Horsehide:
Most of our products can be ordered in horsehide for an additional $25 per item. Please email or call to order items in horsehide.
We do also offer horsehide belts however the size we can make depends on the length of the pieces we receive from the tannery. That said, we have had a hard time getting hides long enough for belts in the past couple of years. Email us with your belt size using our measuring instruction from the Belt page. We will then check to see if we have a piece long enough for your belt. Our horsehide belts are constructed with the top layer being horsehide and the foundation leather or liner being 7 - 8 oz. cowhide.
Horsehide usually has more natural markings, scars, wrinkles, etc. than cowhide but this is part of its beauty and makes it unique. Sometimes it has more of a matte finish and may not be as shiny as cowhide. Most of the time it is naturally darker so when dyed it will be darker than a cowhide item of the same color. It is more dense and is more moisture resistant. It makes very durable gear. Because horsehide is more dense and rigid sometimes the detail boning may not be quite as defined as it is with cowhide.
We often get the question, "Which is better, cowhide or horsehide?" Personally we think both cowhide and horsehide make very nice gear that should last you a long time if you take care of them. We look at horsehide as just being a different hide or material. We charge more for horsehide because it is more difficult to work with. We have to be more picky when picking out the piece we will be using for an item. The thickness within one hide can vary a good bit from being pretty thin and soft on the ends to thicker and more rigid in the center. There is more waste with horsehide as well.
In some of the photos below you will see that some items have what we call a marbled look or grain to them. Not all horsehide has this look to it. Sometimes when we order from the tannery we may only receive a few pieces like this and other times we may receive a good bit of it. While it does show some in darker colors, it tends to show up more in the lighter colors (natural and light brown). Usually when someone orders horsehide in a lighter color we will try to pick a piece that has this grain if we have any on hand. That being said, there is no guarantee that we will have it on hand or how well it will show up. Each hide is unique. We can usually pick it out and see it in the hide but when we apply the final finish it brings the grain out more. There are times that it may not show up as well as we think it is going to and other times it will show up more than we think it will. We never really know for sure until after the final finish is applied.
Note Concerning Black Horsehide: The horsehide we use is hard rolled and very dense. Because of this the dye does not always penetrate the horsehide as deeply or evenly as cowhide. This is more noticeable in the brown colored items where you can see light and dark tones throughout the item more easily.
The same goes for black. While you may not notice this at a glance. Upon close inspection black horsehide items may sometimes have areas that have more of a gray or slightly brown tint where the dye is not able to penetrate the leather as much.
We do also offer horsehide belts however the size we can make depends on the length of the pieces we receive from the tannery. That said, we have had a hard time getting hides long enough for belts in the past couple of years. Email us with your belt size using our measuring instruction from the Belt page. We will then check to see if we have a piece long enough for your belt. Our horsehide belts are constructed with the top layer being horsehide and the foundation leather or liner being 7 - 8 oz. cowhide.
Horsehide usually has more natural markings, scars, wrinkles, etc. than cowhide but this is part of its beauty and makes it unique. Sometimes it has more of a matte finish and may not be as shiny as cowhide. Most of the time it is naturally darker so when dyed it will be darker than a cowhide item of the same color. It is more dense and is more moisture resistant. It makes very durable gear. Because horsehide is more dense and rigid sometimes the detail boning may not be quite as defined as it is with cowhide.
We often get the question, "Which is better, cowhide or horsehide?" Personally we think both cowhide and horsehide make very nice gear that should last you a long time if you take care of them. We look at horsehide as just being a different hide or material. We charge more for horsehide because it is more difficult to work with. We have to be more picky when picking out the piece we will be using for an item. The thickness within one hide can vary a good bit from being pretty thin and soft on the ends to thicker and more rigid in the center. There is more waste with horsehide as well.
In some of the photos below you will see that some items have what we call a marbled look or grain to them. Not all horsehide has this look to it. Sometimes when we order from the tannery we may only receive a few pieces like this and other times we may receive a good bit of it. While it does show some in darker colors, it tends to show up more in the lighter colors (natural and light brown). Usually when someone orders horsehide in a lighter color we will try to pick a piece that has this grain if we have any on hand. That being said, there is no guarantee that we will have it on hand or how well it will show up. Each hide is unique. We can usually pick it out and see it in the hide but when we apply the final finish it brings the grain out more. There are times that it may not show up as well as we think it is going to and other times it will show up more than we think it will. We never really know for sure until after the final finish is applied.
Note Concerning Black Horsehide: The horsehide we use is hard rolled and very dense. Because of this the dye does not always penetrate the horsehide as deeply or evenly as cowhide. This is more noticeable in the brown colored items where you can see light and dark tones throughout the item more easily.
The same goes for black. While you may not notice this at a glance. Upon close inspection black horsehide items may sometimes have areas that have more of a gray or slightly brown tint where the dye is not able to penetrate the leather as much.
