Finished! Well, almost. I just have to apply a leather finish to them.

The chaps are batwings, made from patterns from Bob Klenda Saddlery. Bob is a well-known saddle maker, who makes some beautiful custom saddles. As I recall, one of his saddles once sold at auction for $20,000. Yet, when you call his shop, he answers the telephone and is more than happy to help you get just what you want and offer all the help and advice you need. I ended up asking all sorts of questions about leather, hardware, fitting, etc, and he never once made me feel like I was wasting his time. A very pleasant and helpful man. I hope I get a chance to meet him in person sometime.

The leather I chose is 5/6 oz chap leather with a pebble-grain finish, which I purchased online from The Leather Guy.  The leather offered on that website is generally #2 leather, which has some blemish or other, so they are priced accordingly. They have a large selection and show very good pictures of the actual piece you are buying.  Mine has a large brand on it, which I thought was sort of novel. I situated it to show up on the wing of the chaps.  I am pleased with the quality of the leather. It is exactly as described on the site.  I also purchased leather for two more pairs of chaps at the same time.

I bought the hardware for the chaps from Sheridan Leather.  I looked all over the Internet to find a place that sold all the pieces I needed, so I wouldn’t have to pay shipping from several vendors. I couldn’t find anybody who had all the items, so I finally called Bob Klenda to see where he gets his stuff. He recommended Sheridan Leather. They had everything I needed to make Bob’s chaps, and a lot besides.

These chaps required eight 5/8″ spring clips (also called chap clips), eight 5/8″ rings, eight 1-3/8″ leather rosettes, eight 1-5/8″ leather rosettes, and a 1-1/4″ cart buckle (sometimes called a chaps buckle). Sheridan only carries the 1-1/4″ buckle in brass. I ended up ordering several other leathercraft-related items as well.  Their prices are good and they shipped quickly. There was an error on my first order, but it  required only a phone call to straightened it out to my satisfaction. I appreciated their quick and courteous service.

The yokes and pocket flaps are made from 7/8 oz skirting leather, which is a little less expensive than tooling leather, but takes tooling just as well. I purchased it from an eBay seller named “leather_alternative”.  The price was right, shipping was reasonable and quick, and the leather was quite good. I bought about 14 square feet of it, but only needed a little of it for the chaps. I plan to use the rest to re-cover an 1860’s McClellan-type saddle tree.

I figure the set of chaps cost me a little under $100 to make. Not bad, when I see equivalent chaps (maybe a little better than mine in the fine details) going for $275. For about $300 I bought enough leather for three sets of chaps with some left over. The hardware for all three sets of chaps I intend to make came to about $60.

After taking the appropriate measurements for my legs, I realized quite happily, that the chaps pattern was made for my size. That was by coincidence, though, and instructions are provided on the pattern for adjusting it to size.

My first step, in making the chaps caused the most anxiety: Deciding where to place the pattern on the leather for marking and cutting. The side I bought was wide enough to allow me to place the yoke of the pattern at the back and the batwings at the belly area for both legs, which gives you consistent thickness and stiffness for the entire length of both legs of the chaps. However, since I wanted the brand mark on the leather to end up in a particular position on the batwing, I reversed that and put the belt in the belly area and the batwing in the stiffer back area.  The leather was sufficiently consistent throughout that it turned out fine.  Some sides of leather won’t allow this, so you must turn the pattern long-wise on the side to fit both legs of the chaps within the side of leather. Try to choose the position of each leg, so that you get consistent stiffness and color for similar portions of the chaps. In other words, don’t cut one yoke from the stretchy belly area and the other yoke from the stiff neck area of the side. Try to make the left and right legs of the chaps consistent in stiffness and texture.

Once the position of the pattern was decided, I positioned the paper pattern on top of the side of leather and used an Osborne #5 overstitch wheel to trace the pattern. The points of the overstitch wheel marked the leather through the paper without cutting it, so I was able to retain the pattern and all it’s written instructions intact.  After marking one leg, I cut it out, then used that one as the pattern for the other leg, marking the leather by following around it with the tip of an awl. Make sure you make a right and left leg! A mistake here can be very costly, since you won’t likely have enough of the side left to make a third leg!

