Use A Night Latch (Chicken Strap) for Safety

I was bucked off my horse last fall while penning cattle. It was the first time I'd ridden my new gelding in that situation, and he didn't react as well as I'd hoped he would. When my horse started to pitch, I made a grab for the dog collar I had running through the gullet of my saddle, but only got my rope strap instead. I should have maintained a hold of the rope strap, but instead went for the saddle horn. By that time, it was too late -- the saddle horn was under me as I was being thrown forward out of the saddle.

That dog collar I was grabbing for was my "night latch" or less charitably, "chicken strap" and I'm pretty confident that if I'd been able to get to it, I would not have been thrown. After I picked myself up again and regained my breath and my horse, I realized that I'd placed my rope on top of the night latch making it very hard to find in an emergency. The dog collar was also tended to lie flat against the pommel making it hard to grab quickly.

I searched online for a better night latch and came across one made by the Platte Valley Saddle Shop. The unique thing about this night latch compared to a dog collar is that it is designed to hold a hand-hold loop up, away from the pommel. I ordered one for my saddle and one for my wife's and have been very pleased with them. They're much easier to find and grab in an emergency and they're also very well made and compliment the saddles. The picture shows both night latches on my saddle.

So if you ride in a western saddle, I strongly recommend purchasing one of these to provide a quick hand hold if you need one. I've also recently read that a night latch is a better hand hold than the horn because it doesn't tend to pull you forward out of the saddle -- instead you can pull yourself right into the seat. The best night latch I've ever seen is the one built by Platte Valley Saddle Shop.