Since the weather has not been the greatest for riding my horses I find myself spending these winter months doing little projects while I dream of spring.
I might be in “English” leather country but I’m a cowgirl at heart and love the feel of a mecate or rope reins in my hands. The weight and lay of a good rope cannot be beat in my book and I decided to make one for myself.
Since I raise alpacas it seemed only fitting to make my new reins out of alpaca. Each cord I used to braid with is made up of 8 strands spun fiber (or yarn) this part requires a rope machine. Each cord is made up of 8 strands; 2 strands per hook; a total of 4 hooks. Using a rope machine, these strands are kept under even tension and twisted counter clockwise up to 15% shrinkage (differs for each type of fiber)) and then counter spun clockwise around one another creating a rope cord. I made 6 of these cords and a 7th to use as a core.
Since I’m still new to rope making I haven’t yet mastered the art of twisting cords around a core into rope. So I opted to do a 6 plait round braid around the core, back braided scissor snaps on each end and left the fringe on to a little character.
Hope you enjoy the photos. First 2 are of the reins the last one is of a lead rope I made to show my alpacas with. See our Shop for what is available.
Fiber Arts Friday as moved to it’s new home with WonderWhyGal! Check her out!
Video is from Back At The Ranch please give them a visit.
Shows great detail of spinning horse hair and twisting it into rope.
[flashvideo file=http://www.rochestertrailriders.com/wp-content/uploads/video/Horsehair_Mecate.flv /]
