lol… don’t look at the front cover of the most recent Whip, GoTheDistance… hehe…
[QUOTE=Chewbacca;6338732]
lol… don’t look at the front cover of the most recent Whip, GoTheDistance… hehe…[/QUOTE]
OK, I promise I won’t! :lol::lol: I just went back among some old photos of mine…and low and behold, the photo that made the cover of the Maryland Horse in September/August 1993 - - me with little son next to me on the seat while I was driving my stunningly beautiful chestnut Thoroughbred in a CAA class, at a 1990 CAA conference, in a lovely parasol topped ladies phaeton, said Thoroughbred in a gorgeous full collar, gleaming brass, lovely harness … and a drop on his bridle!!
Well, hit me on the side of the head and call me clueless!! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: That drop had come with the (Smuckers Super Deluxe) harness (back in the early 80’s), and I just accepted it as a matter of course. We even had our farm initial in brass put on it, matching the same brass initials on the blinkers. Gotta say, in looking at that photo (and chuckling at the same time) I will admit it sure stood out and looked purdy on that big white blaze!:D:D
DNJ - Years ago (decades, actually - early 90’s?) when I was just starting what would be 10+ years of writing and carriage research, I came across that reference about the drops. I think it had to have been in something written in the 1880s or thereabouts, and, while I may have come across it while researching in the CAA library (which was at Morven Park around that time), I suspect I may actually have stumbled across it in the vast collection at the Chronicle of the Horse library when Peter Winnets and Laura _____ (forget her last name) were the custodians of that amazing collection of books. It was when the library was in the basement of Vine Hill house, and all those fabulous old books, magazines, and periodicals where all there at my fingertips for me to research and use. What a treasure that place was! The reference stuck in my mind because the author of the piece also described when/where it was appropriate to have the owner’s initials on the harness as well. We had our farm name initials on the blinkers of our single, and I remember being pleased that ‘we’d done that correctly’. I know I removed that drop later on from the single’s bridle because I came across it the other day, sitting with a second (horse sized) drop (also with brass initial) in a glove drawer in the carriage house, while looking for a pony bridle that might fit RAR’s Panda-chan. Those drops were to be used when I put a pair of Thoroughbreds together…but, as fate would have it, I ended up pairing Welsh ponies instead.
If I can ever find the article or reference (again), I will gladly share. 
[QUOTE=gothedistance;6338921]
OK, I promise I won’t! :lol::lol: I just went back among some old photos of mine…and low and behold, the photo that made the cover of the Maryland Horse in September/August 1993 - - me with little son next to me on the seat while I was driving my stunningly beautiful chestnut Thoroughbred in a CAA class, at a 1990 CAA conference, in a lovely parasol topped ladies phaeton, said Thoroughbred in a gorgeous full collar, gleaming brass, lovely harness … and a drop on his bridle!! [/QUOTE]
PLEASE! Can you scan & post this photo? I would love to see it!
Go to my website and click on the “About Us” page. There is a small copy of the photo in the upper right hand corner of the webpage.
Amazing that this was taken 22 years ago almost to the day. That OTT Thoroughbred was worth 10x his weight in (today’s market value) gold. Bless his big, wonderful, gentlemanly heart. He is buried in a quiet wooded enclave behind our big back (aka “winter”) field with an apple tree at his head. I still miss him.
This has been a fun discussion and made me actually get out books and LOOK at them again - so that is good
but it makes me think of several things
One- The members of the “Gilded Age” were very fashion conscious and very snobbish about it. What was in fashion one year was “out” the next, of vice versa. And for no better reason than “someone I didnt like copied me”. Think about QH showing fashion. One year its lots of silver and bling and the next year its saddles with fancy stitching or carving and the next - just to make it complicated - you have to have plain flat leather.
Two - I once read an article in a Scientific Journal (wish I could remember which one??) about Victorian Funeral customs, and how trends among the wealthy filtered down to the lower classes and were magnified. If they did this, then I will make it even MORE super, with plumes and trappings. As that went on, what had been common among the wealthy now became vulgar and the rich became more austere. This went on for years of cycling . . .
Finally, you might enjoy this story from a driving meeting. Some discussion was going on about some turnout issue, with many Nevers and Always being bandied about. When the discussion seemed to be going nowhere, Tom Ryder stood up and told about the evolution of current practices for Gig Harness.
In the early 1920’s Carriage driving went out of common practice and so did a lot of the knowledge of how things were done. Years later, when the sport was reviving and people were looking for references for “How To” they found a painting of a Gig Horse - wearing a martingale with the rest of the harness. From then on Standing Martingales became part of the required turnout and there were rules on how the martingale strap was to be run up thru the kidney-link etc. Tom statedthat there is no real reason that EVERYONE needs a martingale and probably not ALL Gig turnouts wore a martingale - back when they were common. Everything was based on just one picture.
We have a harness makers book from the 1880s which says that in America - crests on harness are not appropriate since we really do not have the levels of class structure, but that Initials are a fine way to decorate, and the bridle is a great place to express your individualism.
