A regular customer of mine left a bag of old leather headcollars on my doorstep the other week.
They all needed a little TLC, but as they were some of his favourite headcollars, he asked me to take a look at them and repair what I could.
It turns out that I could repair each and every one of them.
Repair – Reuse – Recycle
Personally, I am really passionate about being sustainable in this world, and try to live a non fast-fashion lifestyle wherever possible. Gosh, even some of my clothes are older than my teenage kids.
When I started training to become a saddler, I was very conscious that some of the horsey communities were moving more towards throwaway fashionable goods for their horses, rather than long term investments that just get better with age.
Nylon headcollars, for example, are cheap to buy and they come in a multitude of shapes, colours and styles. Known for their strength and durability and you can even put them in the wash. However, when your horse pulls back very quickly and with some force, that headcollar is not going to break.
In fact it’s likely to cause a very nasty injury on top of the head and behind the back of the horses ears. I’ve seen the pictures to prove what these headcollars are capable of doing [Grim].
Leather head collars will snap under extreme pressure but THAT’S OK!
Sorry for shouting, but they snap for a reason, and that’s because they are not made to restrain a horse indefinitely.
The good news is that leather is repairable (even the cheap foreign stuff), and that is where us Bench Saddler’s come in.
Noseband Chape Repair
The first headcollar, out the bag, was a leather and rope style headcollar, and as you can see from these pictures, the piece of leather that attaches the rope noseband to the metal fitting has snaped.
A quick and easy fix for a saddler.
Buckle Chape Repair
The next headcollar on the bench was a really nice padded leather one, which the buckle had broken through the chape due to extreme force.
A new leather chape was made for the buckle and stitched back onto the cheek ring, giving this headcollar a new lease of life.
Replacing a Broken Clip
The final headcollar, a leather and rope style, came with one of the most common repairs a saddler will get in for a headcollar….a broken Throat lash clip.
These clips specifically are ALWAYS breaking.
The most challenging task with this headcollar was redoing the rope knots, but they proved way out of my skills set, so I just made the rope safe and secure in a ‘saddler’ fashion, by including a leather sleeve instead.
Draw Reins Repair
Finally, the last item in the bag was not a headcollar but in fact a set of draw reins.
One of the clips had slipped the rope whilst being used and the customer knotted it in the meantime.
This is far from ideal as the reins then become asymmetrical in length and useability and so a new leather sleeve was made for them.
It always amazes me what kind of repairs I can get in from week to week. Not one week is the same and that’s the beauty of this job.
But the best thing ever and leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling is knowing that I have been able to repair four items that some people would not think twice at throwing away, heading to landfill, in favour for a low quality, cheaper replacement.
If you’re like me and you are keen to keep your old leather work for sentimental value or just to reuse and be sustainable then look up your local saddler and ask them to carry out a repair.
My charges for repair’s start from as little as £26.00 per hour, plus materials (May 2024 prices).
Not that expensive considering the life span of the headcollar can be drastically increased (unless, of course, you allow your horse to vigorously rub his head off a metal fence gate, which results in getting the clips or buckles caught on something again).
Do you have a leather item that you would like me to give you a quote on?
If so, then send me an email HERE today.
