# off billet versus latigo?



## Saengchwi (Mar 15, 2013)

I'm trying to learn about saddles before I purchase one and while looking at western saddles and how they cinch, I noticed that one side has a latigo and the other side has an off billet. 

Looking at the difference in these two straps and how they attach to the saddle and cinch....I got to wondering why western saddles don't just use an off billet on both sides of the saddle. Does anyone know why a latigo instead of an off billet? I can certainly see that a latigo would help make saddles/cinches fit a wider variety of horses...but if the tack is only for one horse, would two off billets work just as good with less bulk?


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

It would be tough to tighten an off-billet. The latigo is easy to tighten. And with a latigo, you can tighten it to anywhere you want and tie it off - you don't need to use the holes if you don't want to.


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## xxdanioo (Jan 17, 2012)

which strap is which again? haha.


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## Cruiser (Aug 28, 2011)

Latigo is the long piece on the near side, off billet short piece on the off side. You would need a really long cinch if you only had billets, you also would have to either have a really tight or really loose cinch because of the holes. I've ridden in saddles that have two latigos and have to tie both sides. Latigo makes a saddle adjustable if your horse loses or gains weight, different horse, and generally very easy to use once you know how to tie it.


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## Saengchwi (Mar 15, 2013)

Thanks guys...that makes good sense! I'll scrap all thoughts of 2 off billets then!


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## Cruiser (Aug 28, 2011)

No harm is asking.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Agree with all the others regarding the difficulty in getting a cinch with 2 off-billets tight enough.

That being said, I always switch out the off billet on my saddles and put another latigo on there so that there is a latigo on both sides. That makes adjusting the cinch a whole lot easier.


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## Saengchwi (Mar 15, 2013)

A better fit makes a lot of sense but I keep looking at the size of that knot and wondering.

Does the latigo knot ever cause problems with its bulk? When I look at western saddles, the most common rigging seems to be 7/8's and falls just under the fender. It looks like it'd interfere with riding...both for comfort and for communication.

I'm guessing it must be comfortable for both horse and rider then...does it cause any problems with being able to use your legs to direct your horse?


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## peppersgirl (Aug 24, 2012)

Saengchwi said:


> A better fit makes a lot of sense but I keep looking at the size of that knot and wondering.
> 
> Does the latigo knot ever cause problems with its bulk? When I look at western saddles, the most common rigging seems to be 7/8's and falls just under the fender. It looks like it'd interfere with riding...both for comfort and for communication.
> 
> I'm guessing it must be comfortable for both horse and rider then...does it cause any problems with being able to use your legs to direct your horse?



I have never had the knot interfere.. If you dont like to knot it up, just buckle it and then run the rest of the latigo through the keeper.


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## aforred (May 12, 2010)

As smrobs said, having two latigos allows for a customized fit. I find this extremely helpful for horses that are prone to girth sores. I have a mare like that now. I started using a different type of cinch with a latigo on each side so that it fits her exactly right.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

It is interesting how the word latigo has come to mean a cinch strap when latigo is the result of a particular tanning process which produces the reddish color and makes it resistant to sweat.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

If you are worried about bulk, you can also use a nylon latigo. I like them better than leather anyways, and they are much thinner.


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## Saengchwi (Mar 15, 2013)

I had no idea that latigo had to do with tanning! I wonder if thats why so many of the saddles are that pretty reddish color.

I'll try the nylon then bsms. One of our neighbors is letting us borrow an old bear trap barrel racing saddle to see if we like them. It has a really thick leather latigo and I'm betting my daughter won't like that much between her legs and the horse. Shes used to using her legs when shes riding. I'm waiting til he can come over and help me with the saddle the first time to check the fit and teach us how to do it right. That gives me time to pick up a nylon one. 

We can buy this saddle if it works out well for us and I'm hoping it will. Its a pretty saddle and light compared to the others I've looked at. I've had no luck finding an aussie saddle locally so we can try it and this is the only bear trap I've found so far too.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

The reddish saddles aren't latigo. The process used to make latigo also makes it somewhat stretchy, not something you want saddle leather to do. If your cinch straps are nylon then don't use a cinch made with nylon webbing, use a multi strand cinch. There has to be a bit of give and using all nylon doesn't have that. Any chance we can see a pic or two of the bear trap?


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## Saengchwi (Mar 15, 2013)

I'll have to check that. The cinch I have has wool on one side and I'm not sure what the other side is made of, never really looked at the other side. 

