Merino and lamskin. What's the difference?

Merino is a wool breed (you wouldn't want to eat one of the tough old things!) Their wool is top quality - worth much more on the market than the vast majority of other breeds, Lambswool could be from any breed - but most likely a meat breed - not sure how it would stand up in 'toughness'.
 
Is google/wikipedia not working today? :D

Merino is just a breed of sheep.

If I buy a merino sheepskin I expect it to have been made from a merino sheep. If I buy a lambskin, I am not discriminating. Any old lamb will do.
 
Is google/wikipedia not working today? :D

Merino is just a breed of sheep.

If I buy a merino sheepskin I expect it to have been made from a merino sheep. If I buy a lambskin, I am not discriminating. Any old lamb will do.

HHO is my Google/Wikipedia :D

I just wondered as Lemieux do both types so I wondered if one was thicker, softer, more hardwearing etc.

Thanks tho everyone :)
 
Merino wool is very fine - a small diameter of each hair.....lambskin is young sheep of any breed so finer than old sheep hair, but not as fine as merino!!
 
Merino may be finer....... I have examples of both and they both flatten and need brushing regularly to stay floofy and soft and bouncy...

At the end of the day, its how you look after it.

Weirdly... on one horse, the merino was very slippery and on another horse it wasn't... fit of saddle?? Conformation?? Movement??? Anyway, thank the lord there a zillion types of numnah out there.... :D
 
Spoke to Horse Health about the saddlecloths and they told me that both are actually Merino lambskin. Only difference is that one is still on the skin and the other is on a manmade fabric making it easier to wash and give it a longer life :)
 
Spoke to Horse Health about the saddlecloths and they told me that both are actually Merino lambskin. Only difference is that one is still on the skin and the other is on a manmade fabric making it easier to wash and give it a longer life :)

That's quite interesting, but which is which?!
 
Is google/wikipedia not working today? :D

Merino is just a breed of sheep.

If I buy a merino sheepskin I expect it to have been made from a merino sheep. If I buy a lambskin, I am not discriminating. Any old lamb will do.

Now now was there any need for that? Don't make me post pictures of hot polo players ;)
 
Clue is in the name ;)

Merino wool - wool from the Merino sheep. Cut off when the sheep is sheared, and then made into a wool saddlepad.

Lambskin - the skin of a lamb, removed with the wool still attached when the lamb is killed. The skin is cured on one side (like e.g. suede, leather), but again with wool still attached to the other side.

You can also get sheepskin pads - same as above, but made from skin and wool of mature sheep not a lamb, so wool is slightly coarser.
 
Lamb skin has a thicker hide (the skin) than sheepskin. When looking at pads you should look for one piece pads. Sheepskin can be just as soft / softer than lamb skin, it depends on the breed of sheep and how the hide has been treated. Hope this helps.
 
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