I cut out all the leather pieces with a utility knife, because it takes less talent and experience to use than my roundknife. Make sure you have plenty of fresh blades, because you want to change them out often, or the knife edge will begin pushing and deforming the chap leather as it cuts. After cutting out all the parts, I edged and burnished the edges of all the parts made of the 7/8 oz skirting leather, using an Osborne #3 edger and a burnishing tool. I then prepared the decorative parts for tooling.

For the yokes, pocket flaps, and belt parts, I wet the leather with a sponge, or quickly dipped it in water, and let it sit while I prepared my tools and work area. The leather is ready to tool when it begins to return to its original color. You really have to get the moisture content of the leather right in order to do the decorative tooling well. If it is too dry, the stamp will not imprint deeply enough, and will damage the grain of the leather. If it’s too wet, the leather gets sort of rubbery and the stamping will cause it to stretch and distort, and will cut too deep.  I tooled the yokes, pocket flaps, and belt with a basket weave pattern I like.  I used a good weighted mallet, and a worktop of 1-1/4″ granite, which helps get consistent hits on the tools, to make the stamps cut to a consistent depth. This is a talent that takes development (I’m not very good at it yet, but learning).

I laid out the pattern on the leather, starting with the border. I traced the border lightly on the damp leather with a divider, then cut it in with a Craftool swivel knife. The border needs to be wide enough to accommodate a stitching groove, wherever there will be stitching.  Then I did the basket weave stamping, beveled the border around it, then added a border stamp to edge the basket weave pattern.  The stamping tools I used are the basic Craftool swivel knife with a 1/2″ blade, and Craftool #B200 beveler, #534 Basket Weave stamp, a #511 Basket Weave stamp (a little smaller for the belt), and #431 Border stamp.

For the areas that would be stitched, I used a Craftool stitching groover to create a groove in the center of the border to receive the stitching. This keeps the stitches below the surface of the leather, decreasing wear from use on the stitches. It also makes the stitches easier to keep straight and even.  I then used the overstitch wheel in the groove to mark where each stitch would go.  The parts are then glued in place with contact cement (read the instructions on the cement), prior to stitching.

I used a diamond shaped blade in a stitching awl to punch the holes for stitching the pockets, however, I tried something different for the yokes, pocket flaps, and belts parts, which were made of 7/8 os skirting leather. I used a technique taught by Dusty Johnson, in his book, Saddle Making Construction and Repair Techniques. I pre-drilled all the holes with a Dremel tool and a 1/16″ drill bit. The bit automatically centers in the stitching groove and the divot left by the overstitch wheel. The resultant stitching looks very straight and even. The only cautions are that each hole must be drilled quickly, to avoid burning the leather with the hot drill bit, and the dremel tool must be held perfectly perpendicular to the leather, so that the stitching line on the backside is straight and in its groove. I used a scrap of wood as backing, so as not to drill into my worktable. The process goes very quickly and makes stitching go more quickly as well.

I hand-stitched everything together, using 5-strand linen pre-waxed thread and #517 harness needles. I clamped the parts to be stitched in a stitching clamp I am making, but haven’t yet completed. It is very difficult to hand stitch without a stitching clamp and have it turn out nicely. Once stitched, the yokes were trimmed even all around.

I made “cowboy buttons” for the pockets. They are strips of leather rolled tight, with the tapered tail passed through the middle of the roll. The tail is then attached to the pocket by weaving it through three holes. I like the looks of them and they are quite functional.

I made all the miscellaneous strings and straps from scraps of the chap leather with an Australian lace cutter. One string 1/4″ wide X 24″ long and eight 1/2″ wide by 12″ long were required.

I then assembled parts and gave the whole thing an application of 100% neatsfoot oil. I will likely give it two more applications, to make sure the finish is an even color, then finish the chaps with Feibing’s Tan Kote. If you decide to follow what I did for a finish, make sure to use 100% pure neatsfoot oil. Other leather products labeled as “neatsfoot oil compound” are combined with petroleum product additives that are harmful to leather and can accelerate deterioration. Also, avoid over-oiling the leather. I use a rag soaked in neatsfoot oil, wetting the leather until it is dark and wet, then wipe off the excess. I oil both the grain and flesh sides where possible. I let it sit until it appears dry, anywhere from one to several hours. If the color is not even, or not as desired, I apply additional coats until I am happy with it.

