THIS PIECE WAS LOST IN THE MAIL. AS OF EARLY APRIL 2008 IT WAS SENT USPS FIRST CLASS IN A SMALL BROWN CARDBOARD BOX (TAPE CASSETTE SIZE) FROM PENNSYLVANIA TO CALIFORNIA, BUT IT NEVER ARRIVED. THE BOX BORE BOTH LIBERTY STAMPS AND A POSTAL METER STRIP. IT WAS ADDRESSED TO ROBIN AMADOR BY HAND. IT HAD AN INDEX CARD INSIDE WITH TO AND FROM ADDRESSES ON IT. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION LEADING TO RECOVERY IS ENCOURAGED TO CONTACT ME OR ROBIN. THE TSII OFFERS A $300.00 DOLLAR REWARD FOR RECOVERY OF THIS BOSAL HACKAMORE AND BREASTCOLLAR.
Note that a duplicate of this order is being made to be sent to Robin. There are differences; the silver beads are different, as are subtle details of the braiding (after all these things are handmade). "Its mother would know it." You may bet your bottom dollar it isn't going by USPS first class.
This gorgeous bridle and breastcollar set is owned by D. Curtis. It is difficult to shoot in cold April light, especially in shadow -- but desparate for Spring, I grab at the opportunity to be outside! The digital camera is indulging in the bad habit of overexposing the silver when shooting in sunlight. Add in a glossy horse and it gets worse! So you'll have to believe me when I say this is as close as I can get to true color. The horse is "Sir Prize" the chestnut, the lace is my usual Saddle Tan, and the button colors are dark brown, normal rawhide, white, black, and dyed-saddle-tan. The silver is Hill Tribes, carefully coated to resist tarnishing. Forgive the thread on the nose - I was in a hurry.
Finished as of March 24th, these little one-offs belong to D. Curtis. She spotted Tissarn's Hackamore and wanted a nosepiece like it -- neatly using up my last set of hackshanks! -- but proving my ideas of decoration. So what if they don't do this in real life?! That's what models are for -- to explore with. I'm afraid the color of the two interweaves is a bit light: one is really dark blue; the other is turquoise-teal-blue, (not light green). See Amador's further below on this page.
While 2007 was the Year of the Bosal for me, 2008 may well be the Year of the Mecate. This one is yet another improvement on what I thought was pretty good. Making the jump from 3 parts to 5 has been very challenging, but the basic problem of fatness was solved with this one, by making the floss strands smaller, 4/6 instead of 6/6. I feel that my 'recipe' still hasn't settled completely as even more ideas have leapt up since, but that's how it goes.
This is a whip made for a Lottery winner as a micro order. The whip is one of a handful of braided tack items that are small enough to be made quickly, yet are quite complex and perfectable in themselves. The class includes bosals and hobbles.
In my pursuit of making certain tack projects easier, and of documentation for future teaching use, I have put all the whip photos I could find together, regardless of when they were made; likewise their notes. A steady progress is revealed. After about the 8th or 10th time, the piece "solidifies" more or less, and starts to show distinct artistic style touches. This particular whip has a rust-colored handle and 2 brass ferrules instead of one there, as shown by English whips in my Smucker's Catalog - instead of white handles as I've made before.
This is Didi Hornberger's P6 Bridle, the Peruvian Paso bridle that goes with her Jaquima. Combine the two togther to create the traditional headgear for the Peruvian Paso outfit. Because this tack is so difficult to make -- model tack of this caliber takes an unbelievable amount of concentration -- I made such sets one part at a time, and thus have not had (and may not get!) the opportunity to see them together. I truly do not know when the saddle will get built, as the current waves of interest are centered on Western and Parade saddles!!
Notice the decorative stamping on the noseplate of the gamarilla ("nosepiece"). This is a first for me. In addition we used our new favorite button, the 5P3B with 2 rings in self color, for this bridle. It makes a very agreeable tube-shaped button of medium length, just right for contrast with the smaller ring knots: better seen on the picture below.
This stunning closeup of Tissarn's Hackamore still deserves webspace. This is one of those times I wish I had more pages devoted to recent work... The Sneak Peeks is the place for overflow. The horse is a one-of-a-kind Etch job, made from a Schylling Gingersnap. The noseband of the hackamore was braided from very thin leather lace; it has a painted rawhide (real rawhide) core. Amoung the experiments that succeeded on this piece are the Fan buttons, with their chevrons pointing around the short axis, and the two kinds of silver beads. It's very useful for such pieces to stay in the hands of the tackmaker, for they inspire and guide future pieces. Unfortunately,'own pieces' are also quite expensive. This hackamore was finished 0801.16 and was inspired by J. Buxton's order of January 2007.