THE HORSE GAZETTE 2019 CR 403 - Marble Falls, TX 78654


Our horses are selling so fast this year that we ask you to please call us with your wish list so we can let you know if we get one that could suite you and your family.


JoJo is a 10yo, 14.3h, beautiful dark Palomino that has leopard legs and a beautiful black and white tail. He has been used as a trail horse all his life and is child safe, yet really fun to ride. He will leave the barn alone, will trail ride all day and noth- ing seems to phase him. He loads well, stays tied to the trailer for hours, and is good with the farrier.


what you see may not be what you get


The ins and outs of leather Our history has been


JoJo Scotch Cochise


Cochise is phenomenal-broke to death, he will spin, turn, open gates, stop and is extremely calm and will wait for hours until you ask him to move. Cochise is 9 years old and a conditioned ranch horse. He is a candidate for any rider.


Scotch is 15h, 5yo and registered with premier papers of Scotch Bar Tenc and Aleto bar Glo. Amazing disposition and passed all the tests with flying colors, great family horse as his calm demeanor and his disposition are outstanding. Generally we do not purchase young horses unless they are exceptional in their mind and disposi- tion. The horse however has passed all tests with an “A+” rating


If the horse doesn’t suit your needs, we’ll trade out for another of our fine horses! Please check our web site to view them and review our buyer quarantee program.


E-mail: Pat@tonkawood.com • Visit us at www.Tonkawood.com Call Pat Dickey at 830-693-8253


linked with leather. Prehis- toric man laced tools with it and found bodily protection with leather clothing. Ancient soldiers wore shoes made of leather and used it for parts of armor and shields. Stagecoach travelers liked that leather bag- gage withstood rough handling better than wooden crates. And since horses were the primary mode of transportation for so long, this fostered an entire industry.


As horse people we


use leather tack daily. Leather is the skins of animals that have been denatured, then preserved to make them more pliable and hold their shape (not shrink). During ancient times, the tan- nin of decaying dead leaves on the forest floor started this pro- cess, hence the word “tanning.” Things such as urine, dung and brains have been used to soften the hides.


First the hides must


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be prepped before they are tanned. Chemical tanning is a much quicker process, but yields wastes that have a bad impact on the environment if not handled properly. The hides are first soaked in salt brines to kill off bacteria. Then to get rid of the hair and change the keratin of the cells, they are subjected to chemicals with names such as: sodium sulfide, sodium hydroxide, arsenic sul- fide, etc. which is also called “liming.” The hides become what is called a “wet blue” after being washed/soaked in these preliminary blends. At various times during their pro- cessing, the hides are pressed, scraped, dried, rubbed, etc. In- dustrialized countries now use machines to do these tasks.. Mo d e r n t ime s


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Don Blazer teaches Conformation and Selection for Performance, Training Performance Horses, Bits and Shoeing and The Business of Making Money with Horses. Nancy Cahill teaches Perfect Lead Changes. Norma Fay teaches Fit to Ride. Tammy Fifer teaches Dressage: Foundation for All Riding Disciplines. Cathy Hanson teaches Preparation for Competition and Showmanship In Hand. Ruth E. Kochard teaches Legal Aspects of Horse Management. Betty Lindquist teaches Equine Massage. Todd Martin teaches Train for Rein- ing. Holly Mason teaches Flexibility by Design. Dr. Jim & Lynda McCall teaches Behavior Modification Techniques and Coat Color Genetics. Eleanor Richards teaches Nutrition for Maximum Performance and Stable Management. Dr. Jack Sales teaches Equine Health and Disease Management and Equine Reproduction. R.E. Smith teaches Traditional Vaquero Hackamore Training. Cherie Vonada teaches Riding Instructor Role and Responsibility and Teaching Techniques and Hunter Under Saddle.


brought about two forms of tanning: vegetable and chemi- cal tanning. After the prepared hides have been stretched and dried, they are then tanned with either tannins (the vegetable process, with the work done by tree bark derivatives or the quicker chemical process which makes use of chromium. The prepped hides have been treated to “accept” their new, tanned condition and we get to enjoy the results. Or do we? Economic


forces and changing times have worked on the leather industry as well. Old timer horse people have noticed a difference in the tack that is available today than what was so plentiful, say thirty years ago. Master leather craftsmen are dying off. Synthetic tack competes with leather nowadays, too. Most of the chemical tanning process is now done outside of the United States due to stricter environmental regulations here. Some Bangladesh tanneries have been known to dump chemicals hundreds of times over safe limits into water sup- plies, for instance. Of the top 20 tanneries in the world, none


By Ingrid Edisen


of them are in the U.S.today. China, India, Italy dominate the list. Kenya is currently devel- oping a governmental interior agency that is seeking to make the cattle in that country grow larger so their hides will mea- sure in at 30 sq. feet (the desired European size) rather than the 25 sq. foot size more common to that country. According to a Leather International Maga- zine, a full unprocessed hide (this does not include the belly section) goes for about $70 (this price fluxuates with the market).


