Horsewright
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2011
- Messages
- 13,296
I built these farrier chaps or shoeing chaps for Alberto our farrier, couple three years ago. Alberto is in extreme demand because he's such a good farrier and he works hard doing lots of horses a day. A commerical pair of shoeing chaps lasts him about 3 months.
They are made from a type of leather called pearl apron splits. Its nickname is mulehide but its not. Anyhoo it was time to replace the kneepads on this pair. It was the second time I'd replaced the kneepads on these chaps.
Ya can see where he's worn through the kneepad and the main leg:
Took about an hour and a half to get each old kneepad off of there:
Some folks will tell ya that machine stitching is not as strong as hand sewing. Those are folks that have never pulled a kneepad off a pair of shoeing chaps!
Then once ya have all the stitches picked out, ya still have to pry that kneepad off:
It actually took Nichole and myself both pulling on these to finally get them all the way off. So I made a patch of boarhide and skived it all the way around. This was sewn to the inside of the main leg to patch the holes there with out making it to bulky or stiff. Then sew on the new knee pads.
Ya have to line things up so you are not sewing in the old holes. So I set the groover in further:
Ya extend the inside edges of the kneepad, a little, for the same reason. So you're not sewing in the old holes.
All done.
I told Alberto they were about done we wouldn't be able to repair em again. So we'll be starting on a new pair for him shortly. We trade this out. He'll shoe two of our horses for free in exchange for this repair.
They are made from a type of leather called pearl apron splits. Its nickname is mulehide but its not. Anyhoo it was time to replace the kneepads on this pair. It was the second time I'd replaced the kneepads on these chaps.
Ya can see where he's worn through the kneepad and the main leg:
Took about an hour and a half to get each old kneepad off of there:
Some folks will tell ya that machine stitching is not as strong as hand sewing. Those are folks that have never pulled a kneepad off a pair of shoeing chaps!
Then once ya have all the stitches picked out, ya still have to pry that kneepad off:
It actually took Nichole and myself both pulling on these to finally get them all the way off. So I made a patch of boarhide and skived it all the way around. This was sewn to the inside of the main leg to patch the holes there with out making it to bulky or stiff. Then sew on the new knee pads.
Ya have to line things up so you are not sewing in the old holes. So I set the groover in further:
Ya extend the inside edges of the kneepad, a little, for the same reason. So you're not sewing in the old holes.
All done.
I told Alberto they were about done we wouldn't be able to repair em again. So we'll be starting on a new pair for him shortly. We trade this out. He'll shoe two of our horses for free in exchange for this repair.
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