Over the years I found that you have to take a lot of the Nevers and Always in the context of when they were stated - AND by whom - AND why.
For example - you can see examples of new “Crests” on the harness and carriage doors of many Gilded Age equipages in their coach house museums.
PS
We have loved reading your articles and posts over the years.
And I envy you having those great libraries at your (almost private) disposal. What a great resource!
<<Hugs!>> Oh, thank you. That’s so sweet of you!
I still have video of you and your sister at one ADS conference (Shelbourne) talking about the “new” Recreational Driving committee (of which all three of us were members way back when), and all those neat driving themes one could use to set up a really fun recreational drive. I remember being so impressed - you two were really so clever to come up with so many delightful ideas, and having such fun up there in front of the crowd describing those drives!!!
Old times, wonderful times. I had decided long ago that when I finally was too old to climb into a saddle, I would just spend my days holding a pair of reins and watching the world slip by my vantage point from the carriage seat.
And I do agree with the “never” aspect - I remember several of Barry Dickinson’s lectures (back in the 90’s) on attire (harness and human) that were filled with “never” and “always” - he was very firm on many ideas, his being drilled into his brain from his early days with the creme of coaching society that went back decades. He was fascinating to listen to - so animated and bright and chipper and bubbling - and I really did get a wonderful education on how things were done “back then”. What sticks in my mind the most was “ladies never drove grays”. A lady could be driven in a carriage with grays in harness, but should not drive them herself…because…(are you guys ready for this?) … gray hair could get on the lady driver’s clothing and (being light colored) the hair thus would show (on dark clothing), soiling said lady’s impeccable toilet!!! So gray horses were a “no-no” for a lady whip.
But times do change …heck, I drove a gray for years!! … and so I’m happy to change my staff-thumping on the drops from “never on a single” to “it was originally designed for a pair” and leave it at that. Everyone carry on as you were! 
This kind of discussion makes me realize why we have SO enjoyed the CAA Symposia in Williamsburg every 2 years
(Blantant plug to encourage anyone interested in history to attend in the future)
This years underlying theme was that your horses, harness, and carriage was an expression on your social status and power. From the Kings and Emporers in Europe, to what carriages ladies bought in the American 1890’s.
All the rules of deportment in the late 1800s went into what you drove and how it was to be turned out
One talk this year was on Ladies driving and I loved the comment that ladies were just too flighty and emotional to “Really” drive, and that ladies should walk around the carriage “inspecting things” just so she would show her servants “that she knew things” prior to going driving
but that the reins of a George IV Phaeton should be long enough for the groom sitting behind her to reach and use to drive for WHEN things did not go well!
HA!! Proven fact that Ladies ARE some of the best drivers out there!
Another blantant plug - many of this years symposia talks will be published as articles in up-coming Carriage Journals
but that the reins of a George IV Phaeton should be long enough for the groom sitting behind her to reach and use to drive for WHEN things did not go well!
Yes!! I remember comments like that being said! I also remember reading that a lady’s reins should always be longer so if her horse get unruly, or she gets tired of driving, she can hand the reins back to her groom to take over.
<snort!>
Never heard of a lady being advised to walk around her carriage to inspect it, but frankly that would really be a smart thing to do to make sure your groom harnessed up correctly. One can never be too careful! In that book “14,000 miles, a carriage and two ladies” the lady author practiced that “walkabout” when their horse and carriage were presented to them in the morning to continue their journey - and one time it paid off in revealing that their harness had been replaced with someone else’s. Boy, they were NOT happy, and they waited until their harness was fetched back from whence it had disappeared.
I have a LOT of those CAA and ADS lectures from the 90’s on videotape - somehow I’m going to have to find a way to convert them digitally - I would love to enjoy them all over again.
I just went back among some old photos of mine…and low and behold, the photo that made the cover of the Maryland Horse in September/August 1993 - - me with little son next to me on the seat while I was driving my stunningly beautiful chestnut Thoroughbred in a CAA class, at a 1990 CAA conference, in a lovely parasol topped ladies phaeton, said Thoroughbred in a gorgeous full collar, gleaming brass, lovely harness … and a drop on his bridle!!
ROFL!!
I, too, am part of the clueless teardrop on the bridle for a single horse - just - because - it - came - that - way. I replaced that harness, so I am now “tear less”.
But, see, we’re all guilty of pretty looks.
[QUOTE=gothedistance;6339535]
Go to my website and click on the “About Us” page. There is a small copy of the photo in the upper right hand corner of the webpage.
[/QUOTE] Thanks!
Thank you for this wonderful discussion and history lesson!
As a combined driver I don’t have the education of all the tradition and why’s and wherefores but so enjoy learning about it.
This discussion made the realize that my van der Wiel pair harness had no tear drops on the bridles, but it is a marathon harness so what do we know. 
tradition- sorry I just had to hijack!
…or they have a clue but like the look and choose to do as they wish. Tradition is great and I love the history behind such things, but it should be a choice, not a rule.
Yeah, if we did everything based on tradition… we wouldn’t:
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