 As this is my first pair of chaps, and since I haven’t worn chaps since I was a kid, I wasn’t sure how to fit them, so I made them a little large, figuring I could cut them down if necessary. I think they came out pretty close to the right size, although I probably could have tightened up a couple of the leg snaps a bit. I’m looking forward to trying them in the saddle to see how they feel. They are pretty heavy, but I wanted them for packing and other work use, not as show chaps. I selected the leather for weather and puncture resistance.  I think I got that.

Final notes:

I made a few rookie mistakes on the tooling. It was a learning experience. You can see where the tooling pattern runs out at the top of the pocket flaps. I got it pretty close to right on the yokes, though. Laying out the initial lines is more than simply laying down a diagonal line and starting to stamp. Learning to strike the stamping tool with consistent pressure, to get consistent depth and definition on the leather, and getting the pattern straight and even, are part of the learning process, as well, and simply take practice and experience to master. I’m still a long way off the mark on that score, but I’m confident I’ll get there…eventually.

Up next, a pair of Arizona Shotgun chaps.

P.S.: The hat you see me wearing belonged to my great grandfather. It is an original Stetson, likely over 100 years old, which I had restored last year by Shorty’s Hattery, http://shortyshattery.com/ . They did a nice job on it.

I just read a short blurb on an article published by Equus Magazine about horses bloating (or not) when the saddle is cinched up. It made the point to say that horses do not “bloat” by holding their breath, but distend their abdomen by tightening their abdominal muscles as a reaction to expected discomfort when being cinched up. Regardless of the way they do it, many horses have learned that if they will distend their abdomen when they are initially cinched up, they can then relax and the cinch will be loose and more comfortable. The article inspired several comments on facebook regarding the process of cinching up a saddle, some of which touched off thoughts in my little noggin about not only the process of cinching up a saddle, but also the effects of over-tightening a cinch and why that occurs so frequently.

Several of the facebook comments indicated disgust at the way some people will kick or knee the horse in the stomach to punish them for bloating. Many of these same people indicated that they cinch up extra tight, because when they get into the saddle their weight will compress the saddle pad and make the cinch loose. Both methods, in my mind, are equally abusive to the horse, and both just as unreasonable at treating the problem of bloating (no matter how the horse does it).

I thought I might share a little of my experience as a trail rider and pack tripper, who rides long days, sometimes for days on end.

As humans, we tend to ascribe human feelings and emotions to our animals, often falsely thinking we are helping them, when in fact we are doing the opposite. In this vein, I often see inexperienced horse people buying saddle pads they think would make a good, comfortable pillow if they were to lay on it. These same people often purchase expensive gear, such as neoprene cinches and pads, which they believe help the horse to be more comfortable under saddle.

Soft and fluffy saddle pads, regardless of their color, shape, or cost, are the poorest of saddle pads you can buy. They cause one to have to cinch a horse extra tight in order for the rider to mount without turning the saddle. Once the rider is in the saddle, these pads will “squish” down and, in fact, cause the cinch to be loose, which can become unsafe for the rider. The only way to compensate for this “squish” is to over-tighten the cinch while on the ground, because you can’t do anything about it after you are mounted. Many of these pads are made of materials that can bunch up and cause hard spots under the pad as they press down. They also tend to soak up and hold mosture against the horse, causing the horse to become hot as it sweats.

Most of us who ride for long hours will confirm that the best saddle pads are made of wool felt. Mohair is also an excellent material. Neither of these materials will “squish” down, so when you tighten the cinch before mounting, it doesn’t get loose after you’re in the saddle. Both wool felt and mohair will absorb moisture from the horse and pass it through, allowing the horse’s back to remain cooler on hot days. These materials don’t just soak up moisture, but they remain bulky when damp, allowing some air flow and heat transfer away from the horse. They do not pack down and deform, which protects your horse’s back from pressure points that can form from softer saddle pads. Back in the “old days” the U.S. Cavalry used a simple wool “saddle blanket”, which was folded in half for a double thickness, quite satisfactorily. I am aware of one pair of “Longriders” who are currently making their way across South America using simple wool blankets for saddle pads. Bulky, cushy, pillow-like saddle pads are simply, in my opinion, our effort to do for our horses what we think would make our backs feel better, if it were ourselves under saddle. You can read a short “test report” on the Five Star wool felt saddle pads Ben Masters and his crew from Unbranded used on their 3000 mile Mexico to Canada trip during 2013 here.