“Good leather tack is


a living, breathing thing,” Don- na Clements (nee Barrett) said. “It should have weight and heft to it and almost feel buttery. Although chemical tanning is quicker, the less chemicals in the leather, the higher the price and the better the feel and ser- vice and the longer it will last. The product will be stronger so this is not just a cosmetic issue but a safety issue as well.” She ought to know. For almost a quarter of a century she oper- ated a large tack store in Austin. “You buy the best quality you can afford, take care of it and it will last you forever.” How- ever, she noticed that over the years, the leather that was sold commercially has gotten lighter with more flaking and cracking becoming evident early on. She recalled that a few decades ago, there were a plethora of local tack makers; as a kid growing up in Missouri she could “walk down the street leading a horse or pony and se- lect from several shops to order a bridle made to fit the animal for a reasonable price--ranging from $10 to $25.” She believes that because the market is more flooded with lesser-quality leather, the care of one’s tack is more important than ever, especially for safety’s sake. Christine Munoz,


who operates a mobile tack store named Bridle Suite of Texas, said her customers look for high quality. Nowadays they are clamoring for padded bridles, particularly around the crownpiece. “A good bridle should fit right,” she said, “whether it’s padded or not.” (She also offers a crownpiece adapter which can be added on easily.)


Dorrie Carters noted


that her company, KL Select, uses only top quality English leather for both its Red Barn and KL Select bridles and strapwork. Their bridles retail between $200-450. She dis- agrees that high quality leather has disappeared, it simply has become less affordable for the “average” horse owner. KL Select is one of a handful of English saddlery distributors still offering English leather made in England. The attrition or lack of suppliers she attri- butes to the cost of the leather, the weakened US dollar and difficult economic times. Con-


sumers complaining about poor quality leather tack should pur- chase only recognized brands, or buy directly from a retailer where you can touch and feel the bridle, and the leather be- fore purchase. That being said, the availability of good quality leather is cyclic – the Mad Cow Disease a decade ago, severely reduced the availability of Eng- lish leather, and more recently as reported by NPR (National Public Radio), herds have been “shrunk” worldwide as farmers face difficult economic times. This surely affects both afford- ability and availability – but again, it comes in cycles, she noted.


Dai ly care helps


leather last longer. Clean it first of body salts and dirt be- fore applying any conditioners or oils.. If the tack gets wet (rain), drying it with a plain fan, in an area NOT full of sun, is best. Using non-bio type oils is preferable because organic oils can go rancid and encourage the growth of bacteria. “Mold and mildew


can break down the leather fi- bers,” Donna said. “We live in a semi-tropical environment. A dehumidifyer in your tack room can help. Sun, salt and water are the three enemies to leather. Here we have hot sun which makes the horses prespire more, necessitating more fre- quent cleaning and replacement of oils. Ttake your bridle apart and clean it weekly--especially the part where the reins hook to the bit which is where bridles tend to break and be sure to rub grease in those areas once they are clean. If you have mildew problems, let the leather sit in the sun for an hour or so to kill the spores, then wipe it down with vinegar and water or even Listerine and water. Let that dry, then add tallow, preferably rubbed in by hand. [Tallow, a derivative of beef fat, is one ingredient used in some soaps and candle making and is avail- able on the Internet.] The heat of your hand helps the oil to be absorbed. Some commonly sold products only sit on top of the leather. Some good prepa- rations contain beeswax that helps leather repel water. You don’t want to add too much oil as it can overextend the pores,” she said. A good oil that does not change the color of the leather is Ko-cho-line manufactured by Carr & Day & Martin.


“Treat leather as


you would skin,” Dorrie said. “Some leather cleaners are mostly water and some of the oiling products contain solvents that break down the stitches even after one use,” she noted. Dorrie suggests Tanners Oil or olive oil to help care for leather. “You will see a white residue on new good quality leather that is actually the tallow coming up to the surface,” she explained, “this you may observe in the


first weeks of use.”


JMK Superwoman


• 2008 AQHA/PHBA Filly • 2008 Go for the Gold Futurity winner


• 2009 AQHA Grand Champion


• 2009 Dixie National Class winner


12 x 48 Shed Row


8 x 10 Run-In Shed


www.deercreekstables.com (254) 546-2276


10 x 20 Run-in Shed Page 8 Serving Texas & Surrounding States 34 x 22 Aisle Barn Visit us at: www.HorseGazette.com


10x28 with 8’ Tack


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