Buckling or tying a western cinch...

For the people saying you can't get the holes to line up....that tells me you have the wrong size cinch for your horse.

Sense I don't Sell my name to anyone with a penny that wants to stamp my name on the latest variety of snake oil, I'm not a professional so evidently not allowed to just buckle. I buckle and tie.

Mine's not terrible, but Abby used to be quite a chunk, which is why I got a bigger one. She has since toned up a bit.

Now that I think about it, I used to have a nylon latigo (that I used on the off side of the saddle) that was very slippery and wouldn't stay tight unless I buckled it. So I buckled and tied it because that made me feel double-y safe. Haha That buckle did come out once, I think due to the latigo being pulled up gently by the tie, but since it was tied, I didn't die.
At camp, where I'm in charge of 12 horses + tacking them up and then supervising them being ridden for 5-6 hours a day, 6 days a week, we've never had issues with tying either. This is a very interesting discussion to me. :)
Also, at camp I liked the dynamic-ness of tying. Most of the time we didn't have the correct cinch size for a given horse (we get different horses every year so there's no predictability with what we'll need) so it was nice to be able to tie wherever.

And I can safely say that the people who taught me to ride where definitely rednecks. However, I am anything but a redneck.

That's interesting that most people, so far, seem to tie, makes me feel less like the one weird kid in class!

I will buckle if I am doing flat path trail riding, but I prefer the cowboy knot when my horse and I go rock climbing.

I have done both, and I prefer tying it. Like others have said, it gives you more options on how tight the cinch is. I also put the latigo around twice, just because mine is sooooo long. I think, it's really just a matter of preference.

I was taught to tie, don't even know why there is a buckle! Buckle jus gits in th' durn way... Spect ima redneck, hillbilly
Mor'n likely an durn proud! Never had a slipt saddle, sticks juuuus fine!
Posted via Mobile Device

I've only ever buckled mine and in about 20 years of saddling my own horses every day, I've never had one come undone, even with nylon latigos. I keep regular latigos on both sides of my saddle so that I can easily adjust both sides to keep the cinch centered. Not so easy if you are using an off-billet because you have to really loosen the latigo to tighten the billet a hole. Plus, latigos on each side give me much more lee-way in how tight or loose the cinch is.

For those of you having problems with a buckle coming undone: Make sure you pull down on the top latigo layer so that the tongue lodges against the ring as shown in the pic. This is what locks the latigo in place.
[IMG]http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss180/4painthorses/**********/cinch-buckle-3.jpg[/IMG]

Never thought of myself as a redneck, but I do tie.