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In an effort to provide the quality and availability desired by those who are learning about
aspects of comfort and safety for their horse, Darin has a history of "training
the competition," so-to-speak. Due to the increased interest in do-it-yourself cinch making, we continue to work hard to develop the training, tools, and supplies in hopes that manufacturers and materials suppliers will get the message that folks are serious about seeking what is best for their horse or mule.

To that end, we have stepped back in the process to make our own cords and yarns, distinctly identifiable as the ArtCords brand, while providing a more refined and higher quality cord using 96% mohair, 4% wool. The results are fantastic patterns and custom possibilities you may have only dreamed of before.

What is Mohair?!
We have seen quotes from those who define mohair as "a mixture of Angora goat hair and wool" while many cinches in the market today that sell as mohair may only be such in color tone. This we learned from cord provided by a cinch manufacturer that, with a simple urn test proved to be 100% Acrylic. Additional market trends seem to be a shift to "mohair cinch" only referring to a cinch of cord design. It seems to many of those we speak with, that "Mohair," when used as a single word on an item, should indicate only hair from the Angora goat. Since this has not been the case in the market for some time, we simply advise folks to purchase cinches which identify the percentage of Mohair up-front. After all, for those with more sensitive skinned horses, the 70% kid mohair/30% low crimp wool has a much softer feel and has responded much like the 100% adult mohair in our field tests. Even then, quality of the cord is very important as is craftsmanship... thus we encourage folks to feel the difference between cinches that are being sold at shows and in stores. Think of your next 100% Mohair cinch purchase, wether from us, our dealers, or another custom cinch maker, as an investment in comfort and health of your fourlegged friend. They will thank you for it!

A Note About our Products:
ONLY those who have signed up with us as Authorized Dealers, have been granted permission to use our name(s) and/or Logo(s) for re-sale of products made or supervised by Darin Alexander. Cinches from 5 Star Equine Products have not been made nor supervised by Darin since November of 2006. We regret that they have denied payment of royalties as originally promised while benefitting from the misleading marketing such as using "5 Star Elite Cinchas Hand-Tailored by Darin Alexander" for item listings on E-bay including imported horsehair products. We are especially disappointed that they chose not to correct the error by editing misleading text "The 5 Star Elite brand was created by renowned fiber artist Darin Alexander. Each cincha and breast collar is hand-tied in 5 Star's production shop near Hatfield, Arkansas" to accurately reflect the truth with suggested text,"The 5 Star Elite cinch line was originally developed by renowned fiber artist and ArtCords(tm) educator, Darin Alexander, who provided over-site and training till fall of 2006."

You are welcome to contact ArtCords with any questions or to verify if a cinch, mecate, or shu-fly has been made by Darin Alexander.