Bosal to bit

Hi all
I hope everybody is enjoying their new years weekend.
I have some colts I'm hoping to start this year, hoping to start them in a Bosal and later if neccesary transition to a snaffle. Now I know the old vaqueros had a way of starting with the thicker Bosal and then using progressively thinner ones, but my real question is: They put the bosal on under the bridle with the snaffle. How does one do that? The horse isn't wearing two headstalls, but he has both the bosal and his snaffle bit on with two sets of reins. One for the bosal and one set for the bit. How is this done?

Very rarely would you use a snaffle and hackamore together in what would be called a two-rein setup. Most trainers start in the snaffle then introduce the hackamore, then progress to the two-rein with a half-breed bit then to the spade.
To answer your question though, the hackamore won't have a headstall it's held up by a hanger which is a strip of latigo that has a knot to adjust where the bosal sits on the nose.
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Mike
Thank you, is this Latigo headstall the same thing as the fiador or is that something else? Sorry I'm new to the game. The horses will be ranch horses and the workers can be quite rough with their hands, hence the idea of starting them in a bosal. I was hoping to change my old trail horse to a bosal, but either the 5/8" is too thick or he's just too old and stuck in his ways. He is 20 after all!

A bosal hanger is just like this


However, one thing I would like to mention is that if the ranch hands are rough with their hands, a bosal will not be the best option. Rough hands can really tear up a horse's face with a bosal, leaving skinned places and lumps on their nose and underneath their jaw. Plus, if someone doesn't know how to properly use a bosal, it is extremely easy to teach a horse to brace against it and ignore it.

Maybe something like a soft hackamore or a loping hackamore would be a better option. The horse would still learn to ignore it when ridden poorly, but the chances of the riders really hurting the horse's face would be relatively small.


4 Plait Soft Rope Hackamore w/Flat Reins | NRS - National Roper Supply - Western Wear, tack, team ropes, horse tack, team roping ropes, bits...

I would have to agree with smrobs advice, you need to get those guys riding better. The fiador is tied to the heel knot and goes up behind the ears and is the throat latch on a traditional hackamore, it's and optional item that's used when riding rougher horses.
One thing I wanted to point out is the first picture with the horse wearing the hackamore, that is an extremely poorly fitted hackamore. Here is a picture of my horse, see difference in how the other one is too long compared to mine. That person will have to pull the reins up to their ears before the hackamore would touch the jaw.

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LOL, I didn't even look at how the hack was fitted, but you are right. That was just the first decent picture of a hanger on an actual horse that came up on a search.

Smorbs, Mike
Thank you! Most ofbthe bosal hangers here in SA resemble normal headstalls. I now see on the website of the guy I buy my bosals and other western tack from he does have ones like the ones in your pics. Now I can see how you can wear that under a normal bridle. I just always wondered how they did it. Smorbs, yes I try and train the riders too, but they rarwly stay long enough for me to make any real diffs in thair riding skills. Thay are young, gat into troublewith each other, or with my dad (the boss) and leave. A the moment I have a few better riders, the still ride with too short reins, but I'm working on that. Right now the horses ae off work for another four and a half weeks for their yearl AHS shots, so no work.
I like that rope hackamore you showed me Smorbs, I will have to see if they will ship it to SA, or see if somebody can make me one.
Mike, yes I can see the problem with the first bosal, the mecate must touch the chin unless I'm mistaken. I did buy myself RE Smiths' hackamore training dvd's. He explains very clearly how to adjust the hackamore, but he also uses normal headstalls/ bridles not those hangers in your pics.
Thanks both of you, I'm learning a lot!

Like Mike and smrobs said a bosal wouldn't be the best choice for riders that are not proficient in using one...you will most likely end up with a bunch of run aways. Once a horse learns he can run through one he will.

I will add that I had an old Portuguese man tech me how to ride colts with a hackamore and snaffle...and I don't mean a bosalita.
Just slightly off the path of traditional vaquero horsemanship.Lol!