“It was an incredibly proud moment.”
A Cambridgeshire saddler who trained her own horse - and made his harness – has scored two big wins at a major show.
Carolyn Truss, a Society of Master Saddlers’ (SMS) Master Saddler and Harness Maker, won the Agricultural Turnout class and the Pairs Agricultural Turnout class with Max at the recent National Shire Horse Show.
Carolyn has owned the seven-year-old Shire since he was a yearling, and has produced Max herself.
She also hand-makes every piece of his harness. To create his straw-filled collar, Carolyn uses rare skills shared with only around four other people in the UK.
“It was an incredibly proud moment to take Max into the ring wearing harness that I made with my own hands,” she said.
Harness-cleaning takes ten hours
Agricultural turnout competitions pay homage to the working heritage of heavy horses.
Judging covers turnout, including the cleanliness and fit of the harness, the horse’s condition, manners and braiding [plaiting] plus a short show in walk.
“It takes hours to prepare [for a competition],” Carolyn explained. “Cleaning the harness alone can take up to ten hours because every piece, from the leather to the brasses and buckles, must be spotless.
“The horse must be immaculately presented, and everything has to be set up safely and correctly.”
Passion for heavy horses
Carolyn’s interest in harness-making stems from working with heavy horses at the National Trust.
She later trained with Mark Romain at the Saddlery Training Centