Buckaroo Man has been busy taking a rawhide braiding class by Doug Groves. The week of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is always a fun busy one. We see many dear friends and get the pleasure of seeing some amazing silver, rawhide, and leather goods. Last year at this time I met my Buckaroo Man for the first time. I will share that story later this week.
Every day I have stopped in to visit with him and his fellow braiders. The knots and buttons they build are very intricate and very much put together like a puzzle! There work is absolutely beautiful. Raw hide has been used in cowboy gear since the beginning. Buckaroos, cowboys, and vaqueros used either grass reatas or rawhide reatas. A reata is the rope used as a lariat. Now there are many other options-nylon, polyester, cotton, and many different blends. The buckaroo man is building a pair of rawhide hobbles. Hobbles are used instead of tying the horse to encourage it to stay put. The hobbles attach both the front feet of a horse together to restrict the range of motion...although some horses can run just as fast in hobbles as with out them...imagine it like stepping into a potato sack for a race.
Last evening we had a big get together with all the braiders and a bunch of folks from all over the country. I spent all morning baking bread for it. We spent an hour skinning frozen calf nuts then breading them and tossing them in the fryer. Women and men all jumped in to get the job done. Have you ever had fried calf nuts...aka rocky mountain oysters? They are incredibly divine! Absolutely the best appetizer you can have! After dinner was served we had the pleasure of being entertained by a little girl and her father. They sang and played the fiddle. Then we all headed downstairs and watched a slide show a man had from his days buckarooing in the 1950's. The stories and history I heard throughout the evening are still swarming around in my head!
This week will continue to be a wonderful busy week. A few friends will be arriving today so we will be busy helping set up some booths. I suppose I best get the chores finished and head into town! Until next time! Too-da-loo!!
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