The saddlery or saddlery is the trade that deals with the manufacture of harness and garnishes in general for saddle and draft animals. Among the products they make are, for example, halters, girths, reins, muzzles, collars, gamarras, girths or saddles..
The word "saddlery" comes from "saddle", a kind of belt or belt that hung from the sword. For his part, whoever practices this profession is known as a “saddleman”, and is defined as a craftsman who is trained to execute a great variety of leather and sole articles, and which are linked to saddle and draft animals.
It is a totally artisan trade and generally the art of the saddleman is passed from generation to generation among families, with greater occupation of man. Like all work by hand, the price paid for any type of piece can be high, depending on the material used and its level of complexity..
Among the materials that inflate the price the most, is the leather in the first place, followed by the metals that could be placed. Anyway, the most expensive thing never ceases to be the craftsman's labor.
Some of the countries that are recognized for their quality in saddlery are those that have a long equestrian tradition, such as Argentina, Chile, Mexico, England or Spain..
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The work on leather was born with the first human activities developed in the countryside. The first aborigines and later the peasants were the pioneers in the work on this material, making engravings through heat.
Historians do not agree on precisely dating, for example, when the mount that is placed on horses was created, however there is record that it was already used in the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. Others meanwhile point out that nomadic Asians were the first to master the technique.
Since then, although the designs and formats have changed over time, what remains unchanged is its artisan character, something characteristic of saddlery..
Here is a detail of the basic tools used by a saddler or saddler:
It must be soft to be able to better treat the materials to be worked and above all make the cuts in a more comfortable way.
Of course it will be used to take measurements. To this is added a rigid ruler and a metric compass for circular measurements.
It is a sharp steel point with a triangular shape that is used to pierce the leather or the sole in order to sew with a special thread.
Also known in some countries as "cutter" (and orally called "cutter"). In particular, those with leaves 20 to 30 centimeters long by 3 or 4 cm wide are used. Its function is to cut the leather or the sole.
Intended to sharpen the different cutting tools to be used.
They are similar to the "holes", and serve to make holes of a larger size than would result with the aforementioned tool..
They are used during the sewing process. They are specially used pliers to make it easier to sew different pieces of leather or sole.
It is used to place and rivet the nails in the soles of the shoes.
It is a strip of leather or a very resistant fabric that is placed on the legs of the saddler or saddler the different leathers during the arrangements..
It is used to scrape the leather, "polish" it and even it when necessary. The traditional rasp (also known as “raspa”) has four different kinds of dentates on its two faces..
It is a very sharp steel point that is not used to drill, but to mark on the material where the nails will go.
It is not an ordinary one. It is made with flax or hemp fibers (this is rougher than the first), it can have different thicknesses and is ideal for very resistant seams.
This is the name of a resin that is mixed with virgin wax or oils. This is used to waterproof and further strengthen the thread.
They can be made of pig or wild boar and are key to making the seams, so they are used together with the thread.
Rivets are often used in saddlery to join two pieces together when no seam is necessary.
Among the products most manufactured by saddlers (or saddlers) are saddles, which are of various types: cowgirl or Jerez, mixed cowgirl, Spanish, English, western, Australian or Portuguese saddle, among others..
Within the world of equestrian there is a wide variety of accessories that complement the horse's saddle to be able to tame the animal with greater ease and comfort (both for humans and animals)..
Among them are the bridles (a series of ribbons that surround the head, forehead and muzzle of the horse), mosqueros (fringes that fall on the animal's forehead), martingales (used so that the head does not lift and the rider does not lose contact with the mouthpiece), gamarras (complement to the latter), baticolas (leather strap where the tail is inserted), cinchuelos (it is a wide leather strap and is placed on the gut towards the front), straps ( with which the saddle is fastened and is made of leather), gaiters (protections for the rider's legs), collars, ties or reins (with which the rider commands the horse).
The saddlery is also in charge of working on other items functioning as a complement, that is, it is also involved in the finishing of objects that have leather as the main material (pillows, covers for shotguns, pocket knives or even for cell phones, soccer balls, upholstery , padding, hoods, etc). In these cases, the item is known as "leather goods" within the world of fashion..
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