Keith_Beef
Novice equestrian, accomplished equichetrian
I grew up calling this thing a "halter" rather than a "headcollar"; dictionaries tell me that "halter" is more an American term, though I've come across the term "Yorkshire halter", too, so maybe "halter" is originally the Yorkshire term for it that travelled across the pond....
Well, I've been thinking about making another one over the winter. No doubt it will turn out better than the one I made a couple of years ago; my stitching has improved both in neatness and in speed and for my birthday my wife bought me a folding harness-makers clamp. It's miles better than the clamp I knocked up last spring; much more precise and gives my hands better clearance around the workpiece.
This afternoon, I've been looking in a couple of my books on harness making, and I'm wondering about the different patterns. I have a few nice illustrations for what are labelled "Newmarket", "Albert" and "Queen's" patterns, and I'm hesitating between them. The Queen's needs a special kind of ring and has more stitching, the Newmarket has a rounded throat lash, the Albert looks like it has less stitching than the Queen's and more than the Newmarket... so in all it would be about the same amount of work, or complication, whichever pattern I choose.
All three have a browband in front of the horse's ears, as well as a crownpiece (headpiece); that's not something that seems to appear on the shop-bought halters I've seen so far... Is there any reason to avoid adding a browband? It's something I could easily add later, even make removable, using Sam Browne studs to faster it in place...
I don't have my own horse, and those at the centre where I ride have heads of various sizes, so I'm intending to make the thing adjustable and to fasten the throat lash with some sort of quick-release fastener.
Well, I've been thinking about making another one over the winter. No doubt it will turn out better than the one I made a couple of years ago; my stitching has improved both in neatness and in speed and for my birthday my wife bought me a folding harness-makers clamp. It's miles better than the clamp I knocked up last spring; much more precise and gives my hands better clearance around the workpiece.
This afternoon, I've been looking in a couple of my books on harness making, and I'm wondering about the different patterns. I have a few nice illustrations for what are labelled "Newmarket", "Albert" and "Queen's" patterns, and I'm hesitating between them. The Queen's needs a special kind of ring and has more stitching, the Newmarket has a rounded throat lash, the Albert looks like it has less stitching than the Queen's and more than the Newmarket... so in all it would be about the same amount of work, or complication, whichever pattern I choose.
All three have a browband in front of the horse's ears, as well as a crownpiece (headpiece); that's not something that seems to appear on the shop-bought halters I've seen so far... Is there any reason to avoid adding a browband? It's something I could easily add later, even make removable, using Sam Browne studs to faster it in place...
I don't have my own horse, and those at the centre where I ride have heads of various sizes, so I'm intending to make the thing adjustable and to fasten the throat lash with some sort of quick-release fastener.