Stitching Pony Report post Posted September 5, 2011 Just wondering if anyone out there makes horse harness. I am specifically interested in heavy horse harness such as winkers, breeching, back bands, leather traces etc. But really any horse harness at all. Does anyone do this? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
THein Report post Posted September 5, 2011 Just wondering if anyone out there makes horse harness. I am specifically interested in heavy horse harness such as winkers, breeching, back bands, leather traces etc. But really any horse harness at all. Does anyone do this? Stitch, I haven't made any complete harness but from time to time, I get requests to make various pieces. I've made quite a few items to stock at a local farm/ ranch store in a nearby town. Also, I do repairs. There's a surprising amount of people in my area who drive horses for fun, sometimes logging, a few who feed cattle with teams and there's a lot of people who take part in chuckwagon racing in this neck of the woods. Most of the harness used around here is biothane, I don't get too involved with that. I added a photo of a team I was asked to make "plus size" pieces for last winter. Terry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nutty Saddler Report post Posted September 5, 2011 I am in the middle of making a pairs carriage harness for my neighbour , I can tell you first hand that to hand make a harness is not easy and takes a huge ammount of time . please bear in mind that I AM the Nutty Saddler - this means no machines , so a single 6' trace has 4 rows of stitching at 8/inch , which is 2300 stitches - there are 2 pairs of traces which makes 9200 stitches for the traces alone ( all by hand ) - I will post some pictures when I'm finished ( about this side of never , but only just ) What was it you wanted to know specifically and I will do my best to answer if I can. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stitching Pony Report post Posted September 6, 2011 I am in the middle of making a pairs carriage harness for my neighbour , I can tell you first hand that to hand make a harness is not easy and takes a huge ammount of time . please bear in mind that I AM the Nutty Saddler - this means no machines , so a single 6' trace has 4 rows of stitching at 8/inch , which is 2300 stitches - there are 2 pairs of traces which makes 9200 stitches for the traces alone ( all by hand ) - I will post some pictures when I'm finished ( about this side of never , but only just ) What was it you wanted to know specifically and I will do my best to answer if I can. Hi Nutty Don't really have anything specific as such at the moment, was just interested if there was anyone on the forum who dealt with harness and was hoping to maybe see some photos and explanations of specific projects/jobs in hand. I am just starting out in leatherwork, I have working heavy horses and got interested in leatherwork because I have found that it is better and cheaper to repair my gear myself. I started making harness by pulling old gear apart and trying to replicate it. But I wasn't really happy with what I was making, it was strong but to me looked home made I wanted it to look a bit more professional. So I spent a couple of days at a local Saddler's school, learnt heaps and got well and truly hooked on leatherwork and hand stitching. The guy that ran the school was a saddler and had only done a small amount of harness work, he taught me heaps about leather and hand stitching but only a little about harness. Seems to me that most harness is just straps in various widths and methods of construction so I am interested in how other harness makers do their stuff such as breeching, back bands, winkers, traces etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wvcraftsman Report post Posted September 8, 2011 Pony, I'm in the same situation as you are. I'm still kinda new to leatherwork and would like to make some harness some day for our horses. I hope more harness makers chime in and give some good examples. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbusarow Report post Posted September 8, 2011 Go to books.google.com and search for harness repairing louis roehl First non-ad link is a free ebook. Well worth the download! Dan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
L for Leather Report post Posted December 1, 2015 Hi I make harness in Australia using leather and stainless steel fittings. The best resource I have found is old harness makers who are willing to show you how to do different tasks. look at my web site www.lforleather.com.au Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
