chaps?

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milkmaid

milkmaid

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I'm looking for some opinions on favorite styles of western full-chaps for riding. Anything you really like/dislike or would look for/avoid if you were purchasing a pair? Been browsing ebay and there's a lot of choices on there. I used to ride english so I don't have too much western attire, but I'll be working on a youth ranch/camp for the summer and need to really look like a cowgirl. :lol: Oh, and I'm looking for something rugged but lightweight, since it's out in the Mojave Desert of California and it's going to be HOT out there. :p

Thanks!
 
I use full chaps for show only. For everyday riding, I just wear jeans.

My daughters live in West Texas and chinks are popular there.
 
The real cowboys and girls you'll see in Ca. are going to be wearing Chinks.

A few tips on buying chaps. They don't measure like pants.
the waist measurement is actully more of a hip size. The length is from the top to the bottom on the outside of the leg.

You're going to be in hot country so the lighter colored the better. Try to find 3-3.5 oz leather. The wider the yoke (waistband) is the more comfortable they're going to be to wear all day.

I just looked on ebay under chinks and they have several pair that would work for what you are going to ge doing. There is one "buy it now" seller that seems reasonable.Z
 
This is pretty typical of California.Z

gabeth.jpg
 
He has a flank girth. The thing I find strange is the rein setup. Looks like it loops back and is tied to his belt or something. Wouldn't work for me. I can't rope much so I just bull dog em down and slip a rope on them. :shock:
 
Even, and maybe especially in the desert, I prefered an old pair of bat wings made from thick bull hide. They stayed on the saddle and I unbuckled them when I got off. But that was in the late 50s when I could bend well enough to unbuckel them while I was in the saddle.

dun
 
chippie":y3aou3ki said:
I can't see the flank girth, just the strap

He is using a rope mecate.
Click to expand...

You can see the tie between the front and back girths right? If no back girth, what is holding up that strap? :lol:

Yeah, I can't use no mecate setup. I fall off to much and my horses always stop to laugh at me and ask if I want to try it again. :shock:
 
You can see the tie between the front and back girths right? If no back girth, what is holding up that strap?
Click to expand...

All I can see on my monitor is a strap hanging down. The underside of the horse is very dark on my monitor.

Do you know the guy? I sort of wonder about how he is holding his rope. I was always taught to keep your thumb up when dallying.
 
Naw, I don't know him. Maybe Milliron will get us straight. I don't know about no thumb position. I was doing good to get the rope on em.

Good point though.
 
There isn't a back cinch. The strap hanging down under the horse does look like a cinch hobble strap. If you look at the picture closely you will see that his hand is holding the rope in the thumbs up posistion. The part of the rope coming out of the top of his hand is going to the loops. He's dallied up and the rope from the horn to his hand is running across his leg and into the bottom of his hand. You'll also notice he is roping left handed. Not many lefties around.

The rope Macate is probably horsehair. It ties into the slobber strap on the right side, loops around to make the rein part of the rig making about a 10' single rein. The rest of the rope is called a get down rope and is tucked under your belt. It looks like he has his is tucked under the front string of his chinks which may be the way they do it in Ca. Most of the places I've been it would be tucked under the lt in back. and be more out of the way. The macate rope is usually 20-24" long and must be tied into the slobber straps using the proper knots or people will point and laugh.

What does surprise me about this picture is that he doesn't have his pants tucked into the top of a pair of tall top boots. Also his Wade saddle doesn't have any bucking rolls which are generally required by California cowboy society. Personally the only things I like about a Wade are the horn and the rigging. Give me a saddle built on a modified assn. tree any day.Z
 
flaboy?":3a9duazk said:
He has a flank girth. The thing I find strange is the rein setup. Looks like it loops back and is tied to his belt or something. Wouldn't work for me. I can't rope much so I just bull dog em down and slip a rope on them. :shock:
Click to expand...
Could it be a jerk rein set up?
Maybe it is so his horse want get away if he falls off. There have been times I needed something.
 
Ryder":2eynhr88 said:
flaboy?":2eynhr88 said:
He has a flank girth. The thing I find strange is the rein setup. Looks like it loops back and is tied to his belt or something. Wouldn't work for me. I can't rope much so I just bull dog em down and slip a rope on them. :shock:
Click to expand...
Could it be a jerk rein set up?
Maybe it is so his horse want get away if he falls off. There have been times I needed something.
Click to expand...
It's called a get down rope and it's not tied to his belt just stuck under the front string of this chinks. Since the Mecate is a single rein type setup it saves the trouble of sliding the rein over the horses head when he gets off to open a gate or answer the call of nature.Z
 
I used to do something like that years ago. I tied a rope around their neck and then attached the rest to the saddle. The neck rope had considerable more slack than the rein.

I had a QH mare for many years. If I came off and I did several times, she would stop, come back, push me with her nose to see if I moved or not. She was a good one. She took an indirect hit from lightening and it lamed her. It killed the horse she was standing beside. I retired her.
 

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