Saddle Parts Leather Weight

[jmrtinez]

Hello fellow leathermen,

I have a question regarding leather weights when it comes to saddles, I'm a hobbyist and only work on smaller projects but a friend of mine has asked me to work on one of his saddles. Obviously, this saddle was not made with the intention for it to last a lifetime. He lets me ride his horses so I couldn't say no.

It's a mexican saddle and parts are minimal, pomel and cantel aren't leathered. I found that for skirts and stirrup straps the best to use is 13/15 skirting leather but can't find anything on latigos. What do you guys use for latigos and saddle bags, skirting or latigo leather? And in what weights? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

[Thor]

Saddle bags I can help with. I'm using 8/9 oz. of good quality leather. Now, I don't want to limit this to any kind of leather since I've seen them made from various types. I like the buffalo ones just as much as the cow hide ones...

[CWR]

The latigos should be latigo leather. It has waxes and oils impregnated in it during tanning. I use 9-10 oz. Skirting would not remain pliable as it would soak up the sweat to easily. I have seen some made from harness leather. 8-9 oz. is a good weight for saddle bags.

Hope this helps,

CW

[jmrtinez]

Thanks a lot guys! Now I know what I need to get to start working on this project. I wouldn't be opposed to using different types of leather for saddle bags, I used to wear kangaroo leather cleats when I played baseball and they were the most comfortable.