Global Horse Culture

Lattice Braids

The lovely blog Equine Ink has a cool post about Lattice Braids - a beautiful way to dress up a horse with a long mane. Check it out here.

The Baroque Horse Store

Some years ago I mentioned The Baroque Horse Store - an interesting online source for unusual tack, especially aimed at owners of Friesians and other baroque breeds. I've since noticed a huge increase in the number of products available there, and got in touch with Melissa, the owner, to ask her more about her business.

Circuses in American History

The Circus Historical Society is a great organization for those interested in the details of circus history. Their website has excellent research resources, and the organization holds an annual convention. Many members specialize in particular areas of circus history, and some are active in modern circuses. 

There are some interesting articles on the site (about all aspects of circus history, not just horses). One discusses earlier styles of horse act, including dramas acted out by people on horseback, or "scenic" riders who posed in costume to depict famous characters or well-known scenes from myth and legend while standing on horseback. Later, fast-paced action became more appealing to audiences than these earlier forms.

This Wiki page has a small collection of photos of circus horse acts, both modern and historic. Many of the photos are old ones from the German federal archive.

The poster shown above is from the New York Public library digital archives. Click on it to visit the original page and see a larger version.

Spurs

Equine Ink has an interesting recent post about the different styles of spurs and their history. Take a look!

Do-it-yourself tack

This horse in rural Brazil, in a mountainous area inland from São Paulo,  is wearing tack that is about ninety-percent handmade. Store-bought tack is not affordable to many rural folks, and many of them rely on horses or mules for getting around, so it is not uncommon for people to make their own tack from whatever parts and pieces they can find. Nino, the gentleman who owns this horse, made nearly everything you see himself. Like others in the area, he even does his own shoeing and doctoring (more on that later).

I thought the ornament on the saddle bags was a nice touch, and the front string girth - made from collected strands of green baling twine - was a creative solution (it has now been replaced by a US-made Western-style wool string girth, which I sent to him as thanks for showing us his horses and farm). The stirrups are also interesting. I didn't get a close-up photo, but they are originally English-style "safety stirrups" given to him by a visitor; he then used a decorative brass chain to fill in the gap where the rubber band had been. 

The bridle, which you can see more closely below, combines hair-on cowhide, brass rings from old parade gear, braided rawhide and manufactured cotton rope.

Standing out in a crowd

Jesse and her Kiger Mustang, Fox, caught my eye at a dressage schooling show today. Fox was wearing this awesome custom leather halter. Jessie said she got it from Hell Creek Custom Leather.

Isn't he adorable? They did a nice dressage test, too.

ETA: I discovered later that Jesse does some very cute horse-themed metalwork. You can see some of her art and how she makes it on her flickr photostream.

  

Creative Saddle Pads

A friend tipped me off to this neat source of colorful saddle pads. Though dressage saddle pads are typically made of white quilted cotton, Dark Horse Farm Designs uses patterned fabrics, special trim, even crystals and tassels, to offer more fun looks. There are all-purpose style pads and Western style pads (made from vintage fabrics), too. Take a peek!

Thanks, Bonnie!

Extremely Cool Beadwork

Dario over at Dario's Caballeros pointed me to Angela Swedberg's blog. Wow! Angela's profession and hobby is restoring and re-creating Plain's Indian beadwork, horse trappings and other ornamented clothing and gear. She does an astonishing job. Her work is stunning. Her blog is full of beautiful photos showing original items and her reproductions. Keep up the amazing work, Angela!

Horses in Russian Art

Horses in Russian Art is a fantastic book - one of my favorite horse art books. It is pretty much nothing but pictures. The wide variety of paintings, sculptures, and even old photos include scenes from battle, horses in harness, rural and farm horses, and even a whole set of illustrations of the finest horses at the old stud farms. The art includes a lot from the 19th century, but also some more modern paintings.

It's really neat to see the Russian breeds, traditional tack, and old riding costumes. I'd highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Russian or old Soviet breeds, historic tack and costumes, or horse art in general.

More great old saddles!

Riding Aside has some great new posts featuring historic saddles and riding habits. I love old tack and riding gear.