What’s the Handhold?
July 23, 2009 by Saddle Sense
Filed under Blog
Ever heard that term and wondered what it meant? Handhold is a term that’s frequently used in conjunction with western saddles, but rarely defined.
The handhold is the hole at the base of the horn where the fork ends and the seat begins. It’s a handy way to grab a saddle and so has come to be known as the handhold. You can see the handhold in the attached photo below.
Related posts:
I have a saddle which does not have one. It is an older saddle with a rounded skirt.Suede sesat & border only tooling. No maker mark.anybody : Any idea who manufactured saddles without handholds maybe 40 years ago ? thanks
Ever heard of or seen a night latch is a safety strap attached to a saddle to help the rider hold on and stay on a green horse. This was used as part of old-time traditional cowboy bronc gear and can still come in handy.
If I could post a picture of it I would, but here is how it works:
Use a four foot length of catch rope. Some type of rope is easier to hold than leather, which can be slippery.
Double the rope.
Run the looped end of the rope through the gullet (handhold)of the saddle from the front.
Run both free ends through the loop.
Leave enough room to slip your hand between the saddle and the rope.
Twist the ends around the loop and back through themselves.
You have a Night Latch, some old cowboys used these if they slept while in the saddle, you would wake up before you fell off the horse thanks to the night latch.
Hi, Yuma Jim,
The night latch is a very handy strap to have on your saddle. You’ll find an earlier post on it here: http://www.western-saddle-guide.com/blog/2008/10/24/nightlatch/