Copper Canyon Cinches
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10% SALE!

8/3/2014

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2 ply mohair used for design colors
Place your Copper Canyon Cinch order before 12 noon Monday August 14, 2014 to receive a 10% discount.
My supplier is offering a sale and I would like to share this savings with my customers!
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Caring for your Mohair cinch

4/22/2014

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Mohair cinch care- 
Mohair has a slippery fiber, consequently it is easy to care for. Mohair cinches don't get stiff when dirty and are very easy to clean with a soft brush, or simple rinsing with a hose or a bucket of clean water until the water runs clear.  If muddy on the outside hang and hose gently.  If rinsing for sweat and dirt, rinse from outside towards the belly side. ~Leslie
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Cinch Making Details

4/21/2014

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Cinch Making is the tying and weaving of cinches, a Traditional Cowboy Art of handmade quality gear that is both both functional and comfortable for your equine partner.  Copper Canyon Cinches are each hand made, tied and woven with high quality 100% American mohair from the Angora goat.  

Cinch hardware choices consist of of stainless steel, brass, or bronze buckles and rings.  The bronze buckles are custom made by Bork and Sons at their foundry in Washington state, using a manganese bronze alloy that offers great strength and resists corrosion.  In the true essence of our Western Tradition of hand-made gear,  I proudly offer American-made hardware whenever possible. 

I often have cinches in stock from 28" to 36" lengths, but they don't last long!  You may choose from cinches already made up, or order a custom cinch designed and tied to your desire. 


Your Copper Canyon Cinch is a one-of-a-kind due to the variety of cinch styles with varying widths, based on your saddle's riggin, number of strands used in single or double layers, choice of various buckle options, colors and designs. My goal is to produce a unique piece of "wearable art" that will please the rider aesthetically and functionally.  

Custom dyed Mohair will be offered at a higher cost due to the process involved, and i will be offering Alpaca fiber cord due to exquisitely soft feel. ~Leslie

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Why Mohair?

4/20/2014

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Mohair is the lustrous and strong hair of the Angora goat. Often labeled "the diamond fiber" it's distinct properties have made it a highly desired fiber for clothing and home furnishings. Angora goats evolved on the Anatolian Plains of Turkey and goats were highly regarded and jealously protected from exportation until the sixteenth century when the Angora goat was introduced into Spain and France. However, a small flock of seven does and two bucks were introduced to the United States in 1849.  Since then the USA has developed into one of the two largest mohair producing nations in the world with an annual production of two million pounds. The mild dry climate of SW Texas is the primary mohair region producing 90% of our total USA mohair from a herd of 200,000 goats. 
The spinning process is the twisting of the mohair into single yarns. When two or more of these single yarns are twisted together, they form "ply yarns", which are stronger than singles. For cinch making, generally, we use 8-ply cord for the cinch body, and 2-ply yarn for designs.  8-ply mohair cord averages 1/4 inch width. 
Prior to the development of synthetic fibers such as rayon, which doesn't "breathe", mohair was the obvious traditional choice for horse cinches. As the American consumer becomes more aware of environmental and quality issues, today's horseman have rediscovered the benefits of mohair for cinches, breast collars, mecates, and reins. Today's consumer seeks quality at reasonable price and products that will last and perform. Hand crafted mohair tack meets these demands.

Benefits of Mohair and its Care
  • Only American 100% Mohair is used in our Copper Canyon Cinches.
  • Mohair is a natural fiber that doesn't weaken or stretch when it gets wet, it's stronger than wool, and it's said that Mohair is stronger than steel in comparable diameters. It is long wearing, and is naturally soft. 
  • Mohair wicks moisture and sweat, helping to keep the horse's girth area cool and dry resulting in comfort. 
  • Mohair doesn't weaken or stretch when it gets wet, resulting in a long lasting product.  
  • Mohair is resilient, it does not easily crush or become matted.
  • Our horses seem to enjoy the smell and comfort of mohair. Mohair cinches are very beneficial to "cinchy or galled"  horses
  • Mohair yarns & fabrics soft luxurious feel with a rich luster and shine.
  • Because mohair is composed of protein it has a high affinity for color tint dyes being absorbed completely through the fiber, giving rich and long lasting hues that have an unmatched clarity and a halo-like glow. Custom color dying will be available soon. 

