I saw this halter go by on Model Horse Tack Space a week ago, and inexplicably fell in love. I've never learned how to tie this particular kind of rope halter (!), although I've always wanted to. I have only one other in that same style (but minus the muzzle braiding). I had never heard of this particular tackmaker (!) but I'm always on the lookout for up and coming braiders. I want to support them as well as collect cool pieces. I've also found I tend to collect more tack when I feel more frustrated or denied in the making of my own; and that has been the case lately.
Also, I'm experimenting with shorter blog posts. We'll just have to see how that turns out!
The seller had announced a sale date and time on Etsy. This fixed-date-&-time sale is the same approach used by Anna Helt and Mink Studios. I'm familiar with it. A good computer hookup and fast fingers is what's required. You have to know ahead of time which piece(s) you want. I went through 20 halters and had 3 choices picked out and ranked. As it turned out I snagged my 2nd choice. I like hot colors these days! 😁
The sale was January 10th. A mere 5 days later my halter showed up. I'm derned envious of these people's ability to drop ship or whatever you call those preprinted official mailing labels. I still don't have that for my own tack shop -- not after 47 years in business. This is probably because my tack output is so low. But I'm still jealous.
The only aspect of the transaction that could possibly be construed as 'went wrong' was that Etsy drew my funds out of the bank that stands behind my PayPal and not from my PayPal account itself, as I would've preferred. But that is not the fault of the seller. I need to change my settings, or rather, pay more attention.
The halter arrived arrayed upon the paper cut-out of a horse head. I was astounded at its beauty; it was elegantly simple in stiffness and utility. As it happened I had a much larger new horse standing by, and in the way of eager new models, he asked to try it on: "to test its adjustability." And it fit.
His is the largest head in my herd, outside of drafters and a 1:6 scale horse. Tying on the halter, I was delighted to discover the ends of the crown strap were fused together. This was immensely helpful. The halter's rope material was slightly stretchy, just enough to fit my enormous horse (he is the Stone Irish Draft). Of course the colors looked fantastic!
The cheek buttons appeared to be half hitches, tied and fused, or perhaps fused and tied, I can't quite tell. Later, with more intense use, the crown ends parted, but I promptly glued them together again -- that feature is much too useful to lose.
Another extremely minor issue was that the jaw strap wasn't quite symmetrically centered on the throatlatch. This was really only detectable on a huge horse, and could be rectified with some careful tying. I am so tickled with this new halter! Whether I can get my new horse, named Cookie Dough Fever, to let go of it is another matter!
Madison McComas of Chicki Charm, thank you so much for this fun piece. My new halter was sold as fitting Trads similar to Idocus / Snowman.
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What's next at the TSII? I'm trying to buckle down to nothing less than TSII #458, my own silver Parade saddle, based on the so-called Russian. I've got a few blog posts standing in line, and more tack orders after #458. Given the family trips, there won't be much tack left over before BreyerFest. If you want something from me, ask me then.
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