Davenport Leather

28/05/2026

Seriously contemplating a buzz cut… 💇‍♀️

08/05/2026

Checked your girth straps recently? Stretched leather, holes that are more like slits, trenches gouged in the back of the leather from the buckle tongue… these are all signs that it’s time for a new set. And you should always have them replaced as sets.

23/04/2026

Curious to know what the manufacturer thought that little 1/2” wide tab of nylon was going to bring to this headcollar…? 🤔

Chape now replaced with proper bridle leather 💪 Incidentally, this bit of your leather headcollar should always feel pretty substantial - the headcollar must break if needed, but the break points are usually at the ring where your lead rein clips on. These bits are easy to repair. Stitching a new buckle chape on to a whole headcollar can sometimes be a wrestling match - if making from scratch, most saddlers do these bits first!

01/04/2026

For those people asking why I don’t do rugs, it’s because I’ve run out of pyjama legs 😂🙈

Genuine repair I did years ago (pre-saddlery-career) on one of my own rugs. The only light, fly-sheet-weight fabric I could find was a pair of PJ bottoms.

07/03/2026

I often get asked whether ergonomic headpieces are worthwhile. The answer is 100% yes, BUT… they have to be the right shape for your horse, otherwise they’re no better than any other bridle headpiece.

Think of them like office chairs - if they’re adjusted specifically for you, they’re great and you can work happily in them. If they’re not, you can’t. Same goes for your horse and their bridle.

27/02/2026

So, what were those straps on yesterday’s post? Lots of people suggested they might be for a martingale, but well l done if you said a grackle - they are the cross straps on the noseband of this bridle.

26/02/2026

Been a long time since we had a post, so… what do you think these straps might be for?

06/02/2026

Q: When is a horse not a horse?
A: When it’s a river-horse.

Stay with me, this post is about the bring together three of my favourite things: etymology, the Ancient World and leatherwork…

When the Greeks first ventured into Africa, none of them had met a hippopotamus before. Their closest point of reference for a large (3t), fast-moving (19mph) animal was a horse, which in Greek is a ‘hippos’. Unlike regular horses, these new African beasts spent a lot of time in the river. The Greek word for river is ‘potamos’. And so hippos + potamos = hippopotamus 🦛

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that whilst I usually make and repair horse stuff, I can also make new ears and a tail for your leather hippo footstool 😉

22/01/2026

If I've made or repaired something for you, do please click on the link and leave a review >>>

Reviews and testimonials from real people who have purchased products or or had items repaired by Claire at Davenport Leather

02/12/2025

Almost a decade ago, I looked at the umpteenth bridle I’d bought off the peg - only half of which fitted my horse - and thought, “how hard can it be…?”