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Fitting The Cinch

4/20/2014

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All of us know that cinches come in various lengths. But what length do we need?  
A cross section of your horse's heart girth/barrel shows this part of the body is oval shaped. Generally the widest point is midway between the top of the withers and the chest floor (see diagram). 
Your western cinch buckles should be 2-3 inches above the point of the elbow, yet below the widest point of the heart girth.  This measurement gives you the length of cinch  needed. 

*To simplify measurements for everyone, the Length Measurement should be taken from the outside edge to outside edge of the buckles.  ~Leslie


Now observe your horse's heart girth and barrel conformation from the side. Look at the chest floor just behind the elbow. 
#1- Is he streamlined and tucked up like a greyhound as in the photo on the left, with his rib cage getting smaller towards the flank? This horse shape may benefit from the use of a breast collar.
#2- Does he have a level floor of heart girth as in the center photo? This body type is easiest to fit, girth width consideration are based on the saddle riggin.
Or #3- does he have a grove where the cinch would lay as in the photo on the right? with a well sprung rib cage that is wider than the heart girth area? This horse needs extra attention that the cinch doesn't slide up towards the elbows and cause extra pressure on the scapula.   

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Saddle your horse and observe where the latigo and cinch lay as compared to the  riggin of your saddle.  After riding, again check how the cinch lays. Does it lay vertical directly under the riggin, or slanted forward?
If your cinch slants forward, as in this photo, then it is pulling your saddle forward while riding, putting pressure on the scapula (shoulder blade) and exerting excess pressure to the bottom of the heart girth, and causing excess friction of the hair and skin.
In this photo we have a 3/4 rigged saddle with a store-bought roper style (supposedly) 100% mohair 36" long cinch that is 3.5" wide at the buckle. It has leather reinforced center Dee rings. When we removed this cinch and measured the length it had stretched to 39 inches! This tells us it is a lower percentage of Mohair.
The vertical tape measure is being used as our plumb line because it was quite windy and we couldn't keep a string from blowing!  The wider horizontal tape shows that the plumb line is 1-1/8" off center.
When using this cinch, it is tightened several times during a ride and the saddle has a tendency to roll. This horse has been quite crabby (cinchy) due to girth pain while being saddled even though he routinely receives
 bodywork and physical therapy. 

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Because of our above measurement of 1-1/8" off of the center plumb line, we know that we will need to double that number and add it to the width of the cinch at the buckle. 

So 1-1/8" + 1-1/8" = 2-1/4" or 2.25"
then 
2.25" + 3.5" cinch width @ buckle = NEEDS 5.75" wide cinch.

As you can see in this picture, we have changed cinches to a 23 strand hand tied 99% Mohair cinch that is 34" long.  The plumb line now hangs vertical and dissects the center of the riggin Dee and the Cinch Buckle. The center Dee rings are tied in (no leather or nylon webbing material).  This horse never flicked an ear while cinching up, standing pleasantly while being saddled. After initial cinching, but not overly tightened, the saddle never rolled, even while riding up and down steep hills and ponying colts. He moved out much more freely.  
 ~Leslie

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Cinches then and now...

4/20/2014

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Page #39 out of the 1931 Visalia Stock Saddle Co catalog.  (I love old saddlery catalogs!) 

There is no mention of cinch length. Cinches are offered in Horsehair, Mohair and Cotton cordage in widths of 4 inches to 7 inches to complement the various saddle riggin set-ups.
I'm not sure when it happened, but today's mass produced cinches, no matter what material used, became streamlined for production. They are all limited to 3" to 3.5" wide at the buckle. For Roper cinches they expand to an approximately 9" wide leather reinforced center diamond. 
 ~Leslie

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