Tools of the Trade: Braided, Twisted and Tied

Braiding, twisting, and tying are each just one step in the process of transforming raw materials of rawhide, leather and horsehair into working ropes, hackamores, reins, quirts, and more.

Sandy Bob punched a hole in his old rope,
And he swang her straight and true,
He lapped it on to the Devil’s horns,
An’ he taken his dallies too.
Now Buster Jig was a riata man,
With his gut-line coiled up neat,
So, he shaken her out an’ he built him a loop,
An’ he lassed the Devil’s hind feet.

– From "The Sierry Petes" by Gail Gardner