Why We Include Grewal Equestrian in our Collections
Leather is the category where construction is hardest to disguise. A rider cannot see how a hide was tanned, but the things that follow from it, the cut of the strap, the stitch, the finish of the edge and the quality of the hardware, are all visible before anything is ordered. Grewal Equestrian is in the Canter and Crest collections on that basis.
What Grewal makes
The range covers the leather a rider builds a tack room around, along with the pieces worn on the rider: bridles, girths, halters, tall boots, paddock boots, half chaps, breeches, gloves, blankets and bags.
The basis for inclusion
The standard applied here is a documentary one. A piece belongs in the collection when the maker states what it is made of and how it is constructed, in terms specific enough that a rider can compare it against something else. That test rests on published specification, not on anyone at Canter and Crest claiming to know how a bridle behaves after years in a particular barn. Nobody can attest to that on your behalf, and this post does not.
What to read on any leather piece
Ask what the leather is. Full grain retains the outer surface of the hide and its fiber structure. Top grain has that surface sanded away. Bonded or corrected leather is a different material again. Ask where it was tanned and by what method, since vegetable and chrome tanning produce leather that feels, ages and takes conditioner differently.
Ask about the stitch. Count the stitches per inch, look at whether the line runs straight and holds its spacing around a curve, and check that the ends are properly finished rather than trimmed flush. Look at the edges, which should be cut cleanly and burnished or painted rather than left raw.
Ask about the hardware. Solid brass or stainless steel behaves differently from a plated base metal, and buckles and keepers are where a bridle is most often let down.
Ask what the maker publishes about care, and whether repair and replacement parts are available. A maker who will resupply a billet or a keeper is telling you how the piece is meant to be treated over its life.
Choosing well
Match the piece to the horse first. Confirm fit against measurements rather than assuming a size carries across makers, condition new leather before hard use, and follow a simple clean, condition and protect routine. Inspect the load-bearing pieces, billets, stirrup leathers and rein stitching, on a regular schedule. That habit does more for leather than any product does.
You will find the Grewal bridles, reins and halters in Bridles & Halters.
Every Canter & Crest reference, in one place.
The complimentary guides are in The Rider's Library.