‘Tis the season to have absolutely no idea what to get any of your friends or family, for the umpteenth year in a row. Every once in a while you find the perfect present, but especially for horsey friends, the pressure is on. Obviously you’ll be purchasing something horse-related, but does it have to be pink and have a fat pony on it? We here at Eventing Nation say NAY! That’s why this holiday season each one of our impressive staff writers is picking one unique, amazing, thoughtful and clever horsey gift to help you along during this time of stress. Happy holidays!
Image from Fredericks and Mae's website.
One day while I was being productive at work (read: online browsing) I happened to come across a small art and design business called Fredericks & Mae that fashions tassels out of horsehair and thread. According to the studio’s website, the tassel idea stemmed from the history of horsehair as a good luck talisman: children in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Arab world used to wear similar tassels to protect themselves from demons and malevolent spirits.
Fredericks & Mae’s standard tassels are made out of horsehair that comes from Mongolia via a supplier in Ohio. As someone who always loved the idea of memorializing a horse with horsehair jewelry but not so much the look of the jewelry itself, I think these are a great (and not to mention cheaper!) alternative to the usual braided necklaces and bracelets.
After a couple excited emails with the company’s founders, I found out they are more than happy to make custom tassels out of submitted tail or mane clippings. While I do not recommend going out and cutting out a chunk of your friend’s horse’s tail in order to gift a tassel for the holidays, I think these are a unique and meaningful way to memorialize a horse that may have passed on or otherwise moved out of your life.
In order to create a small tassel, Fredericks & Mae will need roughly 12 inches of mane or tail hair- they use mane hair for their standard small tassel orders, but that tail hair will work as well. They offer two other sizes of tassels, medium and large, that require larger amounts of tail hair (27-29 inches for medium, 41-43 inches for large). Ordering takes place by buying a tassel normally on their website, then indicating that you are placing a custom order in the “Comments” section of the order form.
You can also note what thread colors you would like the tassel to have there, or Fredericks & Mae will pick colors for you. After that all you have to do is mail your hair submission to 333 Marcus Garvey Blvd, Brooklyn, NY, 11221. Pricing will be the same for standard and custom orders, so a small tassel will cost $40, a medium $140, and a large $420. Click to view more photos of the tassels and see more of Fredericks & Mae’s art and design work. Happy shopping! [Fredericks & Mae Small Tassels]
