May 11. I am tickled to present one of the most challenging bridle and breastcollar sets I've made in many a year! As luck (and sheer work) would have it, I was able to complete the fancy bit I intended for this bridle before departing on a family trip. I will just work on other projects, mainly saddle blankets, while in Colorado. And the chimes of course!
This bit is based on a real one I saw in the High
Noon catalog. It is an early double eagle pattern. The sterling silver is coated with nail polish to retard tarnish.
You would not believe how slippery this nylon is!! Since it's embedded in wax, glue is not really an option for construction. I didn't use glue except as a backup matrix for some of the inside joins. I don't use glue as a rule; this piece was assembled with tiny stitches. But that still means there's precious little holding things together except friction. Usually friction does the job at this scale... but you do need to be aware of the forces involved! I was able to fix it by braiding a complete new border and re-sewing the entire half with a better design. Evolution of a skill...
The large buttons seen on the ends of the browband and breastcollar halves are 7P6Bs doubled, braided as usual with a needle and custom-dyed cotton thread. Most of the buttons on this set are Pineapples (5P4B) doubled, or related; the 7P6B is raised from them. The buttons on the ends of the nose piece are also 7P6Bs but these are what I call "decorative" and what Grant calls Headhunter's of Two Passes, plate 65 in his book.
Dark brown buttons are used as coverings for joinings on the cheek straps. This is much of the challenge: how to fasten together butt ends of that slippery nylon, because both ends of the cheek feature loops. The top loop slides around the crown strap with its tassel (the ring cheek is a size adjustment and place-holding device); the bottom loop holds the bit in a button-and-loop arrangement.
I spent several days on the curbstrap alone. It had been years since I'd done fully-braided ones. This design of two halves interlocking, completely adjustable, is based on a real design. Likewise the connectors on the reins are functional and will open. All horsehair was done with thread and sinew, braided first and then sewn together. The finished piece, although somewhat delicate in terms of what handling it can stand, has exactly the heft and polish of real horsehair.
And if that's not record enough, this piece is going to Finland. Thank you for your patience, Heli!
April 22. Another post you might be interested in: my photo session with my new Evelyn Munday saddle.
April 5. What a beautiful day to go driving! I quickly gave up on the idea that a sleigh harness
had to be photographed with a sleigh, on snow. The
thought of getting out the white fleece that I use for
indoor snow shots just wasn't appealing. We started
out on the deck, but as you can see below, having a
flowering tree in the background all but swallowed up horse
and harness -- !!! -- so I moved to the front
sidewalk. We will politely ignore the fact she isn't
shod.I want to point out this is NOT my best whip. It is at least a decade out of date in terms of my skill in making one. But it was the only one I could find. My other one is so old I've retired it to the Museum box.
My cart is a Wood Wiz kit (Michelle Huskins, active circa 2000), customized by the addition of a couple of Wagon Master wheels (Tony Sciortino, active early 2000s). I've also customized it by adding black leather wraps to the shafts. Clearly I hitched up in a hurry; the shafts slant downwards when they should be level. But it's my best Meadowbrook and I couldn't resist. This little mare looks so good in harness.
This shows how hard it was to fit the trace to this cart's
line of draft with this horse. (Draft means pull; the
beer version, draught,
means the same thing, a pull from the keg.) Model
hames basically allow no changing the point of draft - a
third of the way up the line of the front of the
shoulder. So this trace starts out high but dips
downwards on its way to the whiffletree. The holdback
strap (from the breeching ring) drags everything down
and curves (dips) the trace. Yet it is incorrect in
every way to have the trace pass over the holdback
straps; they must pass through. Under is frowned upon
because the trace can work up inside the breeching and cut
the horse, or so it was explained to me.This harness still is not done. The sleigh shafts have proven to need longer traces. You can see that here I "lifted up" the long strap end of these traces to shorten them, between the keepers of the trace chafe, something I've never done before, nor seen. Essentially it means the trace is too long!! So what's the problem? I'm not happy with how thin the strap end is for how long, and want it to be shorter. I also have dreams of a better whip AND some saddle chimes... you'll just have to be patient.
My Tack Orders page often has news and updates as to what I've been up to, even when this main page does not.
(BEN-sum-uh) (TIM-uh-roo). My eBay name is timaru-star-ii. This page updated every one to three months, approximately. Normal email answering time is 3 to 4 days.