Buckle/Billet Reins

Tnavas said:
I will disagree with you there! I was taught that there were Buckles and Billets - the billets being the little hooks - I trained on the yard owned by a Master Saddler.
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Err - you are disagreeing with a Master Saddler! I think he knows what he's talking about more than most when it comes to saddlery!
 
Tnavas said:
I will disagree with you there! I was taught that there were Buckles and Billets - the billets being the little hooks - I trained on the yard owned by a Master Saddler.

Traditionally

Buckles were used on a Working Bridle
Stitched direct to the Bridle were for the show ring and made to measure
Billets were also for the show ring

I've generally always had bridles with billets because they look smarter - well made English ones rarely come out - it's the cheaper tack, made from poorer quality leather that pull out or split.

I have a couple of work bridles that have buckles, again well made English leather.

Good leather maintenance certainly prolongs their life
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I suggest you take it up with Cordwainers Saddlery college then, they taught me 25 years ago as billets were the leather strap the fittings sit in/on rather than the fittings themselves. Hence the term for girth straps as billets used by some. Cordwainers train saddlers and a lot of the Master Saddlers started their training there.
People tend to slang it instead of using the full term of buckled up billets or hook stud billets, so call them just billets through ignorance or laziness.
 
Strictly speaking, neither. They are hook stud billets, but I attach them to trigger clips. This allows me to detach the reins quickly if I'm letting him graze (bitless sidepull) and it's much easier swapping between bridles, too.
 
Tnavas said:
This term was taught to me by a MASTER SADDLER too!
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Can you PM me his name please?
I'd like to know who it was.


I did some research via one of my tutors from Cordwainers who has been a saddlery teacher for at least 30 years to very high standards, here is their reply

"As to billets, the correct terms are, hook stud billets, buckle billets. In the trade we use many different terms from the public. If I was in the USA and someone said billets to me I think they are referring to girth straps not reins of any type.
The jockey club only allows buckle ends stitched on and monkey up a stick it could be their laziness that has caused the buckle end thing. You are correct."
 
pennyturner said:
I doubt you're as old as some of my older tack. It's hand-stitched and has buckle reins.

I have a photo of some of it, dated c.1900!
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I wonder if it was made like that for a similar reason to my bridles.....

Many years ago I had a horse who got rubbed by hook studs on the cheek pieces so since then have had a couple of buckled bridles made. They look glorious and are certainly smart enough for the showring, but then they were designed and made by a master saddler and everything is beautifully finished and in proportion. Therefore I have buckles on the reins to match the bridle.
 
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