horse hair mecate which forms the reins and the lead rope.
The reins attached to the very back of the bosal are kept in place by the heel knot. There is no attachment on the side like a snaffle bit or sidepull ( bitless bridle) where you pull from the side for left or right flexion.
Instead it’s a lift and drop action which when lifted signals to the horse that he needs to find the balance point within the middle of the bosal. The horse gets used to finding the comfortable spot within the  bosal or let’s call it the rawhide ring around his nose.
The softness comes by the horse seeking the sweet spot within the rawhide walls and when working the horse with laterals the horse goes out of balance to find the way back to balance.
The other thing which is important is that the horse softens more in the withers and through the neck as opposed to just the poll.
A persons hands are kept in close towards the horse’s neck and eventually the reins are contained and operated with one hand. The fingers on the reins are able to apply a subtle signal left or right to guide the horses thought in the desired direction.
This whole process starts with a thicker bosal on the hackamore and as the horses develops the bosal gets thinner as do the mecate reins to match the bosal.
The horse will remain being ridden and and balanced in the hackamore for a couple years going through the grades until it’s ready for the bit !
The next stage is the two rein where a balancing bit such as the traditional spade bit is placed in the horse’s mouth with its own bridle.  It goes over the finest diameter 3/8”or 5/16” hackamore.
Here it learns just to carry the bit whilst still being mainly influenced by the hackamore as it gradually transitions !
There are now two sets of reins being the mecate with now the addition of the Romal reins attached to the bit by a short length of chain.

The horse eventually gets comfortable enough to carrying just the bit on its own and this is when it is classed as ‘ straight up in the bridle ‘ or the finished bridle horse !

The highest status a horse can have and now an invaluable and trusted partner as well as a seasoned performer of the highest quality.