My First Troika

 Ever since NaMoPaiMo I've been meaning to do a post on my now-a-troika of Russian horses.  I can't believe how behind I am -- there is snow on the ground in these pictures! -- but I'm in the mood for catching up.  This trio will be a good introduction for our BreyerFest tack raffle!

Of course the story starts in 2018 with Brasenose, my first NMPM horse.    Brasenose Layer 11: Finished  His fabulous emerald costume was completed more than two years later, in May of 2019:  AT2 -- Brasenose's breastcollar finished   Marimba the Perlino mare was done in 2020  Marimba 13 Finished, and Orlik the Red Roan Trotter was done this year, in February of 2021.

Honestly (I know it is hard to believe) it wasn't until I put the three horses together that I realized what I had done.  I had only wanted to try a pearlescent red roan.  In my choice to purchase and paint Orlik the color I did, I had created a shaded and poised Troika. 

All three horses were sculpted by Margarita Malova of Bologoye, Russia.  Their poses naturally lent themselves to a perfectly aligned conga.

The way Marimba's head is turned outwards; the height of Brasenose; their ear positions (!); and of course their colors, all contributed to the flow.  Even their socks are balanced across the corners of the trio!

I have felt that Brasenose's socks make his front legs look somewhat bent.  If the horses are tippy in the above shot, it's because they really are:  all three of them are relatively narrowbase.  You just have to live with it.  Orlik, in the center, with his calm demeanor and solid square stance, is a support for both.

I had no idea of a vehicle or harness until I took these pictures.  Even now I am conscious of the tremendous distance such a dream would have to travel in order to emerge into reality.  More than most of my tack dreams, this one would be hard to do.  However, it has the right feel to it, and certainly, since it involves harness, it would fit in with my current area of concentration, harness.

The deck railing is not really wide enough for me to shoot them head-on or tail-on. 

Here we do have room, on the dining table, for a driving position view.  The tiny glint of gold on the right is Ambolena, daughter of Marimba; and the Rocket/Alzucar was also part of the shoot that day.

The dream of a troika for these most deserving horses is delayed, on one side, by the realization of how busy my life is.  I've got a commitment to an order for a customer and only a few hours a week, it seems, to meet it.  Most of all I've the need to pursue the next braid book and get back to braidwork, my true first love.  The dream is spurred, on the other side, by the knowledge that Margarita is working on an action sculpture of 3 Trad horses for a troika; and by my love of exotic harness, Tekes and Orlov Trotters, for whom I now have great respect.  I've even got mouse fur for a coat for the driver.  All model projects go through this balancing process.  Only time will determine who wins.