[AHite]

I recently acquired this machete from a friend's shop. I believe it is a vaquero machete from Mexico, and was made for a particular person not a random tourist. I really like the artwork, particularly the wolves. The blade measures 24" long, and is very flexible with an unsharpened edge. The handle is horn, carved in the likeness of a horse. The leather sheath is nicely done, with dark spots that I attribute to sweat (probably the horse's). The sheath looks like it was meant to be attached to a saddle.

The words, "Con Quidado" means Carefully in English, or With Care. On the other side it reads, "Que Soy Poblamo". A search on Google would translate this to "I am of Puebla" or "I am of the village". I welcome any fluent Spanish speakers to offer their translation. Mi Espanol is muy malo. There is what I believe is a name, "Luc", which makes me believe this was a personal piece. It's not a weapon per se, although one could sharpen up the edge, but used by vaqueros to hack brush, maybe other uses.