Lorrie's Mechanical Hackamore

 I give up.

Today we have a little lesson on the inadvisability of using an unpainted horse as a tack photography model.  Up til now I would've sworn the right thing to do is portray tack pieces against an unfinished horse.  Because, of course, that way there is no distraction!  Nothing else to look at!  The customer can use their own imaginations to fill in whatever color they want the horse...  You have only the tack to view, and it is front and center.

 An unpainted horse wearing tack is, at least for me, an unconscious gesture of frustration against the whole model hobby world which has chosen, oddly enough, to focus solely on the horse.  :)  Model tack, no matter how good it is, cannot compete with that supreme eye candy.  Model tack by itself is... boring, in so many people's eyes.
I have intentionally collected unpainted horses, and used them (so far) to good effect.  There's one in my last post.

(By the way, can anyone tell me WHY that post, the one on the TSII's NAN Auction pieces, is getting WAY more hits than any other post of mine??  What did I do...)

Apropos of Lorrie's Hackamore, this post is also about me giving up attempts to keep the TSII website and this blog separate.  Yes, right now there is a big exposition on this particular Hackamore up on my site, Timaru Star II.

 And these are some of the pictures.   My website has construction details and history of the piece.

When I went to photograph the Hackamore with its new roping reins, I started with the Ruffian.

Something wasn't quite right.  I was not falling-down-drunk delighted with the shoot.  Dare I say it...?  Boring....  Naturally, if the customer asks for a particular mold, the tackmaker is duty-bound to use it... but tack is, (or should be) adjustable... and what better way...
Who could bring this piece to life?

His name is Corsair.  I have plans for him.  This horse actually appeared to me in a dream.  He was featured on the cover of my next book.  I have always liked buckskins and duns.  In fact this particular release is unusual in that he has no white stockings and no white face.  In Breyer's world of white stockings, this was a huge relief.
Corsair is also my first horse to be on a stand, if you don't count Huckleberry Bey.  :)  For a person who so strongly focussed on "playability," this was a major advance for me, a concession on par with the Royal Family marrying a commoner.

Technically speaking, at this moment this hackamore has not been claimed.  It is one of the Nine (see my Tack Orders page for the significance of this).  If she doesn't want it or can't get it, and if 2 others of the Nine don't want it et al, it will go up for auction.

Thanks for reading, Enjoy!