Becky Tocol (Christmas Valley) specializes in horsehair hitching. She uses dyed horse hair to make quirts (short whips) and lanyards. Tocol, who grew up in California’s ranch country, tried her hand at hitching on her own and then developed her skill by working with other hitchers.
Bio
Becky Tocol specializes in horsehair hitching, the process of using half-hitch knots to tie horse tail hair into intricate patterns. The finished product might be a belt, bridle, or in Tocol’s case, a quirt, which is a short horse whip. She also makes stampede string lanyards for a hats. Tocol grew up around horses and ranches in central California where she fell in love with the buckaroo/vaquero style of ranching. As a teenager, she worked in a western store, where she got the hat she wears today. Tocol became interested in horsehair hitching while working at a ranch and first tried her hand at hitching with white horse tail hair that she dyed a variety of colors. Committed to improving her skills, she learned from other horsehair hitchers, including Gary Stark out of Idaho, who taught her the finer points of the craft. Some years ago, Tocol also apprenticed from spur and bit maker Bob Hall, through a California apprenticeship program; she has made one set of spurs. In 2000, she and her husband moved to Oregon, where they haul cattle for the ZX Ranch. Tocol also became involved in producing non-commercial vaquero shows where she trades and sells her quirts and lanyards. Most gear makers in Christmas Valley tend to do rawhide braiding, so Tocol’s hitched pieces are sought after. When she and her husband are on the road, she brings along a toolbox so she can do her hitching.
