Kangaroo Leather and Horsehair Headstall

[HorsehairBraider]

I have not been able to find the time to post here in ages. But this spring I made a headstall for someone and thought I'd share some pics. 

It's made of roo that I cut, skived and beveled. The knots have a foundation or casa of white horsehair and the interweave is the roo, cut down and skived finer. I cored the braids with a nice strong cord, "just in case". This was really a great project. I don't often have the opportunity to work this large. Also putting in a pic of it on the horse it was built for.

 

[rcsaddles]

Very nice

 

[HorsehairBraider]

Thank you, rcsaddles, I appreciate the reply. 

[JLD]

Thats lovely well done

[Svea]

That is so cool!

[oltoot]

How many feet of string?

[HorsehairBraider]

@oltoot oh heavens! I can't recall now. When I'm braiding a project like this I always cut way more than I need, because sometimes there are minor flaws that I find when I start assigning strings to braid a certain section. I don't like a flawed piece of string in my projects so I discard that part. Sometimes the lengths that result from cutting out the flaw are useable, sometimes not. 

My rule of thumb is 1.5 the braided length. So if I need a braided length of 12", I use 18" strings. Sometimes I add a few inches more, "just in case". Nothing worse than running out of length of strings, when you have not yet reached the correct length for the braided piece! But basically it's experience, the tension that you have in your hands, that will tell you the correct length of strings.

@oltoot oh heavens! I can't recall now. When I'm braiding a project like this I always cut way more than I need, because sometimes there are minor flaws that I find when I start assigning strings to braid a certain section. I don't like a flawed piece of string in my projects so I discard that part. Sometimes the lengths that result from cutting out the flaw are useable, sometimes not. 

My rule of thumb is 1.5 the braided length. So if I need a braided length of 12", I use 18" strings. Sometimes I add a few inches more, "just in case". Nothing worse than running out of length of strings, when you have not yet reached the correct length for the braided piece! But basically it's experience, the tension that you have in your hands, that will tell you the correct length of strings.

@oltoot oh heavens! I can't recall now. When I'm braiding a project like this I always cut way more than I need, because sometimes there are minor flaws that I find when I start assigning strings to braid a certain section. I don't like a flawed piece of string in my projects so I discard that part. Sometimes the lengths that result from cutting out the flaw are useable, sometimes not. 

My rule of thumb is 1.5 the braided length. So if I need a braided length of 12", I use 18" strings. Sometimes I add a few inches more, "just in case". Nothing worse than running out of length of strings, when you have not yet reached the correct length for the braided piece! But basically it's experience, the tension that you have in your hands, that will tell you the correct length of strings.