Today we talk to Tray Pelster again, this time about her Wild Cayuse Cinches business. Tell us more.

"I started this cinch making business with my mom probably seven years ago. I knew at some point I would be pregnant and having kids and that was my ultimate goal with my husband was to start a family and get to do this with a family. So I wanted to have a little bit of extra income and like a backup, but also I just really like building things and creating good quality tack for your broke cowboys out there. I felt like spending $200 on a cinch was just outrageous for it to go bad in six months, and I needed like four cinches I think. We could not afford it and my husband was working at a feed lot at that time and he'd been in a feed lot for a while. The feed lots just eat up your cinches, especially the cheap ones, and I just decided well, how hard could it be to make something like that? And my dad, he does leather work and he braids and he made his own tack for a very long time but cinches was one thing he never learned to make. And so I asked around in the area and I was like if I started making cinches would that be something you guys would be interested in buying? Probably 80% of the people that I asked said yeah like that's something we need. And it's good to know that we make a product that can help somebody like that because tack is extensive."

New Mexico horse trainer Tray Pelster. Find Wild Cayuse Cinches on Facebook or look for their website coming soon at wildcayusecinches.com.

New Mexico Horsewoman and trainer Tray Pelster on how she likes to start horses.

"I like to do a lot of ground work so I don't have to deal with as much crap on top of them. I have the time to spend with them when I was training horses under people. You have 30 days so you spend across the board from a lot of my trainers on average about a week, week and a half in the round pin and then you just get on them. You learn how to take shortcuts and you learn how to do it quickly and I would rather start them on the ground for about a month and just see where they're at. I was raised on hand cocks and that's slow, start them on the ground thing. They don't look near as hard. It's mostly a scared thing or a fight. I don't trust you situation and the majority of the time I've found that hand cocks that get a bad rap for things because they're smart and they're smarter than most people. But if you can teach them that this is not a fight or fight situation and that you can trust me and they won't want to try anything when you're on their back. So I've had great success with starting them slow on the ground and just covering all your bases and moving with the horse. See my dad, he's a firm believer in starting them three or four. I am like 125 pounds. So for learning from horse trainers, honestly I like to start them at two. Some horses with exception just because they're not mentally ready or they're not physically ready."

New Mexico horsewoman, Tray Pelster.

Tray Pelster grew up deeply involved in the world of horses and ranching, particularly influenced by her father, who was a reputable horse trainer, and her grandfather who raised Appaloosas and competed at a national level in various disciplines like rain cow horse and cutting. Tray began her training under challenging conditions often working with horses that weren't particularly kid-friendly. Over the years, she has involved herself in various disciplines including English riding, roping, and cutting. She has had a passion for training horses and learning various aspects of horsemanship, specifically valuing starting horses from a young age with a focus on groundwork for long-term success.

Tray and her husband have moved multiple times across different ranches, gaining diverse experiences in cattle ranching. They currently operate on a ranch in Folsom, New Mexico, where they run about 500 Red Angus cattle and manage challenging terrains. Trey shares insights into the daily operations and the beautifully rugged landscape they work in.

For the listening publics we're talking to Brandi Iverson. I met Brandi at the Montana Cowboy Poetry gathering in Lewiston, Montana. You were a vendor. Tell us what you're doing there.

Yeah, so I sell wild rags, which are cowboy neckerchiefs. I bought the business about three and a half years ago to be able to stay home with my three kids more often on the ranch. I was previously a teacher in our local school, only school in the county and it has about 55 students kindergarten through high school.

That is the grand old cowboy tradition. You didn't come in from somewhere else like so many of the school farms back in the old days, did you?

No, I grew up in Montana. I've been here all my life and don't ever plan on moving. And so how far away did you have to move when you went to the school there? I grew up in Billings, which is about two hours south of Winnet and my husband dragged me up here. We just had our sixth anniversary. So six and a half years ago we moved out here. And I never really felt grounded until I came out to the ranch the first time and I was like, I am never leaving. I have been able to replace my teaching salary completely. I package all of the scarves and all of my scarves come with a lifetime hem guarantee. All of my materials are domestically sourced. And so that's really great that I'm doing my part to keep our economy going.

Brandi Iverson with Montana Wild Rags. Catch our full interview on halebroadcasting.com or anywhere your favorite podcasts are found.

Some great advice from Alturist, California horseman, Buck Brannaman...

Now let's get to today's interview with aaster horseman and clinician from Texas, Mr. Van Hargis. On our last program, Van covered what he prefers in a bit. Now we ask him the question about saddles. So Van, what do you look for in a saddle? Is it fit or is it comfort for the horse? What is it?

Yes sir, what I'm looking for in a saddle of course, you hit the nail right on the head and I want to find a top quality saddle made by a very reputable and very top quality saddle manufacturer. And the reason why is that they're generally going to work a little bit harder with the saddle tree manufacturers to make sure that all points of that saddle to be even. In other words, it's like everything else and you've got to start with a great foundation. That saddle tree is the absolute most important thing there. After that we want to make sure we're using top quality materials. The best leather possible, those are things I look for. But really what I'm looking for outside of those things, I'm looking for something that fits my task. I really have to ask myself, what am I going to be doing in my horse the most? If all I do is race, barrels and the barrel racer, then by God it might just pay for me to go find me a barrel race in the saddle as opposed to a cut and saddle. So I want to match the saddle to the task that suits my need.

Master horseman and clinician Van Hargis; be sure to follow Van Hargis Horsemanship on Facebook.

Master Horseman and clinician from Texas, Mr. Van Hargis.

What kind of bit do you like to use, Van?

"Well, to me, I'm looking for something that's going to be extremely simple. I start all of my coats off. The first rides are usually with a halter and a lead rope and then I'll graduate to what I call a glorified loping hackamore, which is just a real simple one step above a halter. But the first bit I put in the horse's mouth is just a very simple smooth mouth snaffle. It's an offset D-ring snaffle. Well, I've got nothing against an O-ring snaffle. Almost every bit we ride a horse with outside of a snaffle is going to have some sort of straight edge on it on the corners of the horse's mouth. So if that's the case, I'm going to go with a mild bit of possibly cans that's got a straight edge on the side. There's probably not a better one out there that prepares my horse for the next bit, the transition bit that I would go to next. So what I tell folks to look for is this simplicity. Look for something very simple. Things that we know already work. Number one, smooth. I want smooth mouth because I don't want to flick more discomfort to a horse and this is what I absolutely have to. So I like a smooth mouth. First type of metal such as sweet iron seems to be very, very simple to a horse. It promotes salivation and it's porous enough that salivation isn't wasted, I guess you can say, for like a better turn. So I'll also look for enough smooth mouth snaffle that's with sweet iron metals. For my laziness aspect of it, I like for the cheap pieces to be stainless steel. And the reason I do is if they're quick and easy to clean, maintain a certain high appeal. And there's other bits out there that are pretty buggo that are stainless steel is just easiest and the quickest to keep clean. I like something like that. Again, just trying to keep my world simple as I possibly can for both of me and my horse."

Master Horseman and clinician Van Hargis.