His registered name is Heaven and Earth and let me say - it fits him. He is an ANGEL!! His barn name is Oliver...but Oliver does not have a good hair gene! Most Saddlebreds do have great hair - able to grow tails that drag the ground for miles if the owner takes good care of them. Oliver however, just cannot seem to grow a long mane or tail..so we are going to give him a bit of help! I used to own a gelding named Ivan. Here is a picture of him when he was just 3 or 4 with my friend Janie riding.
Ivan was a wonderful teacher and a fun show horse for me...but Ivan foundered. I have been through that before with another horse and Ivan did survive his incident, but when it happened, I knew he was going to be out of the show ring for at least a year and maybe much longer. I loved Ivan and did not care if I could never show him again...and I nursed him back to health. I decided though to cut off his long tail since he was going to be turned out into the pasture for so long. At the time I cut it, his tail drug the ground about 12 inches.As it turns out, Ivan's tail is a close enough match to Oliver's that I can tie it in for horse shows. In order to do that though, the hair must be sewn together into a 'switch'. That way it will last a very long time. I am sending it off today to a man who I have heard from many people - does an exceptional job. It will cost me $100.00. If I was in the market to buy a switch and I did not own the horse hair, it could cost me $1000.00 depending on the length of the hair!!!!
If anyone is interested, the guy who is making the switch for me is:
Garland Presswood
27 Staley Ave.
Cookville, TN. 38501
2 comments:
Remember horse hair also makes excellent jewelry, which I am very good at. I've made an extension once too.
$1000 for a tail? Wow, the prices must have really changed since I've been out of the show ring.. We never spent that much on a switch - but of course I showed Apps, so the tail length was a bit shorter. Glad you were able to save your horse, and your budget!
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