unicornleather 60 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 When I get the time I write articles, I do have many more in the pipelines but time is of an essence. I am currently making my own brand of products (Horse and Rider Locatas) to supply an equestrian wholesaler and retailers round the country. I also make my own brand of traditional leather conditioner using only animal and vegetable ingredients, some of which I have to render myself. I am making cable parachutes next week for a gliding club local to me, so I have little time to write. I wrote this article about 4-5 years ago to show non trade people what utter crap there is out there, even in the English saddle scene. People rant about Indian saddles and yes most are shite but so are some very expensive English made saddles, the trouble is, like most things today, it's all about money, no thought for the safety or quality but to the average joe public these products look good and it's not until you start stripping down the saddles that you see the real picture inside. I hope this helps a few people, the article can be found here, there are other articles on my website just go to the menu at the top of the page I am about to show you and click on saddlery demos, there is an article on looking after leather which some of you may find interesting, Oz http://www.unicornleather.co.uk/badly_made_saddle_demo.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bosun11 537 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 That was quite interesting, i know feck all about horses and saddles except that i've always wanted to ride with a western type saddle, from my love of cowboy films. Gotta say that saddle in the pictures looked feckin crappy when you got down to the mechanics of it. I recon that if you joined forces with, Gruffalo Griff for the wood work, Strong Stuff for the webbing and yourself for the leatherwork, you'd probably make the best saddles in the world... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
planete 120 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 Thanks for posting this. I have had horses all my life but I had never before being shown the details of a badly made saddle, just been told to avoid certain makes. Have you posted this on the H & H forum? It might be useful for a lot of people there. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unicornleather 60 Posted November 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 (edited) Thanks for posting this. I have had horses all my life but I had never before being shown the details of a badly made saddle, just been told to avoid certain makes. Have you posted this on the H & H forum? It might be useful for a lot of people there. No not on the forum as it's seen as advertising because of the rest of my site is commercial but I do PM people on there to show them the article and then say on the forum I have PM'd the OP with an article on badly made saddles, it then opens the floodgates and I get inundated with PM's asking for the article I also have a list of saddles to avoid but obviously can't post those as it would be seen as libel (even though it's true!) Who are you on the H & H forum? I'm cremedemonthe (don't ask) Edited November 1, 2015 by unicornleather Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unicornleather 60 Posted November 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 (edited) That was quite interesting, i know feck all about horses and saddles except that i've always wanted to ride with a western type saddle, from my love of cowboy films. Gotta say that saddle in the pictures looked feckin crappy when you got down to the mechanics of it. I recon that if you joined forces with, Gruffalo Griff for the wood work, Strong Stuff for the webbing and yourself for the leatherwork, you'd probably make the best saddles in the world... Thanks but the trees are specialist stuff, laminated beechwood set in a hot press,then specially covered in muslin and shrunk in and painted over.The head and gullet plates, reinforcing along the bars, cantle and the the springs all have to be put on in a jig to be symmetrical, not something you can do properly without years of practice and training as well as specialist machinery. The webbing I use anyway, I have a few thousand metres of it as any one time buying in straight from the manufacturers, I have specialist material science experience enabling me to make all sorts of things with most textiles and/or leather, often improving on current designs. For instance regarding webbing, the cable parachutes I make for the gliding schools have to have a payload of at least 1 tonne on them as they are an integral part of the tow cable, if my chute fails the gliders are let loose before they are up to proper height. Then after release at a designated height of about 900-1000 feet the chutes get winched in by a 685 H.P. winch and hit the deck and they are often coming down on asphalt at 60-70 mph = shredding! I took what was already on the market and improved it so much that instead of a chute lasting a few weeks I can extend it to 6 months. I even use special threads that don't get heated under any abrasive workload asked of it and at £50 plus a spool it should be good stuff! Oz Edited November 1, 2015 by unicornleather Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sussex 5,777 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 Interesting article mate ... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bosun11 537 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 Maybe I should have put 'lol' at the end of my post! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
planete 120 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 Thanks for posting this. I have had horses all my life but I had never before being shown the details of a badly made saddle, just been told to avoid certain makes. Have you posted this on the H & H forum? It might be useful for a lot of people there. No not on the forum as it's seen as advertising because of the rest of my site is commercial but I do PM people on there to show them the article and then say on the forum I have PM'd the OP with an article on badly made saddles, it then opens the floodgates and I get inundated with PM's asking for the article I also have a list of saddles to avoid but obviously can't post those as it would be seen as libel (even though it's true!) Who are you on the H & H forum? I'm cremedemonthe (don't ask) Sorry, didn' t think about the advertising angle. I had realised who you must be from your avatar but thanks for confirming it. I have the same user name on other forums (I like to keep things simple!) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Strong Stuff 2,171 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 Maybe I should have put 'lol' at the end of my post! He's too good for the likes of us mate. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unicornleather 60 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 Thanks for posting this. I have had horses all my life but I had never before being shown the details of a badly made saddle, just been told to avoid certain makes. Have you posted this on the H & H forum? It might be useful for a lot of people there. No not on the forum as it's seen as advertising because of the rest of my site is commercial but I do PM people on there to show them the article and then say on the forum I have PM'd the OP with an article on badly made saddles, it then opens the floodgates and I get inundated with PM's asking for the article I also have a list of saddles to avoid but obviously can't post those as it would be seen as libel (even though it's true!) Who are you on the H & H forum? I'm cremedemonthe (don't ask) Sorry, didn' t think about the advertising angle. I had realised who you must be from your avatar but thanks for confirming it. I have the same user name on other forums (I like to keep things simple!) I'm sure I've seen you on there, will keep an eye out for you Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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