HorsehairBraider

OK, I laughed and even *snorted* when I read that... But that said, I think it's ignorance and not some great conspiracy that makes news writers say what they say. I really doubt they all have some grand plan to discredit guns.... ever try and get 5 people to all decide where to go for lunch? And besides, guns don't kill people.... it's the bullets....

Well, NM has treated this horsehair braider OK... and pretty much all of my neighbors (the ones that are not cows) rope and ride. So you never know - it might work out pretty good!

Well, "hanged" or "hung" would be a great thing to do to such people... But this is what I would suggest, there are already people out there that promote stolen horses. Why not put the saddles in the same place? A lot of horses have been returned to the rightful owner, sometimes years after they were stolen, so it might be worth a try. There is a "Stolen Horses" section on a site I check all the time: New Mexico Horse Talk and I know that there is also an organization on the web, but I don't know it off the top of my head. You'd have to google it. Lots of people read about the stolen horses... I've also seen ads in all the free horse classifieds, such as Dream Horse. It would not cost a thing to put in such ads, and might really help. There is also a Tack Trader site, and that one is also free. I can't recall if they have a place for stolen goods.... If a thief realized that everywhere he went to sell such a thing people would be alerted it was stolen, they would probably be less willing to steal. This guy has to be a moron anyway. Both those saddles are readily identifiable.

NICE. That's a lot of work, and you did it very well...

Ummmm... picture? Because I have no idea what you did, or what it looks like... so I don't know what to say...

Wow! You guys have interesting jobs! I braid horsehair and make jewelry.

I'm not sure what knot that is... have you got a picture? Otherwise I would just be guessing....

I don't remember what this is called but the way you do it is punch two lines of holes, parallel to each other like in the picture (although the lines are not straight in the picture, usually you would punch two *straight* lines of holes). You start in the bottom R hole, come up to the second hole from the bottom on the L, when you are behind you go down one, come up through that hole to the next highest one on the R, go down one, go up to the next highest hole on the L etc. That's a good one to start with, it's pretty easy. I'm sure it is in Bruce Grant's book but I don't know the exact page. Too lazy to look!

We had to rent our house when we moved here (it was that, or pay two mortgages) and we had our real estate agent act as our property manager. It was in her best interest that the house sell, and she was willing to do it, so it worked out in our case. We had three different renters in there, and they were all OK. We charged first and last month, and a security deposit to be returned once they were gone and the house was inspected. The real estate agent told us when she showed the house to prospective renters, she paid attention to things like their car, clothes and general demeanor - like, was the car full of old trash etc. She told them she could only rent to them with our approval, and so we were able to screen potential renters quite well that way. (That's not something we put in the contract - it was just how we went about it.) We explained that the house was for sale, and that when it was shown, they would have to clean the house and then be elsewhere while it was shown. Since everyone knew that ahead of time we had no problems that way. My first renter was a single man and was fabulous. He was neat as a pin and cleaned everything to within an inch of its life. The second was a couple, and they were great but got a divorce and left in the middle of the night! That was OK, I had their $1,000.00 security deposit and their last month's rent - so remember that little story and don't neglect to collect those fees! For those people, I had to change the locks because they still had the keys, so that security deposit came in handy. The last couple were sort of losers, but they were clean and decent and that was all we wanted out of them. They left no problem when the house sold, and left it very nice (although I then hired someone to come and clean it professionally, for the new owners). So it can work out if you are careful and professional in your approach. Having a third party handle it is really nice, it keeps everything on a business level where it should be, and away from the emotional appeal stuff - "we lost our job", "the kids are sick" etc. Good luck!

If you do a Google search on each one - for example "four strand round braiding" or "five strand flat braiding" you'll find a bunch. The thing is, start with ONE. Then practice until you can do it comatose. THEN learn another etc. That way you will have a really good foundation. You could also just buy Bruce Grant's "Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding" if you don't want to do all that typing. It would save you a lot of trouble.

Hey, what a great idea! I love Ian's wheels... and Wow, I actually live IN the Sangre de Cristo mountains. How cool to see some pics of the CO part of the range. This is a UT Arts Council photo of me with a mare wearing a braided horsehair headstall I made: And this is a photo of my wheels:

You've never poured salt on a slug? Man, I thought every kid tried that at least once! When I was a kid if you did stuff like that you had to be dang sure my mother did not catch you at it as she would about kill you for it. (It will kill the slug, she did not approve of killing things for no reason at all and I have to say I agree with her, at least a little, but slugs can be pests.)

You could punch a bunch of holes in it and do some applique braiding. That looks pretty spiffy and it doesn't matter how the leather was tanned or finished.

I've had a couple of horses with stifle problems, and yes, it can be off and on. I found that feeding alfalfa could make it worse, so I made a point to feed a lower protein hay and that seems to help at least some of them. None that I know of are sore to the touch all the time... they would be occasionally, but for that mare I was talking about I used to rub her stifles down with liniment after ever workout and she never flinched from that. Slow exercise, such as walking up hills, helps these horses. But first you need to determine the seat of lameness because it might not be a stifle problem... like Randy says, pulling the shoe and having the horse be ouchy is sort of suspicious, so personally I'd be looking lower down...

As far as I know, all the collars are meant for living dogs! But when I read the title I started thinking, "Hey! Maybe they DO make collars for dying dogs" because you can always learn, and I thought you really meant collars for dying dogs! It was *MY* mistake, no need for you to apologize, it was very funny to me!

"New bunch"? Sorry, guess I don't understand... the newly appointed senators etc. don't take office for a few days yet... ?? I'm kind of dense, maybe I just don't get it, sorry!

Oh my word... the way you spelled this made me think you wanted to make collars for dead dogs! Wow, did that ever give me pause for thought! And in case it has someone wondering.... "Dying collars" are collars for dogs who just aren't going to make it... "Dyeing collars" means you are going to be coloring the collars... I am sure it was just a typo but it made my heart stop for a minute or two... Whew! What a relief!

Can you figure out the seat of lameness? If it's low down in the hoof, I had a horse that did that once and turned out he had an abscess there. Just a small one... but once we drilled in there and drained it he was fine. I guess he got something very tiny stabbed up there that caused it but who really knows... As for stifle problems, I've got a mare that had that on BOTH hind legs but I knew it was her stifles, when I picked up her hind feet they would sometimes lock and she'd be uncomfortable. In her case she grew out of it - once she turned 5 the tendons and ligaments hardened down enough that her stifles are fine now. You would never know she had it, she traveled fine and I worked her hard. But, that horse still will not jump in or out of a trailer. I had to make her a ramp. She remembers how bad it hurt to jump, and is afraid. Now that her stifles are fine I can start to train her in the spring to jump in and out and again. My point with that story is, if they remember getting hurt, sometimes they'll want to avoid what caused the pain even after the pain is gone. I'd suggest a vet too, as they can see if the stifle joint is looser than it should be, or causes the horse discomfort. It's a little like our knee joint, and I think anyone can relate to your knees causing you trouble.

Wow - those are *really* nice! Fabulous! Don't beat yourself up, live and learn. I have learned... I *ALWAYS* charge the full amount, up front. If people are not willing to fork over the money, I'd just as soon spend my time doing what I want to do. However, that lesson was very hard to learn and it was difficult to get it through my thick skull! Learn from my mistakes. In a case like that, I quote a VERY high price, just trying to figure twice as much material as I think, and then adding more on "just in case". If they don't want to pay, fine. They can live without whatever it is. You don't see them do that at the store. They don't go in and tell the guy they want that big screen TV, and they will only pay $50.00. The guy would just laugh in their face! We had a lady come in one time, who told my friend (who was helping me sell that day) - "Not everyone can afford to pay $___ for that!" And my friend said, "We don't sell to just anyone. We sell to a very select group of people." Anyway, sorry that happened, but just don't let someone do that to you again! Charge the money up front. If they actually want whatever it is, they'll pay.

Well fortunately not everyone is an idiot. There have been lawmakers coming up with exemptions for small companies. Here's one article about it: Article and here's another: Story The stories don't give the full list of "natural products" that are exempt from the testing protocols. But it sounded like the law was about toys, not leather goods, and hopefully common sense will prevail with regard to viewing leather as a "natural product".

You know, I used to teach. Not leather work but weaving, spinning, braiding etc. This is almost universal - people hold their breath when they are learning a new thing and trying to concentrate. When someone didn't "get it" I would make them breathe - IN through the nose, OUT through the mouth, for a minute or so and - BINGO! All at once they would get it. Made me look really smart. But you know, your brain runs on oxygen and sugar. You have to breathe. Just try it - next time you are learning something and having a hard time, just try breathing. IN through the nose, OUT through the mouth. Hey, what can it hurt? And it won't cost you a thing... As for the skills of cutting - "Experience is what you get, when you don't get what you wanted". You just got yourself some experience. Congratulations!

Glad you're here! Looks like you are off to a great start, and you already know the part about having fun so you are all set!

I doubt this is much help... but if the metal is actually silver, that is pretty malleable metal. If it were me I'd attempt to change the shape a bit. A tap with a rawhide mallet in the right place can work wonders. Depending on the thickness of the plate that may not be possible though. The other thing I personally would attempt would be to alter the shape with my jeweler's saw, but that takes a lot of practice. (When I started years ago I used to cut out designs on coins for practice.) Like I say, that is probably not much help, unless you have a friend or neighbor who is a silver smith and can help you with it. And if the metal is not actually sterling silver, don't try to change the shape with a tap, some metals are really brittle. If they are casting the plates, they might be able to alter the wax for you before casting.

Hey, nice! Those look fabulous!

As I recall, there is a thread on this board somewhere about making your own tools... but I can't find it right now! I've used tool steel. Now, I have to make mine because no one makes them as small as I need. So for me, I can get old dental tools, saw off the end and use that blank end to form my tool. Sometimes I thumb through a catalog of tools that are full-size to get an idea of one I want (or *can*) make. Anyway, I bet you could do something like cut off the end of a screwdriver and use the result to form a tool, and I bet it would hold up pretty good. Screwdrivers come in all sizes, they even make some small enough to suit my needs and my husband hides his small screwdriver set from me for that very reason...