About Page

Helen Dougal Hammond, grew up on a beautiful rural ranch in Southeastern Idaho as she grew up she learned all of the ranching traditions passed down from generations of ranching ancestors.

One of the traditions is twisting horsehair into ropes. Helen is the third generation family member that learned how to twist horsehair into beautiful and colorful ropes that are literally pieces of art. These ropes are called "Mecates" the word mecate is a Spanish derived word that means twisted rope.

Helen was only ten years old when she made her first mecate rope. Before she made her first rope, she picked the hair for her mother and turned the mecate twister so her mother could make the rope. Helen has kept up the family tradition of mecate rope making for the past 35 years. She says " I really like making them, its very relaxing."

Helen uses a special machine made especially for twisting horsehair together that was made by her father and she has another one that was made by an old Buckaroo from the Owyhee desert in Nevada. Ropes are twisted by hand, to about twenty-two feet in length and can be various sizes in width from ½ inch to ¾ inch. Mecates are mainly used for hackamores and snaffle bits used by cowboys and you will find them at horse shows as well. They are also great for table decorations, wall hangings and hatbands. The basic colors are sorrel, black, white and grey and many different combinations of mecates can be made from these 4 basic colors.