Get-downs are untied from bosalitas or, of course, a horse’s neck, and mecates are loosened or untied from slobber straps or bosals to ensure permanent kinks don’t develop in hair ropes. The Colorful Cowgirl get-down on the left is smooth and without kinks, the yellow Colorful Cowgirl get-down on the right was left tied in an alamar knot and has a few kinks in it. They should relax out as the knot wasn’t left long.

We are extra particular about bridles and reins and romal. Bridles are hung on round pegs — an easy and inexpensive project out of an old fence post — to fit the horse and avoid a funny peak from a nail or small hook. Reins and romal are hung higher than the bridle so that they don’t develop a bend at the bottom of the reins. A nail suffices for reins and romal, as they can be hung by the connector without lasting effects.

If reins and romal will sit some time without use, we unhook them from the rein chains, again eliminating chance for a bend in the reins. Simple connectors, like the onces shown here, makes for easy hoooking and unhooking. They are a small tab of leather with a bleeding heart connecting the rawhide reins to the chains. They attach to the chains by a small hole through both sides of the leather connector.

Good quality pads are the bread and butter for our horses. We use Five Star Pads and, if needed, a thick, quality blanket for under the pad to keep it cleaner longer. They often get sweaty and need to dry off, so Boe made these simple but effective blanket racks. We lay our pads over the rack as they will sit on a horse. Flipping them upside-down to dry can cause the pad or blanket to dry with funny bulges that can be irritating to the horse.

A 2×2 or 2×4 hung at a 45º angle can make for a handy rope and reata holder, keeping them up off the ground and out of the way. This can be hung quite high to use dead space as it isn’t generally accessed daily.