Tie yourself to the saddle

[Alpo]

You're sick, you're hurt, you're tired. You're afraid that you will either pass out or fall asleep and fall off the horse. And you can't afford to let this happen. So you tie yourself to the saddle.

I've heard of prisoners being tied to the saddle. Their ankles tied together underneath the horse's belly and their hands tied to the saddle horn.

But how would you tie yourself?

Frequently something Louis L'Amour heroes do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ozark Huckleberry]

Just speculating here -- pass a rope under the fender and around your leg on each side.

 

ETA: Just thought of the rigging for the billet straps. I suppose you could use those, as well.

[Perro Del Diablo]

Try this Alpo

[Perro Del Diablo]

Of course some might be familiar with this one

[Choctaw Jack]

Piggin' string looped under the belt,then around the saddle horn then tied back to itself?

[Matthew Duncan]

Tie one end of the rope to the horse's tail and loop the other end around my neck?  Any agreements?

[J-BAR #18287]

In third grade I broke an arm when a saddle came loose on a running horse and pitched me off the side.  I would have been hurt worse if I had been tied to the saddle, hanging upside down under a runaway horse.  Tying one’s self to a saddle has possible drawbacks.

[sassnetguy50]

I'd get a handicap saddle with the ties built in.

[Waxahachie Kid #17017 L]

Most of the time, when we put our seat belts on, and if the car flips side-ways, or upside down (for whatever reason), we have a roof to mostly protect us...maybe (not sure about the all-aluminum ford)  

 

Obviously, a horse has no "roof". If the horse goes down, and you tied yourself to the saddle, you may wish you had not done that...if you ever come to, that is.

 

Also, as already stated...I have seen poorly saddled horses, where the cinch came loose enough to make the saddle, and rider, slide sideways on the horse, or even slide under the horse's belly. Do you really want to be tied on your saddle in those circumstances??? Uhhh...no !  

 

Even putting your boots all the way into the stirrup, up to the boot heel, can be dangerous (although the old west cowboys did that). Today's riding instructors, well, the one's I have been around, suggest you just put about 1/4 to 1/3 of your boot into the stirrup, so you won't run the risk of getting your boot/foot/leg hung up/caught in the stirrup, in case you get unseated.

I once read a first hand account of a cowboy, in the 1880's, that was talking about how tough the old time stock saddle were. He said they were on a trail drive, once, when a rider-less horse ran up to them, and there was a boot, and a clothed leg, stuck in one stirrup. He said they tried to backtrack the horse, but never did find the body of the cowboy. They just buried his leg, and resumed the drive. 

 

Some modern saddles have a really low, sometimes almost flat cantle, and seat, (but wide forks) so that may contribute to being unseated more easily. Even though the old time stock saddles had a slick, or "A" fork, they usually had a higher cantle, and the seat was not as flat as a pancake (the two "A" fork saddles, that I own, don't have a flat seat. The seat is slightly concave)...and you could say you sat "down", in the saddle, instead of setting "on" the saddle. Sometimes the old time cowboy would tightly roll up a blanket, and insert or even tie it, behind the fork and horn, of the saddle, and made himself some temporary wide forks.

 

Of course too, the cowboy of the earlier old west rode the Spanish Mustang, a distinct breed of horse with five lumbar vertebra, like the Arab, or the Barb,  (the big eastern horses came much later when more farms were established, and they had grain and corn, and other things to eat. They could not subsist on just the prairie grasses alone, like the Spanish Mustang could),  The Mustang was around 11-12 hands high, on average, and weighed, on the average of about 850-1000 pounds. The Mustangs had, mostly, straight or "slab-sides" (so the cowboy's legs hung mostly straight down, and not wide apart like he was riding a barrel). The Mustang was much smaller than most of todays horse breeds in weight, height, and length. So, when the old time cowboys were unseated, they had less of a distance to travel, before they hit the ground.  

  

    

[Chantry]

12 hours ago, Alpo said:

You tie yourself to the saddle.

 

But how would you tie yourself?

Kinky!!   

[Duffield, SASS #23454]

The original question was "...If you were hurt  and/or tired and afraid that you would pass out and fall out of the saddle...."  This type of emergency overrides the fear of the saddle coming loose or the horse running away.  If you are that bad off, the train wreck isn't going to make much difference.

[Grass Range]

I always use an oxbow stirrup and my boot goes in up to the heel. If you ride correctly standing with only the front part of your foot in the stirrup it would be tiring. Tying yourself to the saddle will get you hurt sooner or later

[Hashknife Cowboy]

I would never consider tying myself to the saddle or in most cases tie someone else to the saddle.  I know some do and have for a variety of reasons but my fear is if the horse goes down you will most likely be pinned beneath a 1000 pound animal.  The outcome will be life changing.  As far as falling asleep in the saddle, a large number of us who have been  riding for many hours will find that the rocking motion and warm sun will put you to sleep in short order.

[Alpo]

Just finished Crossfire Trail. Don't remember if he was in the movie or not - they changed so much when they made the movie - but Tex rides into town, shoots two of the bad guys, then runs back to his horse, where he discovers another bad guy who already has his gun out. Tex draws on him anyhow, kills him, but gets shot up.

 

He manages to get up on his horse, and rides off into the blizzard. He ties his reins together and loops them over the saddle horn. Pushes his boots completely through the stirrups. Then takes his handkerchief and ties his hands to the horn.

 

First time I recall them explaining how he did it. Normally it would just be, "he tied himself in the saddle".

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Not sure I'd want to. Be a pretty good trick to tie your feet (esp for us vertically challenged). I think I'd as soon fall off and take my chances.

JHC

[Cider Creek Shootist]

Should have tied myself to the saddle........... It had been a busy couple days and I was about wore out . Figured i'd take a ride to kinda clear my head before calling it a day . Might have been lack of sleep i guess but next thing I knew I was on the ground with my foot hung in the stirrup and the horse never broke stride . If the store manager hadn't come out and unpluged the horse , i'd been there till my quarter ran out ........................................................  Yall be careful out there......................

 

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