britchen man

[menageriehill]

😎 I have a rather unlimited supply of used belts. so does anyone think I could make my own britchen for my working donkey. attach it to the packing saddle that I made?? Have you done something similar?:rolleyes:

[grey]

Not sure what kind of belt you’re talking about… I’ve seen cheap packing britchen made of cotton canvas web. One of the problems with that is that the grain of the canvas traps and holds dirt, which is very abrasave, and the edge of the web is rather thin and knife-like. Easy for a canvas belting strap to cause rubs, particularly along the edge. The absolute best britchen, whether for packing or harness work, is made from an extra-wide piece of leather where the edges are rolled outward and sewn down, topped with another narrower leather strap. These rolled-edge britchen are the hardest-wearing and most comfortable for a horse. Costs extra to have the harness maker do it but in my mind it is well worth the money if you’re going to be buying new.

Sorry to have gotten off track there, going on about the virtues of rolled-edge britchen. Guess I thought I would start out by telling you what I think the worst and the best britchens are. Canvas at one end of the spectrum, rolled-edge leather at the other.

In the middle, there’s of course regular single-ply harness leather. That’s pretty standard. But I’ve seen britchen made of nylon straps and the various synthetics like Biothane. Those kind of range all over the place as far as quality and strength. Just depends on whether the harnessmaker knew how to apply that material to his trade and then whether the harness was adjusted correctly on the animal.

I have a good Champion leather stitcher and a good rivet set and I repair my own harness. I occasionally buy a piece of hide and fabricate pieces of harness for myself, but more often I just re-use pieces of other harness or re-purpose leather that no longer serves its original function. Lines, for example, make good replacement hip straps. After haunting the auctions for a few years, I’ve got a good stockpile of useable pieces and parts. When I have a draft horse harness that needs a piece as important as a britchen, I usually order it from my favorite harness guy if I don’t have a spare one I can swap out for. No reason you can’t make your own stuff, though, if you’ve got the raw materials and know how to use it.

[Author]

Posts