William Bloke

To stretch the bicycle metaphor. This is the equivalent of a company buying SRAM, Shimano and Campagnolo, and then entirely running out of derailleurs. Their inability to get me 4 looped collar buckles within 6 months cost me and my family five thousand pounds. I have started buying old harness just for the buckles.

It's the lorinery I struggle with. I have given up buying leather from them. I use White's for proper bridle, and Baker's for nice shoulders and harness.

I spend about £6000 a year with Abbey. This is part of a pattern and not based on a single transaction. They have bought up a lot of the saddle trade businesses in the UK, the most notable being Sedgwick, but have also have a near monopoly on quality lorinery, especially harness stuff. If they are failing it will do lasting harm to the British saddle trade. If other people are getting the feeling they are over extended I think it's fair that we know.

First thing this morning I placed two orders, both for about £400 ($525). One with J Wood Leathers. Everything was in stock, and when I rang an hour or so later to add some extra bits, was told it was no problem, and as I was ordering before 1pm everything would be definitely be delivered tomorrow morning at no extra postage cost. The second order was with Abbey England. Half the stuff I wanted was out of stock with now idea when it would be available, and when I asked if what they did have could possibly go today or tomorrow so it would arrive early next week, the woman on the phone actually laughed at me. I swear Abbey are trying to bankrupt me.

To this UK saddler... Bridle leather is used for bridlework, that's the leather on a ridden horse that isn't a saddle. Bridles, breastplates, martingales, that sort of thing. It's a smooth, shiny, corrected grain, veg tan leather with lots of oils and waxes in it (for waterproofness and strength.) and a well finished flesh side. (That last point is important because it is often used for unlined straps.) Saddlers normally use butts for strength and cutting efficiency, but bridle finished shoulder is excellent for cases and fancygoods. Harness is used for making harness for driven horses. It comes in backs only, the extra length is important for things like traces and reins because the horse is simply further away. It has a bit more texture on the grain side (a slight haircell) and is a bit heavier than bridle butt (about 4.5-5mm.) My understanding is that it is stuffed in the same way. Usually the flesh side is well finished, but not always as harness straps are usually lined. In my mind, and I suppose this is largely fashion, I use bridle for all sorts of non-equestrian things. Belts, bags, cases, even watch straps. I can't imagine using harness for anything but harness, carriage and veteran car fittings.

Agree the rein grips are nice. And remember, you don't just buy equus overreach boots, you invest in them!

Totally agree about Equus. Do they own Stubbs too?

Not really, Abbey own Sedgwick and their foundry pretty much has a monopoly on a lot of saddlery and harness stuff. A lot of independent saddlers and also firms like the new Geo Barnsley rely on them. The leather isn't so much of a problem, Firms like White's have already moved away, and if Sedgwick Harness stops being made another company will step in. It's the lorinery that worries me.

To be clear, I am a UK customer (Actually only about 30 miles from Knutsford.) And VAT registered. So most of those issues shouldn't affect our business. However I'm not interested in causes, I'm worried about the symptoms. I've had stocking problems from Chinese imports, UK sourced goods and lorinery from their own foundry. Also the excuses I get from Richard are getting a bit desperate. On one order I waited several months for I was told "We tried to contact you to say it was ready, but were unable to." They were of course able to contact me just fine to send me invoices. Another time when I placed a Sedgwick order I was told it was out of stock. When I asked how long it might take I was told they would steal a few butts from someone else's order and it would be with me by the end of the week. We are all struggling with Brexit and covid, but this is not the behaviour of a firm that is coping. It's a worry because so many to of us rely on them.

I've been an Abbey customer since I went out on my own in 2009 and before that when I was working in Walsall we ordered a lot from them. It wasn't unusual for something to be back ordered, these things happen, but over the last 18months or so most of what I want seems to be out of stock. I do a lot of harness so some of it is specialist stuff, but a lot of things are just general saddlery/leatherwork items. I've been waiting (as has my customer) for bridle clips since Christmas. I counted up and I reckon I have about a thousand pounds of stuff on back order. It's really starting to damage my business. They've raised their prices twice this year. Has anyone else noticed something similar? Should we be worried?

I haven't bought much from Metropolitan, but Andrew has always really gone the extra mile for me. I'd also recommend Julian at J White's if you want proper equestrian leathers in old fashioned colours. 90% of what I make is in their leather.

I don't want to badmouth them too much, they are important in the trade and are probably the only ones who had the wherewithal to save Sedgwick when Clayton went bust. However it's a rare order when I don't have something back ordered. I think it causes me problems because I'm just a small firm, (only me and the dog are full time, and he's started taking belong lunch breaks.) So I don't hold masses of lorinery in stock. Normal bridle, saddle and rug stuff sure, but I order unusual stuff on a job by job basis. As an example, a couple of weeks ago a chap came in with a little job on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning, I phone abbey and order the bits for it assuming it will arrive Monday or Tuesday. Finally on Wednesday they take payment and I get a DPD notification that it will be the next day. The package arrives 5pm Thursday without the stuff for the job. Friday morning I call to find out an ETA on the missing gear and am told Richard will ring me back. Friday I hear nothing. Monday I ring back to chase and am told it'll be at least a month. So nearly a fortnight after taking the job I have to ring the customer to tell him I can't get the buckles for the job and is he willing to wait until spring. It's irritating because the ladies on the phones are so good, but the processes in the it and warehouse let the company down. I've had expensive returns, a pair of Sedgwick harness backs sit in goods in un-opened until I chased them up. That's the best part of £400 of leather that was nearly lost. Ok rant over. I feel better for getting that off my chest.

It's one of the nice things about the saddle trade. I have this picture hanging in my workshop. It's an original woodcut from "The Book of English Trades and Useful Crafts." Printed in 1818. I know exactly what he's doing in that picture, and I reckon he could step out of the frame and get straight to work with my tools. He'd probably be impressed by my sewing machine, but even that is 80 odd years old.

Yes but I'd like to get he an old one. She likes the old tools. (Also god knows how long it would take to arrive from Abbey. There's always a good chance it'll be back ordered and turn up out of the blue in six months time.)

A strap pricker makes square holes and is driven right through the leather. It's used to make the holes in girth billets before backstitching them onto the saddle webs of an English saddle. This is done with a sharp needle and no awl to avoid damaging the webbing. A pricking iron makes diagonal marks in the leather to guide the placement of the awl. You'd have a hard time making nice saddle stitches with a pricking iron because it gives no help with the slant of the awl. Hope that makes sense.