Ok..I went and looked and its thick black nylon strapping on one side with wool stitched to the other side. So this kind has no give then? I know our feed store has the multi-strand kind and I think leather ones also.

I can post picks of the saddle once its here. Hes going to bring it with him when he comes to help us with it. It looks like a really good saddle. Old but it looks well made and well cared for. I don't see any cracking or thin feeling parts in the leather. The leather is really thick and very flexible and the tree feels rock solid. The fleece looks a bit matted but I got a 1" wool fleece pad to try under it also. The only part I'm worried about as far as condition is the tie strings that hang down. If I understand right, they go through the saddle and the fleece and are supposed to hold the saddle together? Well, the strings that hang off the saddle are mostly gone on all of them, just a...trying to think how to describe it. You guys probably know what it looks like anyways...not a knot there but the leather threads through each other. So that knot kinda thing and various odd lengths of strap hanging down is all thats there. I can see them on the fleece side and there they look strong but the other side looks worn out.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

FWIW, I'm fond of mohair cinches. Ours is holding up well, and the horses don't seem to get as sweaty. You could also use a leather off-billet if it concerns you. I'm skeptical about how much a leather latigo 'gives', but with a leather off billet on one side and mohair in between, I'm sure it would be fine.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Going back to the knotted latigo, I've never knotted any of mine in my 25+ years of riding. I just buckle it using the tongue on the cinch and the holes in the latigo, then I run the excess up through the keeper. I've never had one come loose and it is a lot faster and easier to adjust them, IMHO.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

In the beginning when I first started riding, I knotted the latigo. Once I started using the buckle on the cinch, I've never knotted. 

I like leather rather than nylon. I've had nylon loosen up when knotted.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Saengchwi (Mar 15, 2013)

That looks much better then knotting! This saddle doesn't have holes along it though...it had 3 handmade holes in one section and it doesn't have a keeper. The keeper must be the tag with a slot in it? I'm pretty sure it didn't have one of those. 

How does the latigo running up through the keeper differ from an off billet strap then? Well, besides length.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

The latigo doesn't have to go thru the keeper. My latigo isn't all that long. With some horses, mine won't reach the keeper so I just run it back thru where it attaches to the saddle.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

Saengchwi said:


> That looks much better then knotting! This saddle doesn't have holes along it though...it had 3 handmade holes in one section and it doesn't have a keeper. The keeper must be the tag with a slot in it? I'm pretty sure it didn't have one of those.
> 
> How does the latigo running up through the keeper differ from an off billet strap then? Well, besides length.


My latigos have holes but I don't use them. I actually end up cutting off the buckle tongues off. The picture below is how I use the latigo and it is not as bulky as a farmer/California knot. I have NEVER had it come undone but I have had the buckles come undone before. Since the saddle your looking at doesn't have a keeper you put the "knot" on the opposite side of the rigging ring and run the the tail of your latigo the opposite direction, under the fender and hang it in the back rigging ring.

The latigo buckled using the tongue on the cinch then ran through the keeper is different because by looping the latigo through the cinch twice and having the tail it give a little more leverage to make it tight as need be. But, in my opinion, that is the problem with using the buckle tongue is that one hole may be too tight and the next not tight enough. On an english girth/cinch(correct me if I am wrong) they use buckles but there are elastic bands that help with the proper tightness and adjustment making the difference between two holes either too tight or not tight enough easier to deal with.


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## Saengchwi (Mar 15, 2013)

COWCHICK77 said:


> The latigo buckled using the tongue on the cinch then ran through the keeper is different because by looping the latigo through the cinch twice and having the tail it give a little more leverage to make it tight as need be. But, in my opinion, that is the problem with using the buckle tongue is that one hole may be too tight and the next not tight enough. On an english girth/cinch(correct me if I am wrong) they use buckles but there are elastic bands that help with the proper tightness and adjustment making the difference between two holes either too tight or not tight enough easier to deal with.


Ok...now I think I really get the differences. I've seen english girths with the elastic in them but never questioned the whys of it. I did notice the strap leather felt different from the rest of the saddle. 

Thanks guys. I'll have fun trying out the different ways to do up the cinch and I'm sure one of them will work well for us. I have at least three ways to try now that aren't so bulky, and if my daughter gets interested in how to get the cinch just right, she'll sell herself on one of them...lol.


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