How To Preserve Horse Hair

From Hair To Eternity

Past admin on May 22, 2018

Source: Text by Katie Navarra • Photos past Lou Fiddling, Erica Avratin & Aimee Cain

Jewelry designers use strands of hair to help equus caballus lovers create keepsakes to commemorate a lost friend or special achievement.

Somewhere in a drawer in the house or on a shelf in the barn you probable have a bundle of pilus saved from a cherished horse that you no longer own. Whether the pilus was lovingly saved afterwards the horse's death or before the equus caballus was sold, keeping that portion of hair preserves the special bond you shared. Designers as passionate nearly horses as the clients they serve offering hand-crafted keepsakes that brings the locks out of the shadows to accolade the horse'southward memory.

Nearly oftentimes, the horse pilus is cut afterwards a horse'southward decease. Braiding horse hair into key chains, bracelets and other keepsakes enabled Pennsylvania artist Aimee Cain who started Equine Keepsakes to grieve the loss of her own horse, Pretty Boy who passed abroad unexpectedly. Before his death, she was unaware these items were pop. A friend suggested she make a horse hair bracelet because Cain was already a skilled crafter.

"That bracelet was all that I had left of my precious boy, and information technology meant more to me than words could e'er explain," she said. "I knew then that I wanted to brainstorm designing horse hair jewelry, even if to just create i to accolade my sweet boy."

Equus caballus hair accessories are nothing new to Lou Niggling who has been involved with the horse industry for more than three decades. When she was showing in the 1980s she made her own horse hair pins for show shirts. Then when Carol Harris lost Rugged Distraction in 2003, Petty offered to make a piece of jewelry for her. Harris and Piffling are neighbors and close friends Harris encouraged her to practise the same for others. Over the by xiv years she has plant a significant demand for the items.

"The biggest reward is when people are comforted by the piece I've created for them," she said.

Not every piece symbolizes a horse'southward passing. Horse hair accessories are besides worn daily to gloat a special partnership with a horse or to keep a horse that is sold close to one's heart. Piddling wears bracelets made from the tail hair of A Certain Melody (Chloe) and Certain Beau Purple (Eddie) ii foals by of her sometime stallion Certain Potential. Both were built-in on the farm and hold a special place in her heart.

"I accept friends who accept nice golden and diamond jewelry they never vesture, only they wear their horse hair jewelry every day," she added.

Through horse hair jewelry, Erica Avratin a Bridgewater, Massachusetts engineer past day and designer by night, has discovered the fulfillment of a business concern that satisfies customers and her own aspirations at the same time. In 2011, she faced meaning life changes. She knew she needed to proceed her horses to aid her through those challenges. She too needed an boosted

source of income to support the horses. Her equus caballus hair jewelry business organization, The Horsehair Studio buoyed her spirits and enabled her to keep the horses.

"Creating something beautiful and meaningful for other people also helped me through a hard time in my life," she said. "Information technology's besides rewarding to do something for others that they tin can't exercise themselves."

How much hair is needed?

The next time you cutting a lock of hair, even if you don't accept current plans for a keepsake, remember that the more you keep, the easier information technology volition be to have a memento created if you change your mind down the route. Smaller pieces like a band or fundamental chain won't demand as much equally a necklace or bracelet, but saving an acceptable corporeality allows for flexibility. Tail hair is more durable than the mane and preferred although mane hair can be used if necessary.

When clients have an opportunity to plan for a piece, Petty asks for 28 inches of tail pilus virtually the width of a client's little finger whereas Avratin works with hair that is pencil width in size. Double stranded items need two pencil widths. She prefers the pilus is at least fifteen-16 inches long, simply she admits she has worked with a lot less.

"Sometimes you have to get clever to make a little pilus get a long way," Avratin said. "The best hair is higher up in the tail because as it grows out it becomes thinner. When people send as much pilus as they can, I can option out the all-time hairs."

Horse's pilus similar people'southward hair bleaches in the sun. Cain explained that this is important for the customer to know when they take a horse with sorrel or anecdote hair to avoid defoliation or thwarting when the terminal product arrives.

"This hair oft looks reddish on the outside, where it has been exposed to the sun," she said. "The longest strands are underneath are frequently required for braided designs. These are non exposed to the sun often and are ofttimes a night brown or black tone with but minimal red highlights, if whatever."

Sanitizing and whitening are often included in the cost. Still, it's preferred that the hair is gently washed before being mailed for product. The sanitizing process does more than disinfect the hair and eliminate bacteria. Avratin uses the procedure as a mode to set the braids and soften the hair so that in that location are no sharp, pokey ends.

All three designers, with the customer's permission, save whatever excess pilus from a project. It tin can be kept on file for use in a future project past the same client and/or donated to be available to others who may not have access to a horse of their ain.

The pattern process

Avratin, Cain and Niggling all begin the design process with the aforementioned materials – equus caballus hair and the customer's reasons for choosing a horsehair keepsake. Some clients submit notes and photographs with their order, which often conveys the circumstances behind the buy.

Despite start with nearly identical supplies, each designer brings a unique approach to their production process. In the end, the finished pieces are as different as the horses they were made to accolade. They regularly experiment with dissimilar braiding styles to create a look that is unique.

"Every tail is different," Avratin said. "The thickness, the consistency varies and to get a finished piece to look consistent is a real challenge."

The devil is in the details, she said. Her engineering science background encourages an approach that considers the tiniest of details, such as counting every single hair, she said. When she encountered difficulty sourcing silvery stop caps and beads, she fabricated my own and now has others manufactured with those molds.

Petty agreed that although projects may start based on a blueprint she's already created, it quickly evolves into a process that requires a new process. Based on the customer'south order she adds beading to lucifer a stable's colors or an exhibitors evidence outfit. Several years ago, she learned to silversmith and tin can sculpt a horse's name onto beads included in a bracelet or necklace.

"Silversmithing is time intensive. Different medals crave different temperatures, if they're too hot, they'll melt, if they're not hot enough the materials won't solder," she said. ""Fitting the piece to the person size and mode tin can sometimes be challenging."

The vast majority of orders are made using the hair from a client'due south electric current or previous equus caballus. However, Cain offers the option of using hair from donors who are willing to share a piece of their middle horse with equestrians effectually the globe.

"Each social club is manus crafted with care, including perfectionist level attention to quality and durability, merely as if I were creating it to honor my own beloved horse," she said.

Jubilant the bond

Horses behave their owners through the good times and the bad, the triumphs and the challenges. The bail between a equus caballus and rider is difficult to put in words, however one that is cardinal to the equestrian's equus caballus life. When information technology'southward time for a equus caballus to move on, either to greener pastures or a new home, a horse hair keepsake celebrates that connection.

"The bail people share with their horse is so important," Cain said. "Sadly, many of my clients have suffered tragic loss and are requesting memorial pieces of their dear equine friend. Other times, a story is one of triumph from a World Bear witness win, kickoff identify Kentucky Derby finish, or valiant recovery of a rescue horse."

Horsehair doesn't elapse or degrade then even afterward years of saving a chunk of hair can be used to create a ring, a bracelet, a necklace, a key chain and more in remembrance of a horse long gone.

"When people have been saving tail hair from a very special horse that's been deceased for 20 years and see my site and say that'south what I've been waiting for, that'south incredibly rewarding," Arvatin said.

In full general horses accept a knack of bringing people together in unexpected ways. Even simply their hair provides the opportunity to meet horsemen and women from all walks of life.

"This is a nice way for me to meet people of all disciplines," Petty said. "I've made pieces to award bear witness horses, trick horses and minis. I've even used tail hair from a giraffe and an elephant for friends who owned these animals."