The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery

Today's post is a guest blogger piece by British hobbyist Jennifer Flippance. Enjoy!

The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery
by Jennifer Flippance

These photos are of the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery based in London. It’s been a purely ceremonial troop since 1947, when all the artillery was mechanised.
There are six horses to a gun limber with a diver for each pair riding the left-hand horse. I seem to recall the position on the rear horse was taken by the most experienced rider. Most of the time they’re controlling two horses in one hand with a whip in the other. They seem to use this to signal back to the riders behind what they’re about to do (e.g. change speed or direction).

The guns are 13-pound field guns. They date back to 1904 and were used extensively by horse artillery in the First World War. Each gun (which is on wheels) is also hitched to a limber (a two wheeled cart) in which the ammunition is stored.

When the guns were in use, the horses would be unhitched and taken about a mile away to safety. Then would come the call – prepare to limber up – and they race back, attach the horses and gallop away. The limbers are hitched with just a hook, so it just takes a few seconds.

The harness was designed with no girth, so if a horse was killed, it would simply fall out of the harness, allowing the others to continue.

The saddles are made by a company that still uses the original wooden seat forming blocks dating back to 1900. This is a Sergeant’s saddle horse.

The horses are colour coded! They are all bay, but each team is made up of horses of a similar shade – dark bay, mid bay, bright bay etc.

When the gun horses are fully trained, they have their mane permanently hogged. The officers' horses are taller and have long manes.

This is just the cutest horse!

Heading into the stables to be untacked.

Close up of the bridles.

A better look at the guns.

Here is a link to a video of the Musical Drive of The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery at Olympia 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTcXUnYuIq0

Thank you SO MUCH to Jennifer for sharing these wonderful pictures! They are absolutely lovely and I really enjoyed looking at them.

More on the pony saddle

It's finished!

Aren't those safety stirrups neat? They were made for me by my very talented friend Tiffany Purdy.

This saddle sports a couple new-to-me features that aren't noticeable at first glance. The first of these innovations is shown here on the panels. I'm not sure this kind of added detail is necessary since you can't see it when the saddle is in use. Still, it didn't take very long and it makes me happy. I expect this will become standard on my future saddles.

I also added a small knee roll to the front of the lower flap. I was worried this might make the upper flap bunch out and look messy, but those fears turned out to be groundless. I'll be repeating this experiment again, too.

Of course all the fancy features in the world don't mean a thing if the saddle doesn't fit. I always hold my breath a little bit as I get out a doll for the final fitting...

Phew--it fits! On to the bridle!

Couldn't resist!

You knew this was coming, right?I like this one even better.

(Sometimes I crack myself up...)

Almost wordless Wednesday

I saw this beaded saddle last month at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado. Usually I would have tried to get some information on a tack item as unusual as this one. However, I had four kids with me that day and there just wasn't much time for lingering. The people working the booth were busy, so I snapped a few pictures and that was that. I know absolutely nothing about this saddle except that it's pretty cool!

Continuing education

Years ago, a friend of mine went out of her way to show me a model horse saddle that she had just purchased. I took one look and immediately dismissed it. The workmanship was sloppy, the proportions weren't quite right, and even though I wasn't really making saddles at that time, I thought, "Well, I could make something better than that!"

Fran saw that I wasn't impressed and said "I know it's not wonderful but there are at least three good ideas on this saddle."

I looked again and, by golly, she was right. Closer inspection revealed a whole host of creative techniques and innovative ideas. Although I wasn't wow-ed by the finished product, I was able to glean valuable information by studying its construction.

That was a really valuable lesson. I love looking at other people's tack--good, bad and indifferent--and I am always on the lookout for the next good idea. Sometimes they come from the most surprising places!

Here's where I found my most recent good idea:Yep, that's Linda White's article on making an English saddle that was featured in the most recent issue of Model Horse Performance.

Now, I know how to make an English saddle, but in the interest of continuing education I read the article in its entirety. I was struck by the fact that Linda makes the seat section of her saddles first and then moves on to the flaps. I've always done it the other way around, and it occurred to me that Linda's order has merit. I often run into problems when I try to mesh a finished seat section to a finished flap section, particularly when I am working with a new pattern. Perhaps I should make the seat section first and then build the flap section around that? I decided it was worth trying.

Six hours later, my work desk is a disaster:but I have this to show for my efforts:
Long story short--the new order worked fabulously! In fact, it turned out to be a huge time saver. My original pattern for the flaps didn't fit the completed seat at all. Had I cut and detailed the flaps first, I would have undoubtedly had to go back and start from scratch.

Like all good ideas, this one seems totally obvious in retrospect. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner, and I am grateful to Linda for making me rethink how I do things. I'm also grateful to my good friend Fran for teaching me to look beyond the finished product and see the value of its individual parts. That is perhaps the best lesson a tackmaker can learn!

My next project

After three weeks of Charro saddles, I am returning to my roots--literally. My next project is a school horse set built around a miniature version of my own first saddle.
I bought this Courbette secondhand in 1983 with my first ever paycheck. It is a true all purpose saddle of that era with its deep seat, suede padded flap, knee rolls and a round cantle complete with crupper ring. Because it is a pony saddle, it has a shorter flap than its adult sized counterparts.

I rode in this saddle all through my teenage years and its sentimental value is extreme. It's monetary value, on the other hand, is close to zero. The top of the saddle still looks ok, but you can see thirty years worth of wear and tear in the panels and billets.

There's no way to save leather once it gets in this condition. I won't be riding in this saddle ever again.

Despite that, I have no plans to get rid of it. How could I? It reminds me of Cinnamon,Snickers,

Pat,

Tilly and at least other dozen other horses and ponies who put up with my teenage self.

This next tack set may not be as exciting or impressive as the Charro package, but I have a feeling that it just may be my favorite order of the year!

Kellye's Charro saddle

At last... Oh, I suppose it's possible that I will find a few small things to change before I put it in a box and send it to Kellye, but for now I'm calling this one done! Here are the finished photos: The other side. Deseoso is a tough mold to fit. He has a very short back but is big nearly everywhere else. Kellye is also planning to show this set on an Alborozo and Moody Andalusian, so all the straps will adjust down for them.

I've already started the planning stage for my next order. Hopefully that one will go a whole lot quicker!