Heavy horse sized driving bridles

[philg9]

This is a recent comission I completed recently.  Four traditional heavy horse style driving bridles for a team of Shire horses here in the UK.  These are show standard bridles with patent leather winkers and rolled leather winker stays, raised front noseband and brass clincher browbands. It's not often 4 in one order comes in these days, it's usually single or for a pair so was particularly pleased to then hang the 4 up for a photo shoot. I had to crop this picture to down size it to be able to load it here.

The stitchng on the winkers and the face piece front is done at 8 to inch,   the rest is 7 to the inch using traditional waxed linen thread.

Edited April 2, 2020 by philg9

[Scoutmom103]

Those are Beautiful.  Would love to see a pic of them on the Clients team.

 

[Smartee]

Beautiful!  I'd love to see them on the team!

[jcuk]

Really nice work as i have said not enough of this type of work is shown here, i bet the customer will very over the world with those bridles.

 

Thanks for showing

JCUK

[rodneywt1180b]

Beautiful work and I'm another one who would love to see them on the horses.

 

[battlemunky]

Them horses are gonna feel all gussied up! Another great lot of work!

[motocouture]

Gorgeous work!

[philg9]

I will reply to above posts as one rather than individual posts as the same question is asked.  Firstly thankyou for your kind words.  As we are in corona lock down and so far, a lot of the summer horse shows and events have been cancelled,  these bridles will not be seen out on the horses but no doubt the customer may well put the team together at home at some point so if I do get a pic some time this year I will be sure to add it here. The bridles have been collected so I have to wait now to even see them on.  I would imagine bridles of this style are not seen much in the U.S.A. The bridles I see from over the pond are different in the way they are made and fit on the horses.  So for now here is a picture of another of the same style bridle I made as part of a pairs set so you can see what they look like on a horse, this one being a grey Shire horse.  I had to crop it to get it down to size.

Edited April 3, 2020 by philg9

[philg9]

And this picture is one half of the patent leather pairs show set that goes with the above bridle.

[philg9]

This pic show the raised bevelled breeching seat and the box loop tugs and trace carrier parts form the above set waiting to be sewn into the breeching seat.

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by philg9

[philg9]

This pic is the above pairs set on the horses being driven at show in the traditional English brewery turn out style.

[Ferryman]

Great work Phil

My grandfather used to plough with horse in Kent back in the day.

May I ask where in the UK you are located

[Scoutmom103]

Those look wonderful on the pair.  What a beautiful Harness set.

 

[philg9]

20 hours ago, Ferryman said:

Great work Phil

My grandfather used to plough with horse in Kent back in the day.

May I ask where in the UK you are located

Cheers Ferryman,     thankfully there is still a strong ploughing fraternity in the UK,  mostly at ploughing matches and Demo's at working days but there are still folk out there who plough,  seed and crop land with horses but sadly we are reaching the last generation of plough men and women who worked the land when working horses were a common sigjht on most farms.

I am based and work out of North Essex of which East Anglia is still a strong hold for heavy horses. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by philg9

[rodneywt1180b]

Thanks for the additional pictures!  You do some truly beautiful work!

[Bert51]

I remember my father using horses when I was young, I used to sit and watch him all day and I can still sit and watch them work today, shame we do not see them like we used to in Australia.

I know there is still some working, but not like they used to be in my area.

Bert.

[philg9]

On 4/5/2020 at 1:32 AM, Bert51 said:

I remember my father using horses when I was young, I used to sit and watch him all day and I can still sit and watch them work today, shame we do not see them like we used to in Australia.

I know there is still some working, but not like they used to be in my area.

Bert.

That is a common story Bert, folk reminiscing about how they used see their Dad's and Grandads out working with the horses when they were young but dont see it now. It's always fond cherished memories. As you say, there are pockets where it still goes on as here in the UK with folk farmiing small holdings and small farms with horses but more often than not it is at ploughing matches and working shows which are still a traditional strong hold that is alive and well.  There is a strong heavy horse community in Australia, but again, its the showing and working weekends where they are seen out.  I have customers and freinds out there,  one set of freinds who emigrated out form the UK in recent years took their Shires out there and are running the same business as they did here in the UK doing weddings and tours with their heavies, they are doing really well as it's popular.

[Bert51]

What used to fascinate me as a kid was the bullock teams pulling big logs out of the bush, near our banana plantation, you could hear them coming for miles.

Bert.

[Smartee]

They show beautifully!  Thank you for sharing!

[zuludog]

I know next to nothing about horses and their leatherwork, but here's something that might interest you, and my apologies if you know it already

My Grandfather served in the British Army on the Western Front during WW1, when they still used a lot of horses. He said they had two sets of bits and other brassware. One would be in use on the horses and they would put the other set into a canvas bag with a shovelful of sand, and tie it across a wheel. As they travelled the brass would be tumbled and polished, and they would swap the sets every few days - even in wartime they were expected to keep up the standards

He also said that horses had one big advantage over lorries -- you could eat them

Edited April 6, 2020 by zuludog

[Neigh]

6 hours ago, zuludog said:

I know next to nothing about horses and their leatherwork, but here's something that might interest you, and my apologies if you know it already

My Grandfather served in the British Army on the Western Front during WW1, when they still used a lot of horses. He said they had two sets of bits and other brassware. One would be in use on the horses and they would put the other set into a canvas bag with a shovelful of sand, and tie it across a wheel. As they travelled the brass would be tumbled and polished, and they would swap the sets every few days - even in wartime they were expected to keep up the standards

He also said that horses had one big advantage over lorries -- you could eat them

That's a pretty awesome bit of info right there :p  I would love to get my boy ploughing one day, although just in competitions.   Need to find a bantam plough first though! :p

[zuludog]

Alright, I know this is OT, but you might like another tale about my Grandfather

When I was a boy word went round the village that a prisoner had escaped from the local jail. Police were touring the streets with a loudspeaker van, giving out the usual sort of warnings -

He's dangerous........stay at home.......do not approach him.......lock your doors

Next day me, Mum & Dad visited Grandma & Grandpa, and  Grandpa was in his back yard, sharpening the edge of his spade on a grindstone

This is a trick I learned in France, he said

[Grey Drakkon]

Spectacular work!  Thanks for posting pics of the team, too!