Anyone use one? There’s a place not tooooo far from me that makes a 1" alpaca blanket with leather trim and I’m wondering if anyone has feedback on them. The general info I’ve found online says they’re great, but of course most of that info is from alpaca breeders! :winkgrin:
go to www.TheAlpacaHorse.com.I have 2 of them and they are the only saddle blankets I will ever use. They wear like iron and get softer and softer and totally conform to your horse.
Could you tell me why you started using them and what difference you’ve found between that and regular wool felt? They don’t look like they’ve got wither cutouts or are shaped for the withers - do they bunch up at all?
They do not bunch at all. They conform to your horse. They are MUCH more pliable and retain their “loft” than sheep’s wool. Sheep’s wool has a solid core fiber and compresses ,eventually into felt. Alpaca fiber has a hollow core and springs back.Also , sheep’s wool contains lanolin, which is what makes people (and horses,too) allergic to it sometimes. Sheep’s wool also has barbs on the fibers(itchyness) Alpaca fiber has neither of those.
alos, the ones that I have are all handwoven; they are not felt.
Oooooooooooooooh you don’t need a pad for your upper level alpaca then ?
How do you know I don’t?! :lol:
[QUOTE=pook;7361245]
alos, the ones that I have are all handwoven; they are not felt.[/QUOTE]
Is that better than felt and if so, why? What would be the drawbacks of felt if any?
yes, hand woven is totally different than felt.it is the difference, say, between a hand woven rug and a piece of felt liner.Hand woven saddle blankets involve a lot more fiber and in the long run, are a lot more durable and retain their shape and “loft” I have used mine every single day for almost 2 years and they look nearly the same as day 1.
pook - do you use that blanket by itself?
yes, by itself. Although sometimes I use 2 at a time if I have a saddle that needs a little more padding in order to fit a particular horse. The main point is that the alpaca saddle blanket be the blanket that is the one touching the horse,
[QUOTE=pook;7361226]
They do not bunch at all. They conform to your horse. They are MUCH more pliable and retain their “loft” than sheep’s wool. Sheep’s wool has a solid core fiber and compresses ,eventually into felt. Alpaca fiber has a hollow core and springs back.Also , sheep’s wool contains lanolin, which is what makes people (and horses,too) allergic to it sometimes. Sheep’s wool also has barbs on the fibers(itchyness) Alpaca fiber has neither of those.[/QUOTE]
Just wondered if you are a spinner or worker of animal fiber? The barbs on the wool fiber are microscopic, actually are the hair scales, only rub on each other to tighten fibers into felt. The itchiness felt with some wool items, comes from the ENDS of wool fibers that stick out of yarns. Less expensive wool with short fibers, short-staple wool, is the big problem with wool clothing that makes people itch, because it contains MANY ends of fibers, which will protrude from the yarn. The higher quality wool from breeds of sheep known for their wool, long-staple wool, has far fewer fiber ends when spun into yarn. So the far fewer ends of fibers, don’t work out of the yarns to rub on people’s skin that wear the clothing. This long-staple wool feels much softer, in any fabric or yarn made of it, than the coarser, short-staple yarn used in less expensive kinds of wool products.
You say the Alpaca fibers do not have any barbs on it, but they actually DO have hair scales, which just don’t stick up very much. You CAN felt Alpaca wool if you want to make felt products with it. Just like sheep wool, one of the easiest methods is to knit up an item, then run item thru cycles of the washing machine in warm water. Needle felting is also a popular craft using Alpaca fiber. The Alpaca fibers WILL bind together with hair scales tightening on each other, just like sheep fibers.
Moisture and heat, will open the hair scales/barbs on sheep wool fibers, so they do catch on each other, getting the wool fibers tighter and tighter together, causing the felting action as it rubs in the washer or motion of the user while wearing it, like wet mittens or someone deliberately trying to cause an item to felt after making it.
Checking Wiki: the Alpaca fiber can develop a hollow core, but doesn’t start that way.
Wiki Quote:Fiber structure
Alpaca fiber is similar in structure to sheep wool fiber. Its softness comes from the small diameter of the fiber, similar to merino wool. Its glossiness is due to low height of the individual fiber scales compared to sheep wool. Alpaca fibers have a higher tensile strength than wool fibers. In processing, slivers lack fiber cohesion and single alpaca rovings lack strength. Blend these together and the durability is increased several times over. More twisting is necessary, especially in Suri, and this can reduce a yarn’s softness.
The alpaca has a very fine and light fleece. It does not retain water, is thermal even when wet and can resist solar radiation effectively. These characteristics guarantee the animals a permanent and appropriate coat to protect against extreme changes of temperature. This fiber offers the same protection to humans.
Medullation
Medullated fibers are fibers with a central core, which may be continuous, interrupted, or fragmented. Here, the cortical cells that make up the walls of the fiber, are wrapped around a medulla, or core, that is made up of another type of cell (called medullary cells). Later, these cells may contract or disappear, forming air pockets which assist insulation.
Just had to get this misinformation about sheep wool corrected. Always getting a bad name for being itchy, when folks buy cheap wool goods instead of higher quality, GOOD wool. Learned more about Alpaca fiber today checking the quoted remarks, which I didn’t know as well as I do now!
And for some reason there has been no information on here about wool saddle blankets of the past. The good, woven Navaho blankets of sheep wool, never felted, were used for MANY years without problems under Western saddles. They were not cheap, nor easy to come by to get the best quality. Saved a LOT of horses backs from sores over years of use. Got washed in streams, water tanks, probably hosed too. Still never felted up. Might have been the Navaho sheep has a special kind of wool, long-staple, and other qualities in it for such excellent wearing blankets, than “regular” wool sheep do or did in the past. Maybe blankets sold now, under the Navaho description are not made like the old-time blankets were, so they can not compare to them in wear or action on a horse’s back under a saddle.
