TSII #401. ("The seventy-seventh".) This is Koi & Water Lilies, perhaps the most famous of the prism tape sets: it won National Champion for its owner S. Rudnicki in 1997. The patterns were altered to fit the larger resincast "Wall Street Trader"; it was my first use of the fish scale motif. Click for larger.
TSII #395. "Purple Brilliance", the seventy-sixth Parade set I ever made, was the first to use color in the rayed 'brilliance' pattern, the first to use the three colors pink, lavender and blue, and the first to have a non-red-and-white blanket. Finished 9612.04 and sold to L. Strang for the then-record price of $1000.00. The photo, taken in low light, attempts to catch the holographic effect of the prism tape. Click for larger.
TSII #377. ("The sixty-ninth".) Originally finished in February 1995 in Denmark, this saddle went to its owner, C. Sapp. Its picture was included in a package of silver parade set materials I sent to Kathy Moody in the summer of 1995. Ten designs were created by Kathy and submitted to Breyer for their porcelain Parade horse; some were clearly based on TSII, some on Bohlin, and some were sheer Moody (#402 is an example). The seventh design was based on this saddle; the seventh was chosen. After its brush with fame, #377 returned to me at BF 1999 because its tape was falling off. After extensive delays :( it was restored and returned to C. Sapp in early 2000. This was before I had discovered My-tying... Click for larger pic.
TSII #358. ("The sixty-fifth".) Finished 9309.02 and owned by C. Robertson. Click for larger pic.
TSII #340. Created in 1992 for P. Beard, this set was the first to feature real 'tooling' of the silver tape over leather. My "sixtieth" silver saddle made.
TSII #243. The very first color prism tape set made, Gerhardt's Green & Gold was a collaborative effort with the owner. The tower was meant to represent Isengaard, "Wizard's Vale". Finished in March 1989, it went on to win National Reserve Champion in 1995, NAN's first year. The "forty-eighth".
TSII #230. This was 1988's only Parade set (that was the year I got married :) and the first one to use silver tape. Originally only the central diamonds were tape; 4 years later, the whole saddle was retaped. The sticker says 'restored 1993'. Owned by C. Gerhard. The "thirty-fourth".
TSII #129. The "twenty-sixth" was built in 1985 for an H R Stella. This set was my first-ever Little Bit-scale parade saddle...quite a challenge at the time! The original owner was J. Provencher. I recall that drops of rings were added after this pic was taken. Of course all silver saddles were painted at this time.
TSII #54. Haskett's Starburst, now owned by C. Monroe. Made in 1984, this saddle represents work being done one year since I graduated from college and went at tackmaking full time. The Starburst is notable for being the first saddle to have a full page pencil drawing plan...none had any previously, but it would be two more years before a standard design sheet came into use. The "sixteenth". Another picture of this set is on our Restorations page.
TSII #022A. So you thought my numbering system was flawless, Hah! :) It's unclear when this set was made; c. 1982; what is clear is that I 'discovered' it 12 years later in the possession of the original owner, B. Driver. I proposed a trade-in, it was accepted, and I saw again my fifth silver saddle ever put together. It was a follow-up to #022 (1980) which looked so much like it I'd only put down one in my saddle numbers reconstruction efforts & scrapbook...
TSII #017. "Third Ever," August of 1979. Proudly blazoned on the back of this photo, a nineteen-year-old wrote "They Don't make 'em like This Anymore". So true >sigh<. This was my first parade set sold to a customer, J. Kirshner. Photographed in 1979 on the front planter of my parents' house with my Dad's camera. The horse had been bought a few months before for the then-lordly sum of twenty dollars.
TSII #08. "Second Ever." We are getting back to college here, deep in the archives of the past. Although they don't show much in the photo, this saddle has blue glass jewels stuck all over it. The silver lines were painted on, and the leather around them stamped...except that didn't show. :( This picture was taken by J. Rowland of Ft. Collins in 1979.
TSII #06. Circa 1978. The first silver saddle ever created was the sixth Western saddle, but not #6---remember I didn't start numbering them until about 50 had been made. This picture was taken in 1992. I marched in the Tournament of Roses in 1977 and saw the silver saddles, but I did not actually lay hands on one until a visit to a museum more than 20 years later.
Sometimes life is like that...