Hi All! One of the reins on my favorite set of romels has lost its snap. The rein ends were just snaps woven into the end of the reins without the rawhide connectors. Question: are the rawhide connecters which I can get relatively cheaply secure enough to connect to the bit on their own without snaps? I could do both with snaps as well, just wondering. Thanks in advance.
Mine have just the rawhide connectors - no snaps - and so far they have not come loose.
Mine are new so the leather is still really stiff. I don’t know if they ever relax or not with use. I am new to this, myself.
I think rawhide connectors (braided loops with buttons to secure) are more secure than snaps. Sometimes snaps, particularly the claw type, will lose a spring or malfunction in some other way. You may also be able to find leather connectors to go from the bit to the reins. A lot of cowhorse people use those as a safety measure in case a cow gets a head under the reins or some other such awful wreck. The leather will break, whereas rawhide and snaps generally will not. It’s the same concept as “turn out halters” that have a bit of leather at the crown-- under a lot of force, the leather will give. Not a bad consideration when dealing with a very strong closed rein.
