HorsehairBraider

Oh hey, that is a great link - thanks for sharing. My Spanish is not quite up to all of it, but I can understand some. Wish I could still speak it like I did when I was a child... That sort of braiding is really fascinating to me. I'd especially like to try out some fid work as I've seen some really fine examples come from that part of the world. I'll have to keep an eye on that blog, and really start working on remembering my Spanish!

Looks good Brian! Your neighbor is a lucky person. That's a nice gift. On Miguelm's comments, I agree it comes off as mean-spirited and sarcastic. Hopefully it's just a mistake with the translating, and won't happen again.

Very nice! It looks great on your horse too. What other things have you braided? Looks like you've had some practice!

I think it's just a matter of practice, and then being careful how you lay in each pass. I did one of these to over and under 17 once, in thread... but it was not that bad, although it took me forever, and I had to just stop and patiently think every now and then. So cheer up, I bet the one you do after this will be a piece of cake! Also, if I'm doing a knot and come across a part that looks wrong, I am very willing to just undo a little bit, sometimes just taking things back a little, and then going forwards again. To me this is easier than going forwards when you know something is not right. As soon as something is not laying the way I think it should, I stop and analyze as carefully as I can and then go back as far as necessary to get it right again.

No, I just wash it. I get asked a lot if I coat the hair with something, it's one of the questions on my FAQ page. I never even thought of doing it, even back when I was teaching myself to do it. It must be an obvious thing to do and I'm just not smart enough to think of it. But all I do is wash it really well in hot water and Dawn dish washing liquid.

Thank you very much! Knots used are a pineapple for the ends and they are on a 7 part 6 bight casa or foundation knot. The sliding adjuster knots are herringbone knots, on a 5 part 4 bight casa. Under the herringbone is a ring knot. Everything is of two passes.

Hey that's pretty neat. I like your use of color, very nice. I've never done that with a 12, but I have with a 16. It just seems to WANT to be flat like this, when you do a 16 with no core.

Hi people - I have not been around for a while but have time now to join in once and a while. I don't usually use a 12-strand gaucho braid in my work, but a customer asked specifically to have a bracelet made of it so I did one and thought you'd like to see. This bracelet commemorates two horses that belong to the customer and I think she'll be pleased with how it came out. Here is a close-up so you can see it better:

Very nice work, I enjoyed seeing it so thanks for posting! On the twist in the knot... a lot of that just comes with practice, I think. I'm sure your next one will be lots straighter, but you know, this one looks terrific and the person using it is going to really be proud of it, and you should be proud too. I'm guessing it's kangaroo lace? I love that little metal thing you've got at the end of the tie-down! That looks like a real handy thing to use to build a tie down with. Also, your phone takes pretty good pics.

I used to tie the ring knots around it, and then bring the ends around and through the ring knot, but what I do know is take all the strands and tie a knot with them on the end, and then cover that. I use the knot that I've heard some call a "terminal turk's head but I think it's really a crown knot and a wall knot. This works good for me and while there are times when the braided strands coming in to the knot have gotten worn and threatened to break, the knot on the end has never acted like it would pull off.

I too learned a square braid as a youngster and it was similar to this... this is simply a little more complicated so that you can make really neat patterns in the braid - like little lizards crawling up and down the braid, or human skeletons etc. The stuff I used as a kid was this horrid plastic "boondogle" stuff, and the braid used only 8 strands. Similar, but nothing like what you can do when you use more strands. As far as using thread, that would work with this too. I use some sort of tie to tie down the side that needs to be tied down (instead of my fist) when it is time to stop. I've done this in yarn and thread as well. Cats would completely screw up everything.... I've used the weights etc. but this is so much easier, for me. No equipment, you just pick it up and go. So do you guys have any pictures of what you've done? That would be great to see that. I'd love to see the patterns you got, or the technique you are using.

I was experimenting with a different way to braid - instead of clamping your ends, and then braiding down, you hold the ends tied in a knot in your hand and work the ends back and forth across the top of your fist, and the braid grows up instead of down. If you've ever seen kumihimo braiding it's the same sort of thing, except instead of all that gear (the braiding stool, the little weights etc.) you just use your hand. The braid typically has four faces - let's say E, W, N and S. As you work the braid, you hold down the East and West sides, but leave North and South exposed so you can make the passes. Once the passes are made in the North and South, you hold them down and leave East and West exposed so you can make the passes with those. Another thing I have seen this called is Andes sling braiding. Not that slings are only braided in the Andes... but there was a book called "Sling Braiding of the Andes" that explained this type of braiding. I tried it in the traditional materials (llama or alpaca yarn) but thought - hey, maybe this would work with horsehair? That got me to wondering if anyone else had tried it. Maybe it would work in leather or rawhide, with really thin strings! This is what it looks like in horsehair: Here, I've used a bread tie to wrap around the hairs in the bigger example. This shows the top part where you create the braid. One of the things you have to do is cross the "lower" to the "upper" on the opposite side. I think you can see the lowers and uppers here: That particular braid is made with 28 strings... but really it's only 24, because you double up on the center of the diamonds. In this case the diamonds are black, so where there was black, I used two strings instead of only one. Has anyone else ever tried this? How did it work out for you? I think this would make a handsome bracelet in horsehair!