Mohair string cinches are preferred by most people who do a lot of riding and hard work from a horse’s back. A distant second are cotton string cinches, however they are more commonly used than mohair because of costs. Good mohair cinches are not cheap, whereas a good cotton string cinch can be had for under $50. Both materials are practically indestructible, can be washed, and will last for a very long time. I have seen mohair cinches that appeared to be contemporary with the century-old saddles they were attached to. Many people are now opting for neoprene cinches or neoprene wraps for their cotton cinches. I have tried them and found that on the trail neoprene will rub a sore on a horse or mule faster than any other material. In fact, the only cinch material I have ever used that caused serious cinch sores on a pack trip is neoprene. Due to my personal experience with it, I will not use neoprene in contact with my horses for any purpose. Neoprene makes great wet suits for scuba diving, and comfortable waders for fishing, but lousy cinches and saddle pads.

Now, I know there are endurance riders, show riders, and others, who will argue with me about neoprene and cushy pads. That’s fine. I’m just stating what I have learned from my own experience. They may work just fine for what you do, but I wouldn’t recommend them for any of the trails I ride.

Most of the facebook commenters to the above-mentioned article said something about how they cinch up in stages. First, they cinch up tight, then they do something else for a few minutes to let the horse relax, then they cinch up tight again before mounting. Many even said they cinch up a third time before they step into the saddle.

While cinching in stages is pretty much the standard method, I often see people over-tightening the cinch. I see them getting the cinch as tight as they can on the first try, because they are expecting the horse to bloat and know it will get loose when the horse relaxes. This is precisely why the horse bloats: It knows the rider is going to cinch it up tight and so he tightens his abdominal muscles (or holds his breath, whichever the case may be) in anticipation of the discomfort. So the rider who over-tightens the cinch right off the bat is unwittingly causing, or at least reinforcing, the bloating problem in the first place.

Here’s what I do, and it doesn’t matter at all whether the horse bloats or not. After brushing the horse and properly placing the saddle pad and saddle in place, I will check the cinch to make sure there are no burrs, knots, or stiff places that might make the horse uncomfortable. I then pull the latigo down through the cinch ring, then back through the saddle rigging, then pull it down again through the cinch ring, such that I have one complete loop through both rings. While doing this, I let the cinch remain loose, not touching the underbelly until I am ready to cinch up. Once I’m at this point, I will cinch the saddle snugly, but not tight. I just let the latigo hang at this point. In this way, I ensure that if the horse were to react violently to the cinch, as some horses will do occasionally, the saddle will likely stay in place and once the horse settles down, I simply continue with the process, whereas if one pulls the cinch up snug before having the latigo a full loop through the rigging and the horse reacts, the saddle will come off, possibly be damaged, and the horse learns a bad habit to get rid of a saddle.

Next, with the cinch snug and the end of the latigo hanging loose, I will bridle the horse, check hooves, apply fly wipe, and anything else that needs to be done before I mount. The, the last thing before I mount, I will go back to the cinch, and pull the latigo up snug again, then tie it off (or buckle it, depending on the rigging). I pull the remaining latigo up and through a keeper, to keep it safely out of the way. Resist the urge to thread the latigo back through the rigging multiple times to use up the remaining latigo. Thread the remaining strap through a keeper, or even through the rear cinch rigging ring, to keep it out of the way. Running it three or four times through the cinch rigging will make a lump against the horse’s side, right under your knee, and will be uncomfortable for the both of you. Ok, now I am ready to mount.

