Draft Harness Resto: Parade Finish

 

The fourth and final post of the 1984 Draft Pair Harness restoration is all about how much fun I had August 22.  It's been ages since I set up a parade on the front sidewalk.  Usually only my NaMoPaiMo ponies get shot there;  but every now and then, over the years, I have an excuse to trot out more.  At the end of this post I'll slip in a pic of the TSII Canadian 8-Hitch (23 years ago), and you all can see that this is not the first time Pirate and Her Majesty's Gift have been in harness.

To begin, here's a series of shots of the completed harnesses on the Clyde pair with my TSII Hitch Wagon.  The wagon was made by Dick Eighmey, the go-to vehicle maker of the model horse hobby in the 1990s.    

At first I put the black horse on the side of the viewer.  I guess I was tired of Her Majesty stealing the show (yes, mine is female).  The frontal view (below) would not, of course, be possible for a typical parade watcher;  but it does transition from 'coming towards' to 'going away.'  The boys, Bo and Luke (dressed by Kim Jacobs), don't look all that steady,... heaven knows what they do during the long years in storage,...

 

 

Here we get our first glimpses of the dogs.  There are always dogs who ride in the wagon.  Two Breyer canines and the Hartland Bullet are my lot for passengers today.  

So much for orientation!  Closing in on the harnesses and swapping direction of travel 180 degrees,

 giving in to the exoticism of long-leaf giant Lilies and the lure of gold, 

 we'll show one more shot of the restored harnesses.  For reference, here's a list of the related posts:

Restoring a Draft Pair Harness

Draft Harness Resto: Backpads

Draft Harness Resto: Breechings

 And then it's off to the parade with a completely different question:

"Who just happens to be tacked up right now?"

 I'm not sure now why I felt the pair had to be broken up and only one be hitched to a cart.  I guess I thought all those pix of the hitch wagon were enough, and wanted to give others a chance.  In any event I pulled out my Mel Reigsecker Draft Cart (also acquired in the 90s) and put Her Majesty's Gift to it.  I pinched a pair of shaft carriers from my Red Hungarian Tandem to do the job.  Naturally, the HR Jack Russel had to get in on the act.  His near hind leg is broken off but you'd never know it.

 By definition, a parade involves more than one entry.  That is why the question, Who happens to be tacked up right now?  I'd used up all my oomph harnessing drafters, I didn't have much more to spend.  However the herd has evolved to a condition where at least a few horses would be tacked up at any given time.  What luck:  There were three available.

 A curiously haunting collection was the result.  In fact I have made only one of these 3 outfits.  The central parade set, on the Appaloosa, is TSII #309, originally made for a Canadian customer in 1991 and later bought back.  

Can you spot the moose on the chest?

 The lead horse, beautiful Minyalucca (Minuet sculpted by Kathy Moody and painted by Elizabeth Bouras and Susan Bensema Young) is wearing my only Heather Moreton saddle, the Silver Acorn set.

 And the trailing horse, my Seurat/Sorpresa, is carrying the So-called Russian parade saddle.  He just never took it off after its last post.  I don't blame him!

You are probably seeing what is so clearly missing.  It dawned on me eventually.  Duh!  Like Anne Field says, Everybody needs dolls!  So this is my Field of Dolls example.  Another duh, she needs a friend or sister or companion or fellow stable girl or,... fill in the blank,...

Also eventually, it dawned on me that a standing horse in the middle of a parade means some kind of trouble.  (Lameness perhaps?)  So I took Chalif down and stood her by her horse.  I thought she should be looking sidewise, into the (imaginary) crowd, alert for trouble.  So is the Jack Russell.  At the same time I thought I'd be sneaky and get in a suggestion of Sorpresa but cut off his rider.  I know, I know:  forty-eight years of fanatical concentration on model parade saddles and not a single parade rider doll,...

 This is the last, and probably best, sidewalk parade shot.  I got 'suggestions' of 2 horses and 2 actual dolls.

 Now, at the end, I can share this other amazing sight.  Back in 2003 I had the opportunity to put Ivy Olensky's Canadian 8 on my own 6 dapple grey Clydesdales.  Of course I needed 2 more Clydes.  The page is on my TSII website under Harness.  Here's a link:  Olensky Canadian 8 Hitch.

And on that note: What's next for the TSII?  I need to get back to TSII #458, the Fire Horse Parade Saddle, while it's still the Year of the Fire Horse (!).  But to transition to so intense a piece, after my happy foray these last few days with a bosal, is difficult.  Perhaps I could do the reins;  I envision black braided ones.  Yet I would also like to make progress on the now-4 other customers who have been waiting so patiently.  At least a small piece for someone else!  Focus on headgear for a while?  Honestly I don't know.  We'll just have to see what the muse reveals.