Replacing girth please don't

[Mulesaw]

7 hours ago, TomE said:

I've been happy with the chrome tanned billet bends from Naudin and Booth.  https://boothandco.com/products/booth-saddle-strap-leather-rawhide-cow-billet  The leather is stiff with little stretch.  I believe it is tanned by Thomas Ware and Sons in Bristol.  Perhaps it is available from UK suppliers?  It seems that dressage saddles have a wide range of billet lengths and hole patterns that I like to match.  My personal record is 33" billets on a Hermes saddle.

  

33" That is a long billet! 

The lengths that I can get from Laederiet (my supplier) are 13", 18" or 26"
So far I mainly get the 18 and 26" ones. My only gripe is that the holes are a bit elongated on the 18" ones, and not one the 26". It is only a visual problem, when I need to use a long one on the front part of a saddle and a shorter one near the middle (on Kieffer dressage saddles for example). I have only heard of Hermes saddles, never seen one in real life :-)

1 hour ago, Goldshot Ron said:

I haven't read any comments about her tool use. (Or, maybe I missed it.)  When replacing billets, I punch my holes in the leather first, before attaching them to the webbing, and gluing them doesn't help much in my opinion.  But, what bothered me the most was her use of tools.  Using a cobblers hammer on stitching irons, or hole punches, to set the holes irks the hell out of me.  I know it's "anal" of me, but I even polish the face of my cobbler hammers so not to leave marks on my leather.  I agree with Mulesaw, trying to glue a patch on to this saddle probably won't hold. 

Ron

I agree on the maltreatment of the cobblers hammer. It should not be used as a regular hammer, I have a ball peen hammer with a polished ball end, I only use that one for peening copper rivets. 
The sad thing is that despite her shortcomings in tool treatment and repair knowledge/execution, she seems to have a large audience. 
Maybe it is because people are more likely to watch someone telling them that "this is just a simple job that anyone can do" compared to someone who knows what he/she is doing and telling people that "this part is better left to someone who has a basic understanding of saddle repair".

I guess it is just rare that a good craftsman also makes good videos, I know that there are some out there capable of both, Lisa Sorrel is a prime example. Her boot making videos are top notch, and she really seems to know what she is talking about. Once in a while you manage to come across a video made by such a person, and it is almost reinvigorating to watch it. Sadly this saddle repair video was the complete opposite 

Brgds Jonas 

 

[JDFred]

I agree her use of tools was horrible.  Her stitching was equally so, not only was it just a plain running stitch but it was a fairly loose one at that.  So even if this would be an acceptable repair the stitching would make it not so.  It really just shows her lack of knowledge in horsemanship.  Setting a rider up for potential equipment failure not puts the rider in danger but also sets the horse up for failure weather through loss of confidence or through an injury.  I’ve was in a horse wreck dragging calves to the fire and had the rope get under my horse which led to equipment failure, my fault for thinking it the reins were ok, I ended up pretty cut up over the deal.  I can’t imagine what it could have been if my latigo of off billet had failed.

Edited 2 hours ago by JDFred