Notice I said I pull the latigo “snug”. Because I have a saddle that fits the horse well, and a saddle pad that doesn’t “squish”, I don’t need a tight cinch. In fact, there have been times on long trails where the cinch was hardly even snug on my horse. It simply isn’t necessary.  I use a 3/4″ wool felt saddle pad and a medium width cotton string cinch for most of my riding. There is no “squish” in the pad and when I snug the cinch up, it stays snug even after I mount. That is not to say that there isn’t some settling between the saddle, pad, and horse, just that I don’t have to over-tighten the cinch to compensate for a squishy, comfy, pillow-like saddle pad. Therefore, my horse is comfortable throughout the process.

One last comment I will make here, regarding cinch tightening, is about the “block and tackle” effect the rigging has on multiplying one’s strength. Many people over-tighten cinches for two reasons: Firstly, some people tend to be more of the worrying sort than others, just a natural thing, so they prefer a very tight cinch; Secondly, people sometimes over-compensate, because of their perception of their own physical weakness, when applying their strength to cinching a saddle. The configuration of the latigo being looped multiple times (usually twice) through the rigging and cinch rings, acts just like a block-and-tackle for multiplying strength.

Back before power lifts and winches, a block-and-tackle, was the normal rig for lifting loads weighing more than a man can lift. It consists of a line fed through a pulley block, hanging from a beam, and back through a tackle pulley attached to the load. The more times the rope is fed through, the more times the strength of the one pulling the end of the line is multiplied. Some block and tackle rigs are made up of pulleys with multiple sheaves, so that the rope can be fed through several times. With such a rig, one man can lift many times the weight he could lift with his strength alone. The same concept applies to the latigo fed twice through the saddle rigging. The multiplying effect, along with the holding power of the latigo working against itself, can allow even a small person to exert sufficient pressure on the horse to make the horse very uncomfortable, and far in excess of what is necessary to safely hold the saddle in place.

In short, if you use a good saddle pad and your saddle fits your horse correctly, you really don’t need to “screw that saddle down tight,” as the old cowboys used to say. It will stay where it should be and will keep you on top of the horse, where you should be. For trail and pleasure riding, prior to mounting you should be able to slide your hand under the cinch, just below the cinch ring, and easily pull it away from the horse’s side about an inch. Of course, for performance work, you may need it a bit more snug.

Here’s a link to a short video I made a while back about saddling a horse. Please forgive the less-than-professional script; it was an impromptu video, but I think it includes the essential information that a beginner should know to safely saddle a horse.

 

It was a cold, rainy day today, so I couldn’t get some of the things done that I needed to do, however, that presented a great opportunity to hide myself away in the workshop for a few hours.

I got a good fire going in the stove, water in the coffee pot on top to heat for hot chocolate, and started looking at the myriad of unfinished projects I need to finish.

I decided the most worthwhile thing I could do, with the limited time I had available, was to start building some jigs I will need as I get my saddle-making hobby underway. If you have been following my blog, you know I have been in the process of rebuilding several saddle trees for some time now. I am at the point now that I need some jigs in order to be able to make and duplicate some of the parts.

I need a jig to help me cut the proper angles on the cantles, where they join with the bars. I need another jig to help me cut the proper angles on pommel and cantle cuts on the bars. I need another jig to help me cut the proper arch and twist into the bars. On top of that, I need a stitching horse to help me with the hand-stitching I’m going to be doing.

Well, it took me a while to get rolling, as I tend to overthink things before I get started, but I got a couple things done.

I made this cantle-cut jig out of scrap 3/4″ birch plywood I had laying around. I think it is going to work ok. I just have to figure out how to set the proper angle before I start cutting on the bandsaw.

I also cut out the clamp for my stitching horse. I glued-up three pieces of 3/4″ oak, squared it up on the jointer, then cut it out on the bandsaw. I think it turned out pretty well. I made it according to several photos I have seen on the Internet. I’ve never actually seen a stitching horse before, other than in photos. I made it stand 17″ above  the bench, which is just below my eye level. That should allow me to work within my reading glasses’ focal range, without having to bend over. Hopefully that will save my back a little.

The stitching clamp needs to be smoothed out a bit and have some finish put on it. I will build the bench part later this week. I still need to get a buckle for the tensioner strap and a 3″ hinge for the clamp.

I’m looking forward to getting theses jigs done. I would like to be able to get started on the saddles.

A rainy day well used, I think.