Bridle and Reins

[TomE]

This is bridle #3 for me and I am enjoying the learning process.  At this stage, I give away everything I make to people who use it and give me feedback to improve my craft.

[Thescandall]

That is really nice. I hope to do that soon for my horses. 

[Bert03241]

very nice work

[Klara]

Beautiful! The reins are rubber-coated, aren't they?  How did you do that? 

[TomE]

12 hours ago, Thescandall said:

That is really nice. I hope to do that soon for my horses. 

Thanks.  I guess I should learn something else to use the remainders of several hides.

10 hours ago, Bert03241 said:

very nice work

Thank you.

4 hours ago, Klara said:

Beautiful! The reins are rubber-coated, aren't they?  How did you do that? 

Yes, these are Equus rubber grips from Abbey England.  I worked on a pair of Antares reins that had nylon webbing under the grips, stitched to leather pieces on the billets and buckle ends.  I made mine from a single leather strap.  These are 3/4" reins (grips are about 1-1/8" wide) and I plan to make 5/8" reins for our petite horse trainer.  The grips come with either small pips (very grippy) or large pips (smoother).  It takes enough force to pull them over the strap that the strap stretches a bit, so I put the grips on before sizing the length.  I placed a line of machine stitching down the center to secure the grips.  Some of the Equus grips have rubber cuffs on the ends, which I left exposed.  The traditional style is to cover the ends of the grips with a leather cuff made of 3-4 oz chrome tanned leather.

[chuck123wapati]

those are nice indeed!! 

[TomE]

Thanks, @chuck123wapati!

[jcuk]

Nice work there, when i use the rubber grips which need leather added to the ends i use a off cut of the Bridle Butt that i have used to make the Bridle from about a inch wide,  split it down to where it's light enough and pliable enough to use for the rubber grip ends. I think it finishes it off nicely, i don't do this when i am recovering worn rubber grips i may have not made the the reins in the first place (do you know the rule of thumb how many times you can recover reins). Can i ask how you are pulling the grips over the leather because i have never had it stretch i have made a lot of reins.

Hope this helps

JCUK 

 

[Backwoodsman]

Very nice!

[TomE]

6 hours ago, jcuk said:

Nice work there, when i use the rubber grips which need leather added to the ends i use a off cut of the Bridle Butt that i have used to make the Bridle from about a inch wide,  split it down to where it's light enough and pliable enough to use for the rubber grip ends. I think it finishes it off nicely, i don't do this when i am recovering worn rubber grips i may have not made the the reins in the first place (do you know the rule of thumb how many times you can recover reins). Can i ask how you are pulling the grips over the leather because i have never had it stretch i have made a lot of reins.

Hope this helps

JCUK 

 

Well, you probably can't see it in the pictures but all the buckles are sewn with the fixed loop tight to the buckle and with side stitches to gather the buckle turn, as you recommended.  My process for the rubber reins is to bevel the edges of the strap, punch a hole near the best end (to become the billet end), loop parachute cord through the hole, fish the cords through the grip, tie the cords to my workbench, and milk the grip onto the strap.  I trim and finish the ends, crease the strap, etc. after the grips are in place.  The 3/4" grips with rubber cuffs were a struggle to get on.  I just received 5/8" Equus grips without rubber cuffs and they went on snugly without any problem.  I need to make cuffs for the 5/8" reins on my bench now, so I'll try splitting some bridle leather for the cuffs.

How many times can you recover reins? Wondering how the small pips will hold up in comparison to large pips.  

1 hour ago, Backwoodsman said:

Very nice!

Thanks, @Backwoodsman.