South of the border holster

[Elk Creek]

So, northern Wyoming on the border of Montana is a unique place of old and new. I grew up seeing old original Colts, Sharps and Winchesters with all the trappings with them. I say old rack from the 1880’s through present day and most was still in use. Anyway, I saw old school gun leather… one style that always caught my eye was and is the Piteado style holsters. Piteado holsters use cactus or agave fiber to embroider the leather. The original use was to give thin Mexican leather stiffness and body. They were ment to be used and were ment to be “showy” and “flashy.” Without further explaining…..
I found this holster on eBay for $45 bucks! These holster from good makers go for $1500! This one is in the 2-450 range…..
Pretty sure this one is made for a colt 4 5/8’s revolver

[Diver43]

That's NICE
What will be riding in it?

[Wambli Ska]

Beautiful! I grew up watching Charro movies and every gun was in one of those. The art form is alive and well in Mexico and I’ve seen entire saddles covered in designs that boggle the mind. Great find!!!!!

[CPJ 2.0]

100% ain’t my thing, but having made holsters and done leather work, DAMN.

[Freezer]

I like it! Great find.

[GrapeApe]

IMPRESSIVE work!!! but I must agree with the C, P & J, not my thing either

[Elk Creek]

That's NICE
What will be riding in it?

A single action Uberti in 32-20.

[Elk Creek]

It fits a single action army 4 5/8’s perfectly. Dang this is a cool holster.

[Diver43]

When they make these designs is some kind of man made material used or something exotic?

[jbp-ohio]

Seems a bit.....

[Elk Creek]

Seems a bit.....

Yup exactly! Charro! Not slapstick movie charro but actua Mexican working charro’s

[Elk Creek]

When they make these designs is some kind of man made material used or something exotic?

This is rawhide, probably goat. It’s done with both rawhide and cactus or agave fiber thread.

[Wambli Ska]

More along the lines of this...

Image 9.jpeg (608.12 KiB) Viewed 802 times

Charros were the original cowboys, older than our version by a few centuries. The concept of a "cowboy" goes back to the 1500's in Mexico and Charreria is basically "horsemanship" and other skills associated with cattle driving life like roping and bronco busting. It refers to a life and skills we adopted into our American West culture after we took the Southwestern lands away from Mexico. Many of the cowboy terms like lariat are actually derived adaptations of charro words. in that instance it stands for "la reata" or in Spanish to "tie again". Your "mount" in the cowboy world means your horse or a horse in your "string", in Spanish it's a "montura". "Spurs" come from "espuelas". Chaps comes from chapaderas... and so on.

Today Charros in Mexico are actually competitors in sanctioned Charreria events some of which would make PRCA American guys crap themselves. These guys are fearless and just amazing riders, horse trainers and athletes.

And historically, just like the American cowboy, in many cases these were not rich folks. So they would spend what money they made on a few pieces of working gear that they could be proud off like handmade leather gear and custom spurs, and as usual the flashier the better. Hell, if you're spending most of your paycheck on something you consider a bragging luxury you want it to be noticed!

And its core, Mexican cowboy custom gear is not very different from our American counterpart. Here is a set of custom US made spurs next to a custom Mexican spurs I picked up in Mexico. The styles might be a little different but again, they are both meant to be noticed. The biggest difference is that the Mexican spurs are truly 100% handmade, every single cut on the metal.

IMG_0620.jpeg (2.1 MiB) Viewed 801 times

[Elk Creek]

More along the lines of this...
Image 9.jpeg

Charros were the original cowboys, older than our version by a few centuries. The concept of a "cowboy" goes back to the 1500's in Mexico and Charreria is basically "horsemanship" and other skills associated with cattle driving life like roping and bronco busting. It refers to a life and skills we adopted into our American West culture after we took the Southwestern lands away from Mexico. Many of the cowboy terms like lariat are actually derived adaptations of charro words. in that instance it stands for "la reata" or in Spanish to "tie again". Your "mount" in the cowboy world means your horse or a horse in your "string", in Spanish it's a "montura". "Spurs" come from "espuelas". Chaps comes from chapaderas... and so on.

Today Charros in Mexico are actually competitors in sanctioned Charreria events some of which would make PRCA American guys crap themselves. These guys are fearless and just amazing riders, horse trainers and athletes.

And historically, just like the American cowboy, in many cases these were not rich folks. So they would spend what money they made on a few pieces of working gear that they could be proud off like handmade leather gear and custom spurs, and as usual the flashier the better. Hell, if you're spending most of your paycheck on something you consider a bragging luxury you want it to be noticed!

And its core, Mexican cowboy custom gear is not very different from our American counterpart. Here is a set of custom US made spurs next to a custom Mexican spurs I picked up in Mexico. The styles might be a little different but again, they are both meant to be noticed. The biggest difference is that the Mexican spurs are truly 100% handmade, every single cut on the metal.

IMG_0620.jpeg

What he said!