Horse Leather in General
Horse leather is not as common today since horses have been replaced by tractors in the fields and motorized vehicles on the roads. As a result, there is not much horse leather produced at slaughterhouses anymore.
Horse leather is usually processed into smooth leather for shoes and clothing. It is referred to as "rossnappa" when it is a soft aniline leather that has been ironed.
Cordovan Leather
This leather comes from the hindquarters of heavy draft horses. A few millimeters below the skin’s surface, there are two round pieces of connective tissue. These have a densely packed fiber structure and are also called butt, shell, or roan mirror. This leather is particularly strong and durable in this area. Since Cordovan leather contains a lot of fat, it is water-resistant.
The pieces of leather are usually between A5 and A3 size, which makes it very expensive. The supply is very rare because there are no more heavy working horses, and horses from breeding or sports can’t replace them.
Manufacturing of Cordovan Leather
The leather is tanned using vegetable tannins, and this process takes about six months to complete. It is only during the tanning process that it becomes clear which leather is suitable for shoes and which is better for wallets, keychains, and belts. After the 60-day tanning process, the hides are dried on glass plates and then rubbed by hand with oil.
This oil, called "smearing," is absorbed into the leather during the next 90 days of storage. At the end of the production process, the special shine of Cordovan leather is achieved through a process called "polishing." Cordovan leather is most common in the United States, where the manufacturing process was perfected some time ago. You can tell because the flesh side is processed outward, but it still ends up being very smooth and shiny.
Additional Sources (accessed 26.02.2019):
- leder-info(punkt)de/index.php/Pferdeleder
- lederzentrum(punkt)de/wiki/index.php/Pferdeleder
