The benefits of horse hair cinches
Horse hair is one of the most traditional materials to make using horse gear out of. Back in the days before the automobile a cowboy couldn’t just go to town when he needed a new set of reins, cinch, quirt, headstall, etc. He or she had to be able to make their own or make do with what they had. Using materials that were readily available, horse hair happens to be one of the best renewable resources on the ranch for the working cowboy! In gathering mane and tail hair from their string of horses a cowboy could set up and twist rope out of it, enough to make the using gear they needed.
Today we have the luxury of being able to drive to town or order off the internet what we need and have it in a few days time. But just because we can doesn’t mean we should also miss out on the benefits of gear from yester year.
Here at Cross N we are proud of our horse hair cinches, they are all hand twisted and tied right here in the USA and you have the option of American made hardware on them. We are also proud of them in what they have to offer our customer. Some horses we have come across have had mild mohair allergies, and horse hair turns into a great option for them, as it is hard to be allergic to yourself. Another great aspect of these cinches is the moisture wicking properties. From a handful of tests that we have ran with our horse hair cinches and mohair cinches, horse hair SEEMS to have better moisture wicking properties then mohair. But both are still grand options. Being moisture wicking means it helps keep your horses girth area dry and in turn helps fight fungle issues that some face with synthetics. We only use mane hair in our cinches because the mane of a horse is much softer then the tail hair.
When considering what material you’d like for your next cinch its important to note that horse hair cinches do require a bit more effort to maintain and break in, so that they are just right for your horse. I ADVISE ALL MY HORSE HAIR CLIENTS TO START RIDING THESE CINCHES TOWARD THE MIDDLE TO END OF WINTER AND INTO SPRING. The reason for this is so the horses shedding hair will felt into the woven parts of the cinch and create an extra layer of padding. That padding is comfort for your pony. Don’t pick put that felted hair. Now I do not recommend throwing a brand new horse hair cinch on a summer slick horse but I have done it before with our cinches and not had a problem BUT I do not recommend others do that.
Its always fun to me to let people in on what goes into making these cinches and help others understand the process we go through to make a superior product. When I say we, I mean my friend Erin who twists all of my horse hair and myself who ties most the cinches. Erin every once in a while will break out the old loom and tie one up for old times sake.
Horse hair cinch cord is made into 6 ply, each 6 ply set runs through Erins hands about 7-12 times in order to get it into rope form, and any 2 ply (weave and decorative rope) 6 more times if it is dyed. When I receive the rope it runs through my hands at least another 3-4 times. 1 cinch kit from Erin takes 14-16 hrs of work to assemble, from raw hair to finished rope. Theres roughly 600 ft of single ply in each cinch and takes roughly 1 pound of raw horse hair to complete. It usually takes me another 3-6 hours to tie a finished cinch depending on whats going into it.
The amount of learning, trial and error in the amount of cinches both Erin and I have built and rode before ever offering one up for sale, you can rest assured your getting a product from the result of thousands of hours of hands on experience from two very detail oriented people, so quality is always at the top of our list when we are producing these cinches.
