Materials & Saddle leathers

Nubuck	Buffalo	Nappa	Calf

Torsion® Leathers from ecopell in Germany

Torsion® uses only the best leathers from German’s high quality Leather manufacturer ecopell. The company is situated in the south of Bavaria and develops and provides vegetable tanned leather meeting the highest requirements for each and very leather product.
A lot of work done by hand, pure raw material of highest quality, and many decades of experience in the development and production of vegetable tanned leather guarantee an exclusive natural product whose unique look and touch is felt and estimated by quality-conscious customers all over the world.

For more information visit http://www.ecopell.de/us/1_ecopell.htm

Nubuk Leather

Nubuk leather is a very natural, vegetable tanned leather (no chemicals).
It is thick but soft to the touch with a velvet like finish when new. With time, care and use the leather will turn slightly darker and the matt finish will turn slightly shiny. If Nubuk care cream (made by Urad), or walnut oil (Salad dressing section in the supermarket) is applied the mat finish can be turned turn into a silky shine finish immediately.

Nappa Leather

Nappa leather is extremely soft and supple, and just like calf leather does not require “riding in”. It has a slight shine and looks very traditional. This leather can be cared for with saddle soap or fine leather oil.

Calf Leather

Calf leather is elegant, soft and supple, and just like Nappa leather does not require “riding in”. It has a slight shine and looks very traditional. This leather can be cared for with saddle soap or fine leather oil.

Buffalo leather

Buffalo leather is thicker, stronger and heavier than Nubuk leather.  It has the typically large pores and shows the grain very well. It is quiet normal for Buffalo leather to show scares, wrinkels or uneveness’ within from the natural skin of the animal. It is of very high quality which is reflected in the higher price for saddles in Buffalo leather.

This leather can be cared for with saddle soap or fine leather oil.

Suede leather

Suede leather is used mainly for the Children’s models and can be ordered in the standard suede colours black or brown. Special colour combinations incur a small surcharge of £50. Please note that those specially ordered saddles will have to be paid with the order and are non returnable. As they are one off productions they could take a bit longer. Please note that some of the colour, especially the darker ones can rub off during their use if light coloured breeches are worn by the riders.

Standard colours are:

Black / Brown	Violet	Orange	Red	Green	Brown	Navy Blue	Royal Blue

More information about specific parts of the Torsion® Saddle

Torsion® Girth Straps:

The leather girth straps of a Torsion® saddle are backed with a synthetic material called “Biothane”.
Biothane is a high performance material, which is used a lot in the Endurance sport.
When girth straps are placed by the horse’s side they are potentially exposed to sweat. Sweat can cause leather to rot or potentially become brittle. The biothane backing of the girth straps protects the leather from sweat and strengthens the leather at the same time. It is important that the biothane backing is not damaged due to incorrect girthing ie: no sliding into the holes, or pressing into the areas between the holes as this will cause the biothane to be damaged or punctured by the points.

We recommend girthing up whilst standing on the floor to ensure the points of the girth buckles are placed directly into the girth holes. If the girth gets tightened while sitting in the saddle the risk is that the rider cannot see the holes properly and might place the buckle points not exactly into the holes. This could cause damage to the girth straps.

Extended or stretched holes on the girth straps due to incorrect fastening of the girth are not a fault or a material defect and are not covered by the warranty.

Torsion® Airnet Girth

This is a new material often used in sport shoes to ensure maximum breathability.
It allows extreme ventilation to the horses skin under the girth. It reduces sweating to an absolute minimum and avoids heat built up in this sensitive area.