Horn Knot Tightened to Saddle Horn

Had a customer a couple of weeks ago buy a big horn knot to go on his saddle horn. Most people who have been buying my knots have been tying them onto their horns themselves, but I do offer the service of tying it for them. So he brought me his saddle last week and I found time this weekend to knock it out. I had originally tied a 8Lx9B THK with a gaucho interweave or 17Lx19B gaucho knot, but when looking a the circumference of his saddle horn, I decided to reduce the number if bights. So, I retied the horn knot, this time a 17Lx15B gaucho knot. It took a three go-rounds of tightening. I got a little anxious when starting the last round by tightening too much, and by the end it was pretty tough to pull the line through. But after two hours or so of work I finally finished. The horn knot is made of a single strand 3/16" Solid Braided Nylon. Around 20 feet of cord when the knot was loose and then pulled out another 8 feet or so after it was tightened.

A Nylon Keeper, plus some Horn Knots

I had a request for a Keeper that had the ability to be size adjustable. I started with a four strands 6 feet long, found the middle of each strand and started a four strand round braid. I made the four strand round braid about and inch and a half. Then I folded the braid to create an eye, then started an 8 strand round braid. The 8 strand round braid is done for about 16 inches. I then tied a constrictor knot to secure the braid in order to tie a stopper knot. I tied a 4 strand diamond stopper knot, then doubled it with the remaining 4 strands. Now that the stopper knot can be pressed through the eye, with a little force, I wanted to make sure it can be strongly secured. So, I tied a Spanish Ring Knot, tight enough that it wont come undone, but loose enough that it will slide nicely. I then tied a couple more Spanish Ring Knots down the braid from the stopper knot. This will make the size of the Keeper adjustable. In other words you can make the loop of the keeper have smaller diameters.

The cord I used is 1/8" Solid Braided Nylon. A total of 26 feet were used.

I went ahead and included another picture of some horn knots I finished.

Full view of the Keeper

Diamond Stopper knot followed by Spanish Ring Knots

Round braid eye followed by a Spanish Ring Knot

7X8 THK with Gaucho Interwave, used for Horn Knots

The horn knots are tied from 3/32" Solid Braided Nylon.

Horn Knots Revisited

After making simple horn knots for a while, I decided to step it up finally and make horn knots using a turk's head knot technique. I have some old horn knots that my grandpa made, so I just duplicated them. The cord is 3/16" Solid braided nylon. The THK is a 7x8 with a goucho interweave or also known as a 13x15 goucho knot.

These things are hard as a rock and do not move/stretch at all. Very good quality, and as long as it isn't cut or burned by flame. it will never wear out.

Getting Ready To Work

I snapped this picture before I started working on some horn knots the other night. I thought it was a neat picture and figured I would share.

Nylon Horn Knots

I've been away from tying for a while, so therefore I needed to replenish my inventory with some horn knots. I tied these from Solid Braided Nylon 3/16". I tied 4 small horn knots and 1 big horn knot. The first picture shows the smaller horn knots before they are tightened and ends trimmed. Second picture shows the final result of the small horn knots. And the last picture shows the big horn knot, which is not tightened. This is because the final result is tied around a saddle horn instead of a hollow core.

A Look at the Current Inventory

I've been continuously making new halters, pigging strings, and horn knots. So, I decided to take a picture of all the current products I've put out over the past couple weeks. Everything is made of paracord except for the white halter in the front. It is made from solid braid nylon rope. It's a lot stronger, and I wanted to see if it would be more popular. The last picture is a close up of the flat braid that makes the nose band of the white halter.

Finished Horn Knot

Here is what a finished horn knot looks like when tied onto the saddle horn. I did this for my brother before a big ropin' of his. I'm sure he will get a couple inquires about it.

The paracord used is called Viper, and was bought from Supply Captain.

The size I used in the final knot was 8 high and 7 wide.

The unfinished knot at the bottom right was tied around my hand, and then took out about 3 high when I got ready to put it on the saddle horn.

Knots on a Broom Handle

Here's some more knots I've tied from Tom Hall's Turk's-Head Knot Tips.

I've posted a couple of these earlier, but they look 100x better after being tightened down.

The ones with the gaucho interweave will make great horn knots, and is probably how I will tie them from now often. Only because it looks cleaner and won't stretch when pulled apart. Even though the other way to tie a horn knot isn't pulled apart rather pushed together, it still kinda bothers me.

Each one of these can be tied with two colors (ex: the second one), but the top and bottom one are done with one continuous strand. I prefer it that way, unless requested otherwise, because it provides less ends to be cut and melted when you are done tying.

From top to bottom on the mandrel (old broom handle):
5X6 Casa with Gaucho Interweave
7X6 Casa with Gaucho Interweave
7X6 Casa with Pineapple Interweave

Horn Knots

This is a new blog of the different projects I take on. I am brand new to making and maintaining a blog so bear with me. For my first post I will start with a knot of sorts that is pretty easy and repetitive once you can get the hang of it. It is known as a "horn knot," among cowboys and ranch hands. When I first tried my hand at this knot, it stumped me for a good while. This knot is used for securing a rope around the saddle horn when roping calves. It can also be tied around the actual saddle horn to create friction against calf ropes and it also protects the saddle horn's leather from wear and tear. 

Sizing the horn knot is interesting. When you tie this knot it can be as wide or long as you possibly want it, which makes why this knot is so very versatile. I haven't found anywhere online or in books where it details how to describe the sizing of a horn knot, so I have come up with my own. Turks head knots are done by bights and lead, so instead I go by twists and height. 

The first picture is an example of a couple of horn knots that are used when securing a calf rope. The one on the left done with paracord, and the one on the right is made of nylon rope. Traditionally if you were to buy a horn knot at tack shop, they will be made of nylon. Being an avid user of paracord, I like to use the different colors and styles of paracord to make them look better and more fluid. I size all my small horn knots at 6 twists and 6 high. Each takes 8 feet of cord to tie without tightening. 

These two horn knots have not been tighten and are waiting to be put onto a saddle horn. These horn knots are 7 twists by 13 high, and use 25 feet or so of paracord without tightening.










The left and below pictures are the two 7x13 horn knots finished around saddle horns. It took about 3 series of tightening starting from the middle and working down, then starting again from the middle and working back
up.