Building Barding

[Gilligan]

A frined of mine has asked me to build her a set of Warhorse Barding. If anyone's ever built somehting like this and has any suggestions or tips of what to do or not to do, they'd me very appreciated.

thanks,

The Kid

[Suze]

don't know if this book would help or not but there is a section on horse barding in it -- good book for reenactment if you can find one.

http://www.amazon.com/Tailors-Pattern-Book...a/dp/0896762343

[tashabear]

Not all horses will tolerate cruppers; you'll want to find out if her horse will put up with it before you go to the trouble of making one.

Suze, that book is 500-700 years post-period for me, so I don't have it. Is the barding in there leather straps like the OP wants, or the horse blanket style like in these pictures?

[tonyc1]

Isn't that sort of thing called a Caparison?

Tony.

[Gilligan]

She has multiple horses, so we will hope that at least one of them will put up with it, I don't know if anyone around here's got one to try on. Thanks for the pointer.

What she wants is going to be leather strapping similar to the one in the picture; she drew up exactly what she wants it to be, I may scan and post it later.

Thanks for the help.

The Kid

[mendedbowl]

I would suggest making it as adjustable as possible, so that it can fit more than one horse. (you did say she had multiple horses to ride)

in the pics at the site you provided, there are adjustment buckles under the tail, across the shoulders, at the crupper, and everywhere it attaches to the saddle. notice how it attaches to the saddle at the back and at the sides. make sure she has a saddle available that you can attach to properly. also I would suggest making the crupper removable so that it can be taken off of any horse that won't accept it.

you can buy the crupper part already made, but if you are going to make it yourself i would suggest looking at several up close, to see how they are made for comfort. or maybe your friend already has a crupper that you can use.

one more suggestion that i'm sure your friend already knows...don't wait until the day of the event to put it on the horse for the first time. give the horse time to get accustomed to the feel of it while moving.

that's a beautiful rig, yet fairly simple in design. i think it would look stunning on the field or at the faire.

good luck, please show it when you have it finished.

ken