Horse Hair

[LadyGriffin]

Try any one of these
http://www.wagmanprimus.com/horsehair.asp
http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/Dressed.html
http://www.crazycrow.com/
http://www.siouxtrading.com/search



I have purchased from CrazyCrow and Hideandfur.

Julie

[JimB]

Thank you Julie!
This is just what I have been looking for.

How do you think this would look on a piper's sporran?
http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/36250094.html

[Chas]

Jim, if you are after a horsehair sporran, why not just buy one.

Real horsehair

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ORIGINAL-HORSE...item2ea710f965 - £59.99 + shipping

or artificial

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LONG-ARTIFICIA...item2ea710f7e0 - £29.99 + shipping

If you buy just the horsehair, you still have to make the sporran to put it on. I have been searching the internet for months and I can't find a cantle for less than £29.99 and here is one with the rest of the sporran attached for free!

If nothing else, you will have a sporran that you can de-construct to find out how to do it before you waste a lot of horsehair.

Regards

Chas

[LadyGriffin]

Chas, if you read the description of the horse hair sporran it says:

Stock Code: SP250

Name: Long Artificial Hair Sporran


Then it describes the sporran as black cowhide leather and original horse hair?
Which is it? Artificial or Real?

I do not trust it.


Julie

[Chas]

Chas, if you read the description of the horse hair sporran it says:
Stock Code: SP250
Name: Long Artificial Hair Sporran

Then it describes the sporran as black cowhide leather and original horse hair?
Which is it? Artificial or Real?
I do not trust it.

Julie

Hi Julie,

Personally, I think it is a typo. They also sell artificial hair sporrans, which look quite different. The picture is definitely real hair. I own 3 horse hair sporrans and the white is at best an off white. An artificial horsehair sporran is WHITE, gleaming, shining white.

The bag of a horse hair sporran is not made of horse hide. In general they are made of cowhide although, I have heard of early (now antique) sporrans being made of pigskin (probably wild boar). The horsehair (not hide) is stitched to a panel, which in turn is stitched to the front of the sporran. This way no horses are injured in the making of the sporran - the hair is just harvested on a regular basis.

If Jim has got his heart set on making his own sporran from scratch - great. I am a believer in DIY and only wish that I had more craft skills. My only thoughts were these: after obtaining the horsehair, he would still have to make a bag to mount it on and he would have to source a cantle from somewhere. If he bought either of the Pakistani sporrans, he would have a pattern to work from, a cantle and would know how much horsehair he would want.

A last few thoughts.

This vendor has supplied in the past and currently supplies many of the "Scotish" retailers (not Gold Brothers).
There have never been enough horses in Scotland to supply all the horsehair needed for the army, leave alone any civilian use, so the horsehair has always come from overseas.
This vendor has just made the tabbard for the incoming Garter King of Arms of the College of Arms in London.
If you pay by PayPal, you can get your money back if the product is not as advertised (artificial rather than real).
I have been a customer of theirs for about five years and am completely satisfied.

Regards

Chas

[LadyGriffin]

[QUOTE=Chas;825689]Hi Julie,

Personally, I think it is a typo. They also sell artificial hair sporrans, which look quite different. The picture is definitely real hair. I own 3 horse hair sporrans and the white is at best an off white. An artificial horsehair sporran is WHITE, gleaming, shining white.
***

I thought it might be, but just wanted to point it out just in case.
I have made a long horse hair sporran from scratch, using the cantle from one of the cheap artifical ones. I latch-hooked the horse hair onto a canvas panel and stitched that to a cowhide panel, simular to what you have described. It took a LOOOONG time to do it so the hair was full enough.

Julie

[1malt]

Not to sound insensitive but if you have livestock in your area your gunna have deadstock, it just figures.

I was in the horse business for quite a few years, lets face it they DIE!

My suggestion would be to locate a deadstock company and pay a visit with a knife or shears and have at it. Don't be squeemish and they won't kick.

Good luck

Ken