English Billet Replacement

[KeriYokie]

Looking to offer english billet replacement for my new business.  I wish to practice on a few junk saddles I have first.  But where can I purchase billets in assorted lengths and pre-punched & numbered?  I can't find these anywhere!  and where can I find some good how to info and insutruction?

[jcuk]

I would recommend to get some training on doing this type of repair because of the safety aspects to this kind of repair.

you can get billets here https://www.abbeyengland.com/leather-and-materials/leather/girth-strap.html

here is a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1tRWzgJ_YU  i would recommend using a scratch awl rather than a stitching awl less likely to cut or tear the webbing.

This also maybe of some interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sisWUc-WjuM

Hope this helps

JCUK

 

Edited December 1, 2020 by jcuk

[Matt S]

@KeriYokie

I think that JCUK was rather reserved in his statement in the interests of politeness. English saddles are a lot more minimalist, exacting and unforgiving of defects than more robust styles, and the few dozen stitches which hold the girth points are all that stands between the rider and a half-day out with the undertaker. Far be it for me to discourage enthusiasm but indeed some hands-on training by a saddler experienced with English styles of tack would be well worth the cost. If you intend to do this for others you also have to consider your responsibility and liability to them, and even whether your insurance company would consider your policy valid in the event of a claim if you've not taken professional training.

Of course what you do with your own saddles is your business but remember you may not have control over what happens to that saddle if it's ever out of your hands. I've known professional saddlers who hobble their junk/display/demo saddles to prevent them being used and I think that's pretty sensible.

[Sheilajeanne]

Back in my riding days, a quick and dirty way to fix the billets was to cut off the broken/worn ends, and sew new ones to the top end of the straps. There are 3 billet straps, so if one breaks, you are likely not gong to hit the dirt. And the tack at the stable got cleaned daily, so any dangerous wear or raveled stitches would be caught and fixed before anything worse happened.

I'd be far more worried about a western cinch breaking, with the single strap on most of those saddles!

[jcuk]

18 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Back in my riding days, a quick and dirty way to fix the billets was to cut off the broken/worn ends, and sew new ones to the top end of the straps. There are 3 billet straps, so if one breaks, you are likely not gong to hit the dirt. And the tack at the stable got cleaned daily, so any dangerous wear or raveled stitches would be caught and fixed before anything worse happened.

I'd be far more worried about a western cinch breaking, with the single strap on most of those saddles!

Have to say if i gave you my £2000 plus saddle to repair the girth billets i would not except that as a repair, also have to say i would not even pay you for your time sorry if that sounds harsh but getting away with something does not make it right, also bad advice to someone just starting out in saddlery business if you are going to do it do safely. 

Regards

JCUK

[Sheilajeanne]

Jcuk, if I was involved with racing horse as you are, or a high end show stable where the saddles cost £2000, yes, I'd expect a better repair. But we're talking a stable with 20 school horses, where the tack is ancient, and the students are mostly beginner or intermediate level, and spend most of the lesson walking and trotting, or doing really low beginner jumps. In the 15 years I was involved with this stable (riding and teaching) the only serious accident I saw with a saddle was when a horse lay down and rolled while the kid was cooling the horse out!  I never saw an accident involving a girth giving way. Six billets on an English saddle - what are the chances of 3 of them giving way at the same time? Not very likely!

Bridles broke frequently, as runaway horses would often step on them. With that many horses and students, any damaged tack had to be repaired quickly as a missing saddle meant one had to be borrowed from another horse, and may or may not be a good fit. 

[jcuk]

22 hours ago, jcuk said:

but getting away with something does not make it right

Still stand by that, in my time i have replaced many girth billets on race exercise half tree saddles, the trees  are made out of alloy nothing covering the bare rough finish of the metal which the saddle webbing for the billets had been attached wrapped around causing friction which led to the webbing wearing thin and fraying, unknown to the person who's saddle it may have been if i did not drop the front of the saddle to replace the billets i would not have seen this so had to replace the webbing also to both sides of the tree i covered the rough alloy in vet wrap to stop the wear and tear and then did the repair, clearly a design fault in the tree at that time which has been put right now. My point being you never know what might be lurking out of sight, just splicing new billets onto the old ones you need to check the webbing also you can have look at the tree to see if there maybe any problems there too. I have seen tack fail through various reasons be they leather, webbing even the metal fitting such as buckles the bit, stirrup bars also seen brand spanking new tack fail (not mine might i add) neglect shoddy repairs even turned work down because of previous repairs that in my opinion were unsafe only to be told they will take it somewhere else to be done,  and this was their child's tack and yes they may have got away with it but one thing i have learned about being around horses is never say never where horses are concerned because we have a saying there's nothing that will make you look like a (not a nice word) than a horse.  

 

JCUK     

[Matt S]

@Sheilajeanne Sorry, but 20 head of horse is no excuse, the place I grew up riding (and later worked full time at) was a similar size and composition. The owner and the place in general was cheap in every sense of the word but never would she tolerate such corner cutting any more than she would buy mouldy feed or have some random person have a go at farriery with carpenters nails and a pair of wire cutters. Some things you either do it right and find the money somehow or you don't deserve horses.

I know what you're saying -- there's a third billet under each side so if one's too far gone just swap onto the other one and you're golden. Problem is, by the time one's unsuitable at least one (and maybe the third also, if the girth has been regularly cycled between different pairs of billets) is in the same state. I don't think I've ever seen an English style girth with more than two buckles per end, it only takes one broken billet to unbalance the tensions (maybe allowing the saddle to slip, or pinching the horse) and two on the same side to break at once (perhaps when the horse bucks or rears, or when mounting).

[Handstitched]

Apart from bridles, halters etc. I've been doing these repairs over the years. Many of which are for horse owners that participate in horse & pony clubs.  In these clubs all the saddles , tack etc. have to pass what they call  ' gear check' , to make sure all the gear is safe to use,  otherwise they can't ride . 

When a saddle comes in to have the girth straps replaced (  maybe because it failed gear check) , I  sometimes find that the  original leather girth straps  , even on  some expensive saddles , is of poor quality , or sometimes too thin,...and not discounting   the possibility that they weren't properly cared for. 

Some saddles have two or three straps. I replace all them, not just the one , or two that are damaged. 

HS 

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Handstitched