Much of the equipment used on ranch horses hasn’t changed much from the days of the vaqueros. I’m Jeff Keane and I’ll be back after the break with some history on western horse gear. In the words of stock horse trainer Bobby Ingersoll the California vaqueros” shaped a culture and a traditional  way of working cattle still used today,” and one piece of functional equipment  were spurs . A listener recently asked us why cowboys often  added jingle bobs. Here is Susan Allen to fill you in. Good question Jeff, jingle bobs today are typically blue steel or silver and  I guess could be considered  kind of like  charms worn on rowels of spurs. Ideally your horse hears the jingle sound and know you have spurs on so will behave better.  Today jingle bobs are a mostly a fashion statement as they were  a statement as well for the old California cowboys. They Served as a badge of honor of sorts because  jingle bobs were earned and worn only by the  better horseman. According to the book the Legendary California hackamore and Stockhorse . The ranch boss awarded jingle bobs to the  cowboys he felt deserved recognition for their horsemanship.  Some hands never rode well enough to add jingle bobs to their spurs while other cowboys might wear them on  just one boot. Susan  In California’s ranching hey days it was told you  could always tell a   great  horsemen by the musical sound  that jingle his spurs  made when he  walked into a room. I’m Jeff Keane.