The KH2B Hackamore

This post is all about one piece of headgear, soon to be sold.... plus there's a sneak peek of another auction set at the bottom, BreyerFest bound.  As of this writing I'm still figuring out how to offer the hackamore!  I finished the KH2B in Colorado, and we'll see it here on many different sizes and colors of horses.  As per my previous post, it has a sister hackamore, and both were inspired by a much older piece.  I've named them all King's Herd's hackamores, so an appropriate title for this post could've been We Three Kings.  : )  The last pic shows all three.

KH2B stands for King's Herd's the second, B -- not "B" for second-finished (although it was completed well after my NaMoTackMo piece, KH2J) -- but "B" for "Brasenose."   In referring to these two new hackamores, I fell back on initials (Rio Rondo inspired no doubt) and my own practice of naming the piece after the horse it is most identified with. This happens whether I built it off that model or whether that model fell in love with it and insisted on wearing it the most.  (You know they do this.)  "J" stands for Jezail/Kaalee.

Readers of this blog will know this horse, Brasenose (above).  He was much in evidence when I needed to name these two pieces and the day with Jennifer pretty much settled it.  Braymere Saddlery.   He gives his name to this hackamore, but that does not mean it fits him perfectly.
(By the way he just invented this lay-down wood-background shot, which I wish I'd thought of earlier.)

This hackamore has character!  It was relatively simple to design buttons for the cheek - I took my cue from the red, and dk brown & rawhide will always be in style - and the silver beads are Hill Tribes. The curbstrap's tassel is dewaxed sinew, a trick I learned from Regine N. of Germany.  The glory of that beautiful braided-sinew curbstrap -- the most adjustable I've ever made, an inspired design that came to me out of nowhere -- is somewhat offset by the fixed length of the nosepiece.  In most of these pix the curb is on the 'middle' setting, and most muzzles are accommodated just fine.  But take a look:

See how the shank is higher than the mouth?  I'm not sure that's quite what's wanted.  (It could be a poorly-positioned shot.)  This Victrix has a big head and a fair-size muzzle.  Let's try another resincast:  Morgen Kilbourn's Maxixe [p. Mack-SEE-shay].

Oh much better!
This is a good piece for, shall we say, Not-Giant model horses?!
While we're on the subject of that curb, here's a close-up of the adjustment process.  (Another shot is in the previous post.)

The button and tassel must be inserted through one of the three slots, or slits, in its end.  I know the pic doesn't look like it, but both plier jaws are indeed through the second or middle slit.  The braided-thread keepers, or sliders, do indeed slide.  The nice thing about braided-sinew in tack is that it slides; it can be adjusted with gentle pressure.  What to do with the curb's end when you're using the smallest setting?  In this case I found I could tuck it into the curb and run the keeper up tighter to hold things.  The shot below shows this.

Incidentally this pony was the only red-colored horse in my photo shoot -- yet he came out looking just about the best of all.  He also is distinguished by being the only one shot wearing this hackamore with its very long crownstrap end tucked up in the cheekstrap, (through the connector actually), solving every problem.  "It can be done."

The beautiful headstall, with its fixed silver crownstrap-tip and its easy-sliding buckle (a cast Rio Rondo which I had nickel-plated), contains a rather unusual One-Ear slit.   Originally this was intended as a braided version of the lace headstall of the old King's Herd's hackamore.  I did try to make all 3 hackamores the same size!  But that slit wound up starting quite high on the head.  It appears to fit only the ears of the longest, largest heads.  Here's Victrix looking uncomfy:

And Jezail/Kaalee looking better ...  after all, she is the largest model in my photo-shoot.

The curb is set at its largest for this black mare's nose.

The KH2B manages to fit her, but only if you feel like racing, --- crouching low over her withers and leaning way forward!!  In other words the reins really are almost too short for so large a horse.  Again, they were made to exactly match the original old hackamore which I swear fit every horse in my herd.  I guess the average Trad was smaller back then.

The reins are on snaphooks for this very reason:  they can be easily detached.

Bottom line?  The best model for this hackamore appears to me to be the ISH and its brothers-in-size, such as the Lonesome Glory.

And never mind the one ear.  Just say it helps the crown lie flatter on the poll:  less pressure on sensitive nerves...  : )

This piece represents what I could put out between NaMoTackMo and our 2-month (May, June) summer sojourn to Colorado, during which not much could be made.  YES, it is for sale (auction).  I need to choose a method and am open to suggestions. 

                                       BENEFIT AUCTION AT BREYERFEST!!

Due to the generosity of a friend we also have an entire braided bridle and bc set up for auction!!  This will be the Sue Peet set, a curb bridle with 2 pairs of reins and matching breastcollar, made in 2009 for the NAN Auction.  Here are some pix from the deep files:

Romal reins and matching breastcollar are part of this magnificent example of miniature braidwork:

This set, which was made in my heyday!! and represents some of my best work, will be at auction in person at BreyerFest.  Find me with my clipboard and enter a bid!  Room 610.  About this one there's no question: it's to benefit Sue Peet.  This one-time performance shower and tack collector is struggling with major medical issues.  Ninety percent of the sale price goes to her.

We have been making model horse tack since 1979 with the goal of striking the perfect balance between detailed authenticity and durable working playability.  There is a happy medium!

Left to right:  King's Herd's Hackamore c. 1984,   KH2J  2018,   KH2B  2018.

I hope to have more pieces for sale later in the year.  I still have hopes of working on my braid book, with attendant pieces; I also want to re-create the bosal hack & hobbles set I saw on the trail this summer.  In addition there are a couple of saddles in the pipeline.  Announcements will be here and via FaceBoook under Timaru Star II Model Tack.  See also our own Tack Sales Info page on our website.  Timaru Star II.

Happy Bidding and Thank You!