Which leather for girth straps?

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soloequestrian

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I'm going to replace the long synthetic girth straps on a saddle with short leather ones. I've done plenty of leather stitching before but mainly mending things rather than replacing, so I didn't realise how many choices of leather there are! Is there any particular difference between these:

Buffalo
English Chrome
German PS Chrome
Rawhide
Vegetable Tanned?

The prices are all much the same so I can't tell that way! I will be able to ring the company at some point, though finding time at work is tricky, but I wondered if anyone on here can enlighten me?

Thanks in advance.
 
cremedemonthe said:
I have changed dozens, I use rawhide, it has a breaking strain of approx 5,500 lbs per square inch and very little stretch. I don't use anything else now for girth straps
Oz (Saddler est 1988)
Click to expand...

That's interesting. I knew about rawhide's strength, but I wonder about using it directly against a horse's skin.

There must be different grades of rawhide, because all the stuff I've seen has been really quite thin, maybe even less than 5/64" (2mm), except for the bobbins lace that I've got et around 5/32 (4mm).

The two sheets of rawhide I picked up from Tandy, the last time I was over in the US, is thin and sharp. It's softened a bit, as it's picked up some moisture from the air, but it still seems very stiff. And I think that it shrinks if it gets wet and then dries.

If the rawhide for making a girth is similar, I imagine that you'd soak it and let it dry and shrink, and that you'd cover it in another layer of softer leather, too?

A while ago, I stumbled upon a description of the traditional way of making a girth in the Sahel; this mentions using raw goat hide.

Interesting, even if it's not immediately helpful.

My principal leather supplier stocks what in French is called "croupon étiré" specifically for making stirrup leathers; the nearest English term for this that I've been able to find is "pre-stretched butt leather". Would that also be suitable?
 
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I am talking about English rawhide, the tandy stuff is from the USA and mostly we don't use it here for saddlery, well I don't.
3-5mm rawhide is what I use, it's not thin or sharp and it has a good substance and fairly flexible.
If it was sharp I would just egde it before use, part of the saddlery procedure.
The hide will not be against the horse's hide as it's for girth straps not girths.
PM me your address details Keith and I will send you a raw hide girth strap, you can see how much better it is than anything Tandy can produce.
Oz.
 
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cremedemonthe said:
I am talking about English rawhide, the tandy stuff is from the USA and mostly we don't use it here for saddlery, well I don't.
3-5mm rawhide is what I use, it's not thin or sharp and it has a good substance and fairly flexible.
If it was sharp I would just egde it before use, part of the saddlery procedure.
The hide will not be against the horse's hide as it's for girth straps not girths.
PM me your address details Keith and I will send you a raw hide girth strap, you can see how much better it is than anything Tandy can produce.
Oz.
Click to expand...

Ah, I think I understand now. So a "girth strap" is the same as a "billet", the short length with holes punched in it, attached to the saddle?

For the last thirty five years I've been using the word "girth strap" to mean the wide belt that passes under the horse. :rolleyes3:

You live and learn, eh?
 
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