Back in July I published a blog post about Breyer's 75th Anniversary display in the Kentucky Horse Park's Museum of the American Saddlebred. Ever since then I've been meaning to blog about the striking silver Parade saddle contained in that display. I'm almost out of time!! -- the 75th year will be over in less than a month. Well,... better late than .... you know.
This saddle is one of my oldest silver sets. It has a long and interesting history. Its story can be divided into 3 stages, with a fourth for this year's display. Meanwhile here is a link to that July post: 75th at the American Saddlebred Museum
The first and oldest stage began in April of 1983 [the 1982 of the museum is wrong], meaning this saddle is 42 years old,... older than my marriage, if y' can believe it! In 1983 I'd been operating the TSII as a mail-order business for 5 years, long enough to get some of the kinks out. This painted-silver piece was for a fast-becoming-important customer of mine, an artist in her own right. It was the second silver Parade set she'd ordered from me; the first, TSII #10, had been ordered in March of the same year. Repeat customer! How valuable they were! As was the custom of extremely kind customers who were photographers in the era of photo showing, she sent me a picture of her completed entry. This is *Opium, an Amarna r/r/h. Yes: it was Elizabeth Bouras who became one of my 3 most important and influential early patrons and supporters.
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| Photo by Amarna / Bouras |
This photograph is still in my Red Scrapbook for the first 15 years of TSII Silver Parade sets. The bit was by Sue Rowe of Sojurner Studios.
The second stage for #12 came circa 1988-1989 when, undoubtedly for reasons of artistic expression and development, Paula O'Keefe decided to decorate the set. She "tarted it up" with black backgrounding and red jewel dots.
I have to admit the black made for a more striking set.
Nine years later, in 1997, for whatever reason (I do not remember the circumstances), on March 12, the set came back into my hands. The goal was a complete rebuild, restoration and re-do with silver tape. This job was one of my first, if not the first, restorations of a TSII saddle. Number 12 was fourteen years old (14) at the time, and silver tape technology had swept away the earlier silver paint ideas.
(I just want to say, at this point, that silver paint should not be dismissed out of hand. It is one of the longest-lasting, and easiest, technologies we have for silver on model tack. It can be easily renewed and protects things well.)
And so #12 reached its third stage. It took me almost a month to redo the whole set. I remember cleaning and polishing the bridle. It had an elegant simplicity of the sort I had been looking for, in that year of working towards the publication of my first book, Guide to Making Model Horse Tack [1998]. I was trying to describe the concept of design within your skill level, not making things too hard for beginners, but showing how beautiful and harmoniously detailed simple tack could be. This bridle was an awesome example of that concept, straight from my earlier self.
The page below is from my Red Scrapbook. The writing is transcribed below.
"The first life began in April of 1983. The only photo I have may be seen in the Red Parade Scrapbook. No red spots; solid silver taps, drapes, breastcollar & fender; silver pommel; no hip drops. It was the third Traditional size Parade set ever made w/ the [diamond] stamp; and the second TSII saddle for the same customer, Liz Bouras. Original purchase price: $75.00.
"The second life began in 1988-9 when Paula O'Keefe added the red dots and other black markings, seen here. Bit by Sue Rowe, c. 1983.
"The third life began March 12, 1997. Extensive notes, as well as photos, were taken. See N.A. Notebook IV 9703.12 - 9704.03. Twenty-seven pages -- surely a record, even if they are smal pages! I chose to keep Paula's idea of black background with diamonds, but the red dots had to go. Completely silver taped, fenders raised, seat darted, new reins, new blanket, new hip drops. Total hours: 30.7 3 Weeks & 1 Day.
"To silver-tape old painted sets ike this, first I scratchoff the paint w/ a knife. Use Scotch tape to lift more off. Black Dye & Edge Dye areas. Cut silver tape to fit, stamp it down w/ sam stamp used 14 years ago. Cut off excess, smoothe edges. Finally, paint with a glue solution, to help prevent lift. ALL THIS is only for the solid silver areas!"
"The goal is to retain as much as possible of the spiritual and physical old saddle, while also incorporating modern improvements that 1) are possible, 2) have proven their worth, such as liners, single neckstrap, rotating ring in reins etc. 3) do not compromise the saddle as a whole, but rather enhance it and prolong its life. Some might say I'm ruining history. To them I say Look at Notre Dame. & I am assiduously documenting everything. Who better to make these decisions than myself? -- N.A. Notebook IV"
This last rather self-centered and confusing paragraph, I'm afraid, tried to defend against attacks that were never made. The reference to Notre Dame reflects, I think, my reading about this famous church, and how it continually evolved over time, being constantly under repair! In any case, I went on to restore something approaching a quarter of the 100 or so TSII silver Parade saddles that exist; so I cannot've had too many qualms about it.
Three years later, in 2000, I took pictures of the restored #12 on this chestnut PAS. The shot can still be seen on my website.
It is not clear to me how the saddle landed back in my hands. Perhaps I made something for the Bourasi and they paid me for it. What is clear is that for the next 25 years, TSII #12 sat on my saddle rack, under the plastic sheeting, and watched while my tack collection slowly grew along with my skill. I probably put it to use now and then, but I'm not remembering anything much about that.
For the record, the lowest (4th) pole holds my 4 Terry Newberrys, rightmost.
Fourth stage. When Breyer contacted me in June of this year, 2025, I had about 8 silver parade saddles on hand: the 5 shown above, one miserable painted one in a bag (a wreck), TSII #309 prism tape Canadian on a horse on the shelves, and my precious Carol Howard silver set on a Carol Howard resincast. Most of this number were old painted ones. TSII #23, the one on the second pole down above, might have qualified for their purposes, but its jewels, in the centers of the medallions, had all corroded into blackness and were falling out. A lot of repair would be called for! The best and brightest, TSII #400, my own Rainbow Brilliance prism set, was simply too loud and colorful for the job. That left #12.
Amazing how a 40+ year old saddle could still be used,... Take note ye, how good tack lasts and lasts!
If you managed to get into the Museum, let me know whether you enjoyed the display.
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So what's next? Blogwise, it's congas and cavalcades if it's not silver Parades. Tackwise it's definitely silver Parades! But, in fact, it's probably gotta be Christmas letters.
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