Something you'll come across on occasion in parts of Brazil (I've seen it mostly in the state of São Paulo) is parade tack made of brass rings. Here is an example of a breast collar, being shown to me by a student at the Universidade do Cavalo, in Sorocaba:
Here is the matching bridle for this set:
Here's an old home-made set, being shown to me (along with some other bridles and gear) by a rural man named Nino, who lives in the mountains outside of the city of São Paulo:
And here's a close up of the breast collar, which has little decorative "petals" of leather hanging off some of the rings. This breast collar was quite heavy, more so that you would expect looking at it:
And here is a detail of how the pieces are put together:
This sort of tack is heavy, as I said, and predominantly used for parades and festivals. A popular kind of festival where it might be worn is called a Romaria. Romarias are traditional pilgrimages held on Catholic Saints' days, where people gather and ride some distance to a particular church. Similar pilgrimages on foot and horseback are also held in Catholic parts of Europe. (This blog has photos from one in Portugal.)
Here is a beautiful photo of a horse wearing ring tack during a Romaria in Itu, in the state of São Paulo. Photo by Carlos Cabral on flickr:
Comments