Our Leather
Maureena Leather
Our Leather
Quality Bridle Leather
Today we can offer you both USA bridle leather and English bridle leather; both from some of the finest tanneries in the world. We use these leathers because after years of research and practical experience making leatherware items, we believe them to be the very best available.
Bridle Leather refers to the way that a piece of leather (cow hide) is finished at the tannery. Bridle leather has both the “Flesh” and the “Grain” side treated with greases and finished with wax. This is generally a labour intensive profess, thus a more expensive product. Only the best grades of leather are treated like this; it would be uneconomic to treat poor quality leather in this manner.
Tanning & Use
Very few tanneries produce what we consider “good bridle leather”; we expect it to look and feel good. That is, it must have good depth of colour that changes over time / use, and be attractive to look at. It must age well and it must not have natural imperfections that weaken the leather.
The bridle leather is expected to be smooth, comfortable and flexible to handle; it is designed for use in bridles, so must be smooth and comfortable for a horse to wear next to their skin. Therefore the treatment of the flesh side of the leather is just as important as on the grain side.
The leather is also expected to be both strong and durable. A horse-rider’s life literally depends on bridle leather not failing unexpectedly. Its is subjected to quite high loads, and must tolerate this time after time.
Lifespan Of The Product
An item of saddlery is typically expected to last for 10 or more years of use, so not only must the leather be strong, but it must survive poor weather, dirt, everything being in contact with a horse throws at it for many years.
All in all, bridle leather is pretty amazing stuff. We use it as it is simply the best leather available for our purposes. It is pleasant to work will and produces a beautiful product. Once it leaves us we know that It will mature well for our customers and become a trusted old favourite becoming both more beautiful, characterful and tactile as it ages.
There are very few products produced today that get better with age, but good bridle leather is certainly one of them.