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Both sheep’s wool and alpaca wool can be felted, though the alpaca is a finer wool, and of course, no lanolin. I love both my woven wool pads and alpaca hats & scarves that I use, and I am thrilled to find you can get alpaca pads, that’s great!
I’ve never had a sheep’s wool pad felt on me, not even after years and years of hard use.
Where are other options to buy an Alpaca pad?
Want one for my Western saddle which has a square skirt and is a 16" seat…
Saddle is a Julie Goodnight Monarch if that helps to determine size I need but I think a 28x32 would be good or a little bigger?
Used to English pads and saddles so if I sound ignorant, I am! Lol
Like the idea of Alpaca but want shopping options…
Thanks
Used to be that the typical western saddle blanket or saddle pad was 30x30 inches. A doubled or folded western saddle blanket was 30 inches wide, by 60 inches long. Again came out to be 30x30 inches when folded under the saddle.
Modern saddle do have a LOT of variety in skirt sizes, so they now make oversized saddle blankets, to keep the blanket edge showing with the bigger, longer, skirts seen in the ring. I think those are like 32x72 for doubled ones, 32x36 for single layer blankets. Might be wrong on oversized numbers though.
Maybe you could measure your present saddle pad or blanket, see how big it is. Do you like how it looks and fits, under the skirt of your saddle? Does the edge show about an inch all the way around? If not, you would want to get a different size blanket when ordering an Alpaca blanket.
I did check the Alpaca site, would consider their blankets a bit narrow for most western saddles. This means the blanket would not show all the way around a Western saddle, so horse sweat, rubbing, would be on the fleece lining, leather of saddle itself. Stiff saddle edges COULD rub the horse in moving, make a sore. There is a reason western blankets show their edges, around the saddle.
Most alpaca saddle blankets are 27"X32". I have seen some 27"x 34"; the larger the alpaca saddle blanket the more expensive.More fleece and more labor.
Maybe her loom can only create that 27" width. I can see adding more size making blankets more expensive.
Just was suggesting that person wanting to use Alpaca blanket should measure what fits well NOW, before ordering something that might be too narrow. Give the Alpaca place a call, see if wider blankets are possible?
Using the Alpaca blankets as pictured with the English saddle, the 27" width looks quite nice. Not sure I would want the blanket under my leg as shown, hard for the horse to feel light leg signals thru the padding, is my thought.
Western saddles are bigger skirted, and you would not normally put the blanket under saddle unfolded and long on each side. At least I would not, or suggest using the blanket that way.
Guess a call to the Alpaca Lady is the easiest way to settle the issue of wider blankets. She can or can’t, make it wider. Perhaps going 32"x32" or 36"x36", would use about the same time and material as a longer, narrow blanket, so price would be about the same. Would be the same one layer depth on horse back. Going to depend on her loom width, what is possible.
Would love to try an alpaca blanket after your recommends, but WAY out of the budget for a saddle blanket. Thanks anyway.
I have been looking into them and there is a variance in prices from 130-250 out there.
When I get back in town I will measure the skirt of the saddle that arrived while I was gone…
Then I will try and decide where to get one based off knowing what size would work.
Then what I need to figure out is why they are priced so differently!
Does it really make a difference if there is Jute vs wool for the warp, or
Does it matter if the fibers are spun vs from rovings?
Everyone tells something different.
What I need it for is not for competitive gazillion mile rides, just for casual relaxing trail rides and not every day. It may get used once a week.
Hard to make the decision! Tempting to just buy the lowest price but scared by the usual fact of you get what you pay for! But that also being said, I don’t want to over pay just because of a fancy tag or something like that…
Sounds like a “more time, more material,equals costing more” factor in pricing, when you list details. Spinning takes longer to do, may use more yarn, usually takes a couple plys of yarn for the thread, to make a skein. So yarn is more expensive because it needs much more handling to reach “yarn stage”. Roving is very loosely combined fibers, shorter time to make, not solid like true yarn, which can add to the “fluff” factor when woven, but may not wear as well over time. I have some alpaca roving on hand now, knitting it for fun, and you have to handle it a lot more gently than yarn. Comes apart with small pulling, so you have to roll it back together at the ends for an unbroken strand to continue. Does make a dense fabric, though not 1/2" like the blanket says. My project is destined to be felted as an experiment.
For once a week use, I would probably try the less expensive blanket, see how it worked for me. Sometimes only using an item will let you see how it benefits you. Other folks could use the same item, but they use it DIFFERENTLY and it is not successful for them. Daily riding, doing a couple hours work or 10 miles each day, could give very different results with the same blanket. Doesn’t make it a BAD blanket or junk, but might not be the best choice for certain kinds of users.
Use of wool (sheep) yarn vs. jute, is a cost factor, though I don’t actually know which is more expensive. Both are “natural” fiber, but I would expect jute to be more coarse, rougher to the feel. Very popular as garden twine because it will break down over time, sun exposure, unlike synthetic strings. Perhaps wool is stronger over time, in a woven blanket. Used to be you saw a lot of cotton string with sheep wool as the yarn in saddle blankets. Cotton string could wear fast under stirrups, so those wear leather edges got popular with the Western folks, then the leathers got blinged up too. Nice that seller is telling you what they are using with the Alpaca yarn or rovings.
