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One of the most baffling things that people new to the horse world encounter, is the great
array of equipment available, and it’s uses. There are a lot of books and other
assorted pieces of literature that pretty well cover the uses of such equipment, but
little is said about how to differentiate between good and bad .
The first thing most people look at
is the price tag of the selected item, and here lies the first clue as to the quality. If
it seems to be cheap when compared to other similar items, then it is probably inferior,
however this is not always the case. Sometimes the item may be of good quality, but is
simply old stock, and therefore the price has been reduced. Similarly the other items may
be priced up to give the impression of quality; this ploy also increases profits for the
retailer.
Nowadays there seems to be four classes or categories of equipment :-
- The best being saddlery that is hand-made by highly skilled trades-people using the best
materials available. Most of these products originate in countries like Australia,
England, Western Europe and the United States of America.
- These places also produce good saddlery of a lesser quality, using lower grade materials
and quicker methods of manufacture, thus reducing the cost whilst maintaining strength and
durability.
- There is some fair quality saddlery being produced in third world countries, using
imported, high grade materials, and low cost labour. This considerably reduces the price
tag, and can be very difficult to discern from high quality equipment.
- Equipment made in third world countries using locally sourced materials of varying
quality. This is the lower end of the price scale, and some of this equipment can become
unsafe rather quickly.
 Learning to discern good leather from bad takes time and
experience, however there are a few rules of thumb. Firstly the best leather is quite firm
and has a nice clean finish on the "top" or "grain" side. When it is
bent or folded it won’t show any cracking, nor will the surface wrinkle as if it
wants to separate from the lower layers (this is termed "floating grain"). The
underside or "flesh" side should be tight, and fairly smooth . It shouldn’t
be rough, or hairy looking. Close inspection of the grain side will reveal that the holes
which the hairs came from are very fine. This is the easiest way to tell Indian leather,
as the hair holes are much larger, and very widely spaced due to the hides coming from
buffalo, and not beef cattle. Lastly but not least check for stretch and any nicks, or
cuts that are not immediately visible. High quality leather will not stretch much, and
will spring back readily.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to email me and I will gladly answer any
of your questions.
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