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Hunters be sure to check your front cinch often when riding hard in the mountains. this may seem pretty elementary to old hands but if you ride a lot of different animals it pays to keep close attention to this detail.

Some horses have such good back and fit a saddle so well you can ride them with a pretty loose cinch and not have any problems. Others that are a bit more mule or mutton withered you have to keep some good tension on the girth. A lot of horses pull some air when you go to tighten the cinch so it is best to puller her up move them around a bit and recheck it before mounting. Also after you ride the first load or two of road apples out of them get off and check it again.

Had a young rider with me here a few months back that learned the hard way. this young man was a good rider and had spent a lot of time in the arena roping but his brush poppin and trail breakin expereince was pretty limited. I had him on a real nice bay gelding I have that is a ground eating machine and he has a fair saddle back for a coming 5 year old.I went up into some really bad rocky bluffs and up to a peak know as Baltazar tyo check for lion sign. going up he did fine even though it was a pretty hard climb. We tied up below the crest and went up to the top hand over hand to check it out. Well coming back I asked him did you check that cinch on old Tucker? He said it's ok saddle didn't even pull over when I got on. Well I whistled up the hounds and headed back down after drawing a blank on lion sign and had just about reached the bottom when i heard a noise behind me. Here came old Tucker down off that bluff and this young feller was hanging off to one side with his saddle slipped over. tucker is pretty gentile but having that saddle pulled over that kid hollering for help he just blew a fuze and came off that slope like the devil hisself was on his tail. Well I was afraid this kid was going to hang on all the way till he was upside down under him but he finally shook loose and went rolling thru the rock and the horse came on kicking now at the saddle that was almost turned under him. Well I put the iron to old Shadow and dived in there and picked up the reins and got him stopped and bailed off and got the saddle up a ways to keep him from hooking a foot between it and his belly. I then headed back to where I saw the last cloud of dust when this youngster parted company with the bay. He was setting up spitting dirt and sand and sort of looked like he had been run thru a salad shooter but no major injuries Than God!

When he finally got up and started walking around he was mumbling somthing and I said what was that? He said , well I guess I should have listend to you and tightened that cinch up before we came down.

Sort of like Waylon said in the other post. Some of the best lessons are the ones colored with a little blood. LOL!

Too funny!
I was guiding a group of Texans one time and I had one of them up on a real nice mare of mine. We were packed way in to a remote elk camp. While riding down a knife edge ridge saddle slips and she starts to bucking. I look back and Texas is doing a face plant in 18" of snow, mare is hauling ass for the bottom of the canyon with saddle under her belly. On the way to the bottom she hooks a hind left hoof in the stirrup. She snaps the stirrup clean from the saddle along with the front cinch. Saddle slips back off her like a sock. After I made sure he wasn't busted up too bad I start the tracking job. First thing I find is his brand new Weatherby with Ziess scope. Next, the stirrup and his Ziess binocs. Finally the saddle and pieces of reins. Never did find his tripod. Got the mare caught up and kind of resaddled. Back at camp I applied some binder twine and baling wire and Texas got to ride a bandaid the rest of the week! He did get his elk though.

And that is why I would never make a good guide. I wouldn't be able to deal with stuff like that. I would have left the rifle and went to get my horse first. As for the kid it amazes me how people and horses have never been out side the arena. I rodeoed alot growing up and still team rope and we always ride out side to keep our horses in shape and traveling good.

I am all about the britchen in the serious back country for all riding saddles - this is a MUSTfor mules and I have found it indespensible to counter acting galls and keeping saddle s in the middle without too tight cinch being needed. a good britchen should have 2 quarter straps (just like a decker) one to the cinch ring and one to the saddle "D" along with a double carrier off the tree to the spider and a 4 inch but strap - the britchen stops the wagon and it also stops the saddle and gives the animal an way to brake his load whether its you or on a decker with packs. Cruppers are for fat ponys onthe flat but do not do the job of a proper britchen I brake all the babys with a britchen and rarely ride in the woods without one.

My worst problem with greenhorn riders is the LEAN - even on the stepest hill sides the trail is 2 feet wide and flat under your mules hooves. Im always yelling at the dudes from behind tellingthem "your not helping your critter by leaning to the highside of the hill you are gonna spin fall off and roll down the hill if you dont quit" I cant tell you how many dueds mules have looked at in disgust when they spin the riggin leaning. I generally threaten to take the sturrips off the saddle if they dont quit leaning.

How to steer clear of the wreck after it happens:
if a foot gets hung in a stirrup, instead of getting drug to death, simply roll over on your stomache to turn the boot heel up and pop the foot out.
When a horse hits the teeter point of flipping over backwards, go right up his mane line and get out from under the saddle before it makes a pancake outta you.
If a horse looses its front feet and starts to go end over end, LIGHTLY push off the saddle horn with your palm and it will send you out in front and clear of the ass end about to hit where you would have been.
If a horse falls to either side, spur back to your cantle and get your leg clear.
You can push a horse away from anything it might try to rub you off against pretty effortlessly with one hand.

I roped a lot in another life. My cousin ( a real cowboy) my uncle ( a city-slicker) and I were sent out after a well oversize steer on my aunts ranch. It took us a while to get to him and start pushing him back to the trailer (he swallowed a small pelvis bone i think) cows will eat anything, I saw one eat a mtn dew bottle once no joke. anyway as we got closer the steer knew what was coming so he went the other direction. So they decided to rope him so we could get going. They both jumped off and tightened their cinches. My cousin looked at me and said well arnt you going to tighten yours? At this time my uncle is tightening his lol he was doing it because my cousin was. I said na why tighten mine there are two of you roping one steer Ill watch. Well my uncle had told me stories about how good of a roper he was and how he could of been one of the best lol it was the first time I ever saw him rope. He grew up with Shaun Franklin and Sly Mayfield some pretty good ropers so I believed him. Well they walked up then trotted up then took off when the steer did. My cousin about 40 at the time wasnt anything special but he was ok, well he missed not much but he needed to be a horse closer. My uncle was not far behind so he kicked up and was perfect I mean it looked like a movie lol. well he tossed his rope and held the slack so his loop having only one place to go went around his mares front feet. She went to bucken it was a show. To his credit he stayed on. Well naturally I went with my gut and I kicked up (my horse was fast and I mean fast) so I got my rope off my horn built a loop got to him swung 2 times and got him around the neck. I FORGOT TO TIGHTEN MU CINCH!!! so I dallied and put the breaks on turned left just like a good header would and....yep you guessed it... it nearly jerked my saddle off on the right side. I aint going to lie it scared the piss out of me. So I turned back toward the steer and (lopeing) I had to hang off the other side and jump to get my saddle back on. So I rode back to the trailer standing on the left side of my horse.


I forgot my good friend had his best horse get the saddle under his belly. He went to bucken and 3 hours later (only bucked for maybe 2 minutes) he was dead. so be careful fellas. Mike thanks for the heads up!