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Saddle Making Training – Week 1
Back in November (2017) I attended another training session at the Saddlery Training Centre in Salisbury...to embark upon the Level 2 Saddle Making training. According to the City and Guilds Level 2 Saddlery specification I am required to make a pony saddle using a wooden saddle tree. The seat must be pigskin or hide, the skirts and flaps must be solid with knee rolls and gussets being optional. The panel should be a Continental or Saumur type and the filling should be wool only. Here is my 16.5" pony saddle wooden tree that I was welcomed with...
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A Dream Becoming Reality…
I have always had the desire to become self employed and although I have had several businesses of my own I have always been a hard working and dedicated employee alongside them; after all this was always the wage that paid the bills at the end of the month. I have set up and run four businesses so far in my lifetime and although all of them have not been a raging success, nor survived to be five years old or more, I truly believe I have learnt invaluable lessons from each and every one of them. Since having the desire to become self employed again, I decided to move…
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New Year’s Resolutions, Goals, Plans or Dreams?
I don’t know about you but I stopped making New Year Resolution’s when I was a teenager. I mean really, who has kept to the ‘I must lose weight’ statement anyway? For years I never made a bold statement or even make any plans for the future. I lived for the moment and that was fine by me at that time. For as long as I can remember I’ve wrote in a diary or journal about what is happening in my life at that given moment: who I love; who I don’t love; what events I’ve been to; and any juicy gossip I’ve heard. Nowadays I tend to write my…
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Starting Level 3 in Bridle Making…
A couple of weeks ago I attended my fourth week of training at The Saddlery Training Centre. Following my successful completion of Level 2 Bridle Making, I was now to go straight onto Level 3 (in Bridle Making). So for my first practical piece I was tasked with making a stallion in-hand bridle with a fixed nose band, fancy stitching and a clencher brow band. I chose a rich brown coloured leather called ‘Conker’ from the store and decided to use brass clenchers and buckles as well as stitch it in a yellow contrasting thread. I like working with a contrasting thread because if you go wrong it stands out…
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What Is A Saddler?
The definition of a Saddler is 'a person who makes, repairs, or sells saddlery'.
