LET ME TELL YOU

How It All Began

The journey to Hairloom Treasures started with a boy named Andrew and a horse named Nebo. The two found in each other that very rare, very magical connection only a human and a horse can have. But Nebo could not stay here long. He died, leaving a broken-hearted boy behind. I could not bring Nebo back to Andrew, son of my dearest friend. But we had saved some of his tail when he died. And I knew I could make something special from that. Something that would, as much as possible, bring the horse and his boy back together. Many years later, Nebo and Andrew’s legacy became Hairloom Treasures. Logically, I should not be where I am now. I started with a lock of tail hair and an idea. That turned out to be the ONLY easy part.

The gift I gave Andrew the Christmas after he lost Nebo was nice enough. There was no reason to keep exploring. But, I couldn’t stop coming up with new designs. I was obsessed with finding better silver, creating the perfect braid, building a bracelet that could be put on the arm and never need be taken off. Something else was driving me. A purpose, perhaps? A calling, maybe? My logic often reminds me those things are crazy talk.

But then, somebody comes to me with a plastic bag that they haven’t been able to open since the horrible, painful day the veterinarian handed it to them. I am the first person to open the bag and touch the tail inside that once belonged to a deeply loved horse. As I work with that tail, I am often overwhelmed with grief, brought to tears.

And when I present the piece I’ve created to the human who loved that horse; when I am there to witness that moment when horse human are once more together again, THAT is when I KNOW the skill to make the things I do has very little to do with me. It comes from someplace else. 

PURCHASE BEAUTIFUL

Horse Tail Jewelry

God also gave the horse something he blessed no other creature with: It’s tail. Think about it. No other creature is born with such an exquisite piece of natural jewelry. It has a purpose. Fly swatter. Balance keeper. Communicator. But is also also there just to be beautiful. Watch a horse run free, head held high, all four feet for just one mere instant free from the earth’s gravitational pull, flying – you will also see it’s tail, arced and glorious. It’s like nothing else in the world.

That tail, I’ve also come to believe, is one of many of the horse’s gifts for us. In the past, it was used to make ropes, fishing lines, mittens, reins and belts. Violin bows are strung with it. The Native Americans celebrated a horse’s tail, made pottery with it, and handed down those crafted pieces as an heirloom to honor the horse from which it was made. A horse grows tons of tail, and give it to us freely. A peace offering, if you will.