Because you asked ~ Lucy's Tack

Last Saturday's encore post elicited a new bunch of questions from your inquiring minds, 

and a few of you wanted to know about Lucy's tack. I love me some tack talk, 

so I took my camera with me when I got Lucy ready for our Sunday ride.

I tack up Lucy on the back porch, also known as the "horse porch." 

The horse porch adjoins the garage, where I store my tack to keep it relatively dust-free.

Alan always follows Lucy and I as we leave the corral 

and makes me feel guilty for not taking him with us.

Anyway, this is Lucy's halter. It's a Brad Cameron mule halter and was part of her trousseau.

It's basically a rope halter, but it has a metal clip where you would normally tie a knot,

the idea being that mules/donkeys can be headstrong and might pull back so hard 

that you'd never be able to untie the knot. Lucy, of course, would never dream of such bad behavior. 

The clip does make it easier for neophyte ranchsitters to use it.

 This is Lucy's saddlepad. It is cut to conform to the mule saddle she wears.

It is made by Reinsman, and I love love love it.

 The backing is whatever this stuff is called. Ticky tack? Tacky tick? Something like that.

All I know is it stays in place like velcro.

Here is Lucy wearing her Steve Edwards "Cowboy" model mule saddle. It fits her perfectly.

Saddle-fitting a donkey can be very tricky. I got lucky when I was saddle-shopping for Lucy

and was able to try this one before I bought it. (Here's a link with that whole story.) 

It has many useful D rings, to which I've attached lots of saddle strings

(for tying on all the bones and other crap we bring home).

Now that Lucy's all dressed and ready to ride, it's time for me to put on my gear...

These are my beloved chinks. I do not leave home without them. They protect my legs

from all the cactus we rub up against and keep me from sliding around in the saddle.

I had them made about 12? years ago. They're buttery-soft elk leather and drape ever so beautifully.

 Lucy is happy to model them for you.

Lucy wears an Amish-made headstall designed especially for longears; it has a clip 

that unbuckles so that I don't have to fold and stuff those 14" ears under the crown.

I ride Lucy in a simple O-ring snaffle bit with a mecate, which is very handy

when I dismount to open gates and pick up bones. She neck reins better than most horses

I've known, and I ride her with a big sloppy rein and little to no contact on the bit.

 

 Lucy: Can we go now please?