Custom Driving Bridle

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Here's a custom driving bridle I made last week. It is pretty plain as the custom bridles go, but it was the first time I'd used this pattern for the box loops and I thought it turned out nice. The fit was perfect; couldn't have gotten it any better. The curved crown really makes a nice bridle. Terrible background, I know, I just didn't have time to set up anything better. The blinds, box loops and winker braces were all made in-house and are 3 things I love to do. There is just something about putting the molds in the press and then taking them out and opening them up to see what you end up with. . .it's like opening a Christmas present when I was a little kid. I did cheat by machine sewing the rounds for the braces. Every once in awhile I'll set up a machine to sew rounds and do nothing but that for the whole day. I put them in a box and then when I need some, I've got 'em and I don't have to spend an hour getting a machine set up to sew just a couple.

[plowboy73]

Very nice and clean. Very nice work.

[Thor]

Very nice indeed. How much are such bridles today?

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Thanks guys! My driving bridles start at $150, one like this with the box loops runs about $250. I could sure buy them cheaper wholesale, mark them up, and still re-sell them cheaper than that, but you are stuck with dedicated sizes then. I get the custom bridle orders for horses that the "off-the-shelf" stuff won't fit.

[Rohn]

Nice work.

[Thor]

Thanks guys! My driving bridles start at $150, one like this with the box loops runs about $250. I could sure buy them cheaper wholesale, mark them up, and still re-sell them cheaper than that, but you are stuck with dedicated sizes then. I get the custom bridle orders for horses that the "off-the-shelf" stuff won't fit.

Considering the fact, that some of those bridles in the same style are being sold around $300 in Canada, I find this a very reasonable price.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Thanks guys, and thank you Thor, it IS reasonable, although it can be difficult to convince people of that. Most folks just don't understand the hours involved in not only building the actual bridle, but in learning the processes, as it is not something you pick up in one or two quick easy lessons. It takes years of practice and a ton of special machinery and tools to do this work, and we should expect to be paid for our investment, just like any other trade. I can and do build higher priced stuff; these cheeks were assembled with buried staples. I'll hand sew them too, but then the price takes a BIG jump.

[oltoot]

I'd like to see your tools for embossing the blinds. I'll bet you didn't pick them up at Wal Mart!

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I'll get some pics today Toot. You're absolutely right about not getting them at Walmart, and I tell people that too. It's a collection I've spent 35 years assembling and learning how to use, and the pieces have come from all corners of the country. The latest set of dies came from Ontario. They were listed on Ebay and I found out about them right here on the Forum! I love showing interested folks this equipment.

[DoubleC]

That is absolutely beautiful, so well made, and I personally think your prices are too low But I guess the right price is what people will spend. You are an artist, don't sell wholesale ones Chery;

[JAZZMAN]

I'll get some pics today Toot. You're absolutely right about not getting them at Walmart, and I tell people that too. It's a collection I've spent 35 years assembling and learning how to use, and the pieces have come from all corners of the country. The latest set of dies came from Ontario. They were listed on Ebay and I found out about them right here on the Forum! I love showing interested folks this equipment.

Looking forward to the tool pics here as well, i am also a tool geek, no disrispect intended.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Okay folks here are the goodies:-) First picture shows the special bench machines and tools used to make the blinds, cheeks and braces, besides all the normal leatherworking tools and machinery not shown. Top left is what I believe is called a forming box, with a loop iron in it. It is used to form up the cheek/blind/box loop assembly around the loop iron, so it may be tacked up to either staple or sew. Center top the vise-looking thing is a cheek press, used to press the box loop from all sides once it is assembled. The cheek assembly may be either stapled or hand sewn together. The arched piece on the cheek press raises up and sits on top of the blind and then it is tightened to press the sides of the loop. The whole thing is put in a press and pressed from the top as well. Two rounders are shown below the cheek press. I use them both. Below them are the two pieces of a winker brace mold. The "legs", for lack of a better word, are first rounded (which is a whole other process and explanation in and of itself) using the round breakers shown below the winker brace mold. The breakers fit on the end of a creasing machine. After filling and sewing the rounds, they are trimmed and pulled through the rounders, then pressed in the mold until dry. They should then retain their shape for the life of the bridle IF care is used in handling and storing the bridle. The braces are generally the weakest part of the bridle and first thing to need repair. They are prone to abuse both by horse and handler. A separate winker brace mold is needed for every different size bridle, i.e. pony, light horse, draft. Moving on, to the left of the round breakers is a blind mold, and just like the name implies, is used to give the blinds a cupped shape. Every size and style of blind also requires a different mold. Making and pressing the blinds is generally the first step in building a bridle, and is something that can be made up ahead of time to have on hand. Then on the very left are the embossing plates. The center one is used on the face of the box loop, and the corrugated plates to each side are used on the sides of the loop. Besides giving the loop a decorative appearance, pressing a design into the loops also give the loop rigidity and durability. These plates are used with the cheek press described above. This is a very, very simplified description of the process, and not necessarily in sequential order.

Second picture shows my collection of embossing plates. I wasn't even sure how many I had until today. Quite a few of them I recently bought on Ebay from a guy named Henry from Ontario:-) At the top left is a set of 16 of the diamond spearpoint pattern (I think) that is available from Aaron Martin as a reproduction. Those I bought at least 20 years ago. The brass is not near the quality as in the old dies, nor is the crispness and clarity of the impressions. About a dozen of the others are plates that I bought as singles or twos and threes through the years here and there. Toward the lower right hand corner of the picture are the side plates, used to press the sides of the box loops. I had a machine shop make these about 15 years ago, and I really wish I'd had them made out of stainless steel. Live and learn. You really have to be careful not to mar the brass. I have some old steel side plates, but regular steel stains russet leather, which was the reason I used brass. I think stainless would not stain the russet and be much more durable than the brass.

So there ya have it folks. Just a few of my toys. When most women go on a shopping rampage, they buy shoes and purses and clothes. I buy leatherworking equipment. I dream about it at night. It is a fantasy of mine to walk into a warehouse full of early 1900's harness-making equipment that has been untouched for the last 80 years. I am always on the lookout for these special harness bench machines and tools. I would love to find a crupper stuffer and molds for making 6 at a time, but like all the rest of this stuff, they're pretty hard to find. I'm always interested in die patterns and molds I don't have, so if any of you out there have some of this stuff that you don't want or use, I'd be interested.

Cheryl, I agree with you that I'm too cheap:-) But I live in the midwest and I believe it is absolutely the worst place in this country to try to sell high end equine equipment. I've weeded out a lot of people who only want cheap, but there just isn't enough affluence among the equine-owning population here to go around. The repair work is still my bread and butter and for that I can charge what I need to make a living, but the occasional custom harness or saddle is gravy, and I know I don't make on it what I should. I do believe I was born a hundred years too late.

Thanks all for your kind comments.

Sharon

[awharness]

That's a really nice winker brace mold! You don't run across those often!

[TheCyberwolfe]

What I really love about threads like these is running into these odball part and tool names. "Winker brace" sounds like some Cockney slang

[JAZZMAN]

What I really love about threads like these is running into these odball part and tool names. "Winker brace" sounds like some Cockney slang

I know what your saying, crupper stuffer , is taking all my powers of restraint not to make a rude joke