Untacked

In today's bespoke and artisan craft-obsessed society, the time-honored skill of hand-stitching leather is more valuable than ever—and you can learn it for yourself in a five-day course in Galashiels, Scotland. Amanda Anderson, a professional saddle fitter from Virginia who's now learning how to build and repair tack, works on some new billets at the Saddlery Training Scotland workshop. "OK, first things first," says Philip Howard as he ushers me into a room with fluo- rescent strip lights and walls covered by handmade bridles and saddles in need of repair. "What's your favorite chocolate?" I laugh. "Strawberry dream!" I say as Philip pushes forward a large tin of Cadbury Roses that lives in the center of four workbenches. Philip is a traditional-looking man with tousled white locks. In this workshop, he is known as "eye candy," but I suspect that's also due to his notion that if you're going to teach a group of women to do something intricate in a short number of days, you might be well served to have candy on hand to lessen the stress. Philip had been working as a saddler in London for some years before moving to Earlston, Scotland, in 1995 to live out his dream of becoming a saddler in the Scottish Borders. Two years later, he met Karen, his wife. "Considering I was two hours late for her horse's saddle-fitting appointment, it was her beautiful smile that first bowled me over," he tells me while offering tea or coffee to everyone in the room. "Her horsey knowledge, and her obvious love and care for her horse came a close second." Philip and Karen married six years later. Both have passed the requisite exams to become members of the Society of Master Saddlers, and now Karen makes all the bridles, and Philip makes and repairs all the saddles. Together they run Saddlery Training Scotland at their Lee Val- ley Saddlery, the only teaching facility of its kind in Scotland, which also offers five-day bridlemaking courses at the basic, intermediate and advanced levels. Karen joins us and shows me to my bench, which is laid out with the hundreds of dollars' worth of tools that students use during the basic bridle-making workshops. I jump into the caféstyle high seat and launch immediately into a description of the bridle I'd like to make: "I was thinking of a combination headcollar and bridle in heather-colored leather with gold buckles and green stitching," I say excitedly. "Something that resembles the Scottish moors and that could be used for endurance riding." Karen nods and smiles. "I take it you've hand-stitched leather before, then?" she asks. As a girl who hated home economics and refused to learn to sew fabric because of her feminist principles, my answer is obviously going to be no. "Don't worry, Melissa," she says reassuringly. "It normally takes students 10 days to make a basic snaffle bridle. As you are here for only a day, I thought we could aim for a pair of stirrup leathers instead." If At First You Don't Succeed The Howards are flexible and open-minded when it comes to teaching, and they want to accommodate students' needs and abilities. This is why they have classes of no more than six students at a time, so they can give each one plenty of individual attention. In the introductory bridle-making workshop, C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M W INTER 2013 77

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