It’s no secret that I love fur and leather. I prefer vintage fur, but show me a wonderful shearling and I melt. I have always, however, shied away from ponyhair products. As an equestrian I can’t seem to put the skin of something I love so much on my body (yes, it’s very hypocritical as I’ll put on leather boots until the cows come home)…but is it really PONY hair? I decided to find out….
Survey says, “NO!”. Hooray! Pony hair is a generic term for “hair-on hide”, i..e. cow or calf leather that has not had the hair removed, also known as “haircalf”. No ponies involved. Tina Craig, expert fashionista from The Bag Snob (now Snob Essentials), explains it below:
The leather that we are most familiar with is actually the underside, the non-hair side of the skin. Haircalf (the most common term but in fashion pony hair is used to make it sound sexier) is more expensive than the average leather but the cost is in the finish of the hair, since it needs to be treated (chrome tanned is a process that gives the hair the super shiny sheen), most of the time it is cut down short (this is necessary for any use other than a rug, as in, in a cowboy’s house), and it is dyed.
So in light of my revelaSKIN, let me list some of my favorite finds which are sure to show well in cooler weather; our little ponies can breathe easy.
xo
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Tack and Tweed Equestrian: The Love of Horses 