Making your own headcollar?

[iliosborn]

Hi all!

Don't know if I'm going to sound like a nutter here; but does any one know how one would one go about finding somewhere that sells headcollar parts, including the fabric?

For a long time now I've wanted to have a crack at making my own, but I can only find resources on making rope halters and I'm specifically interested in flat halters/headcollars.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

 

[Edgehog]

Equikits near Leominster used to sell kits to make your own headcollars and other things as well as the materials and fittings, this was some years ago so I don't know what they are doing now but worth a search.

 

[cremedemonthe]

Ask a local saddler, we have loads of materials, leather and fittings. Some years ago I spent a day teaching volunteers from the Brooke hospital how to make headcollars for donkeys abroad. It doesn't take long to learn, Oz

 

[Reacher]

I had a quick internet search - JHleather on youtube has some interesting videos of how to make a leather head collar, though they assume some prior knowledge.
She also has some beginners videos

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hi all!

Don't know if I'm going to sound like a nutter here; but does any one know how one would one go about finding somewhere that sells headcollar parts, including the fabric?

For a long time now I've wanted to have a crack at making my own, but I can only find resources on making rope halters and I'm specifically interested in flat halters/headcollars.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

I made a webbing bridle, well 2 actually leather is a different ball game.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I made a headcollar a few years ago, for a horse with a very big head; it was my first big project in leather (I'd previously made quite a few sheaths for folding and fixed-blade knives, pouches and belts). I based the design on standard synthetic headcollars from Decathlon that we already had, but made the headpiece quite a bit longer so that it is easier to pass over the horse from the offside and get hold of it as it hangs down on the nearside (I hope that's clear...).

Brass or stainless steel rings and buckles are easy to find on the Intarwebs.

I recently made a modification, by re-punching the holes in the headpiece to make them oval, rather than round. I find that this makes it much easier to put the buckle prong through the hole; I've since made the same modification to a couple of my belts.

Leather is physically a bit more difficult to work that nylon webbing, but if you only sew around buckles and rings, it's not so time consuming. But you'd need some extra tools: a pricking wheel to mark hole spacing, plus an awl, or a pricking iron plus mallet, saddler's/harness maker's needles and the appropriate size of thread, a block of beeswax.

I expect that with nylon, you'd need to seal all the punched holes, which is not needed with leather, and if you used natural cloth you'd need to stitch buttonholes (I wonder if press-fit metal eyelets would be useable).