The Art of Natural Dressage

Does anyone make their own leather tack over here with needle and thread?

I'm interested in finding out more about this, where you can get materials and how you do it yourself so that for example a home-made cordeo-stitching doesn't fall apart within a second of draping it around a pony.

Does anyone over here have experience with that? And are there shops that sell ornaments for tack that you know of?

YOu can quite simply stitch leather, although you have topunch your stitch holes first. And you can use a very simple hand held little leather stitcher. Tomorrow when I am at work, I will try to remember to post a photo of one.

So far, I've made all mine without stitching...I use chicago screws. There is another name for them...again, I'll have to find the information tomorrow.

I already hoped you would reply!

My sister found a couple of her old leather belts yesterday, with metal decorations and beads and we were thinking to turn those into cordeos. So that's where my question came from. I think I would get quite far with the screws, with the beads-one, but with the others I guess there no way to avoid stitching, because then there are several pieces of leather to be combined into one cordeo.

Oh, we humans are so vain...

I you do know another name for Chicago screws, then please tell me, because over here they don't really seem to know what that is.

Book binders also use Chicago screws. I found one link in the UK. have you tried to google it in dutch to see if anything comes up?

http://www.ukpatternbookfasteners.co.uk/Products1.htm

You would be looking for a leather crafting supply store of some kind, or of course a bindery supply place of some kind. The nice thing about the leather crafting places (where you would buy supplies if you were a leather carver or saddle maker) is that they would also probably have rings of various sizes, and all kinds of fancy buckles and rivets and glittery things

You can also inquire with tack repair places (or harness repair)...they will know where to get them, or can probably sell you a couple. It is very common to see these used on bridles...on the loop that attaches to a bit.

For sewing leather, the tool is called a sewing awl. What makes it special is that the handle opens up and inside is a spool with waxed thread. The thread runs down through the handle, and then through the large needle. It's normally a very inexpensive little tool. It creates a common lock stitch.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XZY68Y?smi ... nkCode=asn

If you were to find a nice leather crafting store, they would probably also have books on how to use the tools! The awl does usually come with an instruction sheet on how to use it.

Another option for fastening would be rivets. But they aren't easily removable. But for permanent fastening, they are very good. You might even be able to find them easier...at a general craft supply store or even a hardware store. A small thing called a rivet setter tool is needed along with a hammer and a hard surface to hammer on.

hhmm what you (also) could do..if you have everything at home..go to a shoemaker and let him make it as you wish..
When my reins are broken or things like that..i go to the shoemaker and he fix it within a few minuts.
When i have to go to a horse-shop it will take a few days..or even weeks when you have bad luck

Great advice, thanks!

I've been browsing a bit too, and found three interesting links on working with leather:


Making your own bridle:
http://ilaria.veltri.tripod.com/bridle.html

Sewing leather: http://www.montanaleather.com/stitchinginstructions.htm

Making a magic braid:
http://www.ohboydenterprises.com/Instru ... elets.html

wow great websites, I have somewhere in an old Bit( magazine), a page on making your own headstall, if only I could find it now

yesterday I found old tack from the former owner of my house. Amongst it was a white leather front'strap' (dunno how it's called ) with a heart on it! Sooo cute! So I will try to save it (the leather is quite hard) and make it into a cordeo... for show.. because I don't use it

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Miriam,

Sorry I only found this topic now. I do tack repair as long as it doesn't involve padding or packing, as I don't know the ins-and-outs of saddle fitting.

I do stitching, strap replacement, patching rips or holes, whatever. I also custom-make sheepskin pads for under the saddle called "num-nahs" and on top of the saddle (we call them "bum-nahs" )

It's a good idea to ask the leather supplies shop for a contact adhesive glue called "leather cement" to reinforce any stitching you do. If you can't find it, then ask a scuba-diving shop where you can get "neoprene glue" - it's just as good. They're both very flexible glues that do not erode the leather fibres, and if your stitching relaxes or breaks in the future the joint will stay secure. You can't use them on freshly oiled leather though, and its a good idea to "scrape" any old polishes off the leather before you apply the glue.

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Glen Grobler

Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon

I love that "Magic Braid" site - do you think a braid like that would be good for a cordeo?

I think I'm going to try!

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Glen Grobler



Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon

Just ordered the glue, because i heard that that really helps when you're trying to stitch two layers of leather together. Thanks for mentioning!

I already braided a 'magic braid' cordeo for the ponies, and then another one combined with the 'bleeding heart knots' that Donald has in his bridle. And I even made pictures of them - but I can't place them on the internet yet because they're too big...

The cordeo does get a lot more elastic with the magic braid (which might be good or bad), and the braid also makes the leather less slippery so it doesn't shove down so easily anymore. And it looks verrrry elegant.

Excellent! I've got some leather which is very fine - it's supposed to be for clothing. I'm going to try with that. If it is too light when I'm finished I'll make 3 braids, and then braid them!

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Glen Grobler



Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon

You don't need very light leather for a braid - I used one of Sjors' old reins (4mm thick), made two slits in it so I got three strands, and then braided them. the funny thing is that when you've braided it, it feels like it weighs a lot less, really weird!

That's a trick of our nervous system and brain screening and interpreting.

Something that covers a larger area of our hand, even though it weighs the same as something that covers a smaller area, feels lighter.

More nerve endings sending signals ... spreading the interpretation "weight" out more.

I think about this when I'm on a horses back and why I prefer, for the horse, though not for myself, a tree'd saddle.

My same weight feels far less to a horse when spread over a, say 10inch x 20in, tree that distributes the weight, then would my same weight bearing down on a few square inches of my boney bum on the horse's poor back.

And our hands are even better at this kind of strange reverse discrimination. I mean wouldn't one think that our eyes would fool us ... that the larger the object appears to our vision the heavier we might judge it to feel? A braided leather looks 'bigger' than the same leather unbraided, no?

Can we see a picture of some of your braids, please?

Donald Redux

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Love is Trust, trust is All
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So say Don, Altea, and Bonnie the Wonder Filly.

maybe this isn't the right place for this question but I was wondering about a couple of things. Is there any set width or streghth you need for the cordeo. Or any way to size it I'm not really sure. I'm nervous to make one that won't work.