Oooh nice - that's inspiring! I think I'll go out and make a set, I was just thinking I needed some. Thanks for the idea!

As soon as I finish something, no matter what it is, I immediately start thinking "I should have done this that or the other, I could do this, I could do that" instead of appreciating what I've just finished. So, well done! Nice job and they look terrific. I bet your wife will love using them. And you are going to donate braiding as prizes at horse shows? Which shows, and could you do some in NM so I could win them? :D

Man - doesn't that cook know genius when he sees it?! That's quite clever and looks like it would work perfectly. Excellent work!

That's coming along very nice! Your long buttons look great. Have you planned out the headstall to match it yet?

You have a great finish on that. It looks terrific! And I agree with Leatheroo - lucky Mita!

Hi Joe - I don't want to derail this nice thread about Gaucho braids so I'll just keep it very brief. I tie knots in the end of the bundles! I use a needle but one end of the hairs is loose and it *will* come unraveled if I am not careful. I can't just stop in the middle of tying a knot. Also I have to be careful because unlike leather, where each piece stays separate, all the hairs crowd together so you can't tell which hair is in which bundle and where it is going. So I can't use those "quick start" methods for example, where you lay a whole bunch of passes together before starting an interweave. It just turns into one big mass of hair and you can't tell if you should go over it or under it. I did a pictorial step by step (it's not meant to be instructions - there are lots of better writers out there, people should get instructions from them) so you can see - Braided horsehair bracelet one step at a time.

Now, come on! We all know it's not your eyes, it's my photography... See if this is better, I don't usually take them this close up: Not the same bracelet but the same braid. It looks different in horsehair from this close. But hopefully this is close enough that you can see how the strands went. I thought this color might be easier to see; my standard colors are black, white and "sorrel" (which is a pretty variable color, but basically a reddish brown) and I think black and white are sort of hard to see the details. Anyway I really love this braid, and I'm thrilled to see it in leather braided over a core - it just looks terrific. If you look at my avatar the base braid the knot is tied over is a gaucho also but it's a 12 strand not an 8. One of these days when I have a little time I want to sit down and work out a 16.

Nice bracelet! And Leatheroo, nice necklace! This is a braid I use every day in my work. Depending on what you braid it from it is intrinsically a round braid. That makes it perfect for horsehair - Even with no core it comes out round. I am so happy to see others using it! This is what it looks like in horsehair: No core of course. Horsehair has quite a lot of "life" all on its own.

Personally, I prefer a series of ring knots, with a wrap or two on the ends to taper a little bit. I like it because I feel it's more stable. The truth is though you use what works, and what you have. Sometimes I did not have any more lace to tie the ring knots and so I used electrician's tape! Of course when I started I braided baling twine. You use what is there. Yeah, sure, if I'd had a ton of money I would have used a series of ring knots back then, but I did not have it, so I used what was there, and it worked just fine.

I've used both and usually prefer veg tanned. It kind of depends on what I'm making. If I think the item is going to be outside a lot and maybe get rained on or used a lot in the weather then I'll go with drum stuffed. Or, if I'm using veg tanned for such a project, I'll run the lacing through leather conditioner first, or sometimes I use corn oil. Just something to give it that little bit of protection against the elements. For the most part I like the way veg tanned feels and it seems to do the job and hold up well. I will say though, when cutting the lace... the drum stuffed that I've used has cut like butter.

Can you still call me mate? NO problem! Surely you must know that a lot of American females consider the Australian accent the sexiest one around - you can call me just about anything (except late to supper). And thanks, everybody! lilpep, thanks for letting me know the name of that knot. I figured since it had a nested pass it could not be called a herringbone but since I don't have the Tom Hall books I was not aware of that name. Guess I'll have to get those books.

I'll start by saying I did not do the leather work or the silver work on this bridle. The customer had a headstall which she sent to me, and then she had these folks do the sterling silver conchos and buckles, buckle tips and keepers. The whole bunch was sent off to me to assemble and then I was to put in braided horsehair knots. The bridle silver is really nice quality. Just beautiful. Anyone wanting bridle silver will be well served by those folks. Here it is on my stallion Tito: And of course you'll all want to see a close-up of the knots: I started it as a herringbone of two passes but added in a third pass. Now on that third pass I did have to nest that pass, so maybe that changes the status of this knot, I'm not sure. But I really wanted all three colors in this, so that meant an O3, U3 sequence in the finished knot. This was a blast to make and I was so happy for the chance to do it. It's going to look absolutely fabulous on the customer's gorgeous mare.

Man, that is a cool knot. One of these days I gotta get me those books and try that one out! That would look awesome on a halter.