I've bit the bullet and bought some cowhide (belly) today at Tandy. I'm going to make a sheath tonight, but the next project will be a sporran.

I was thinking about doing a high-gloss cantle.

Back in the day, I used to turn cherry red docs into "oxblood" by spit-shining them with black shoe polish. I ended up with a burnished red finish that was absolutely gorgeous. Is this possible with light tanned leather? If it's polished enough to bead water but not bleed finish to neighboring fabrics, would shoe polish work for a cantle? My end result, hopefully, is a shiny tobacco finished cantle on top of rabbit fur, with braided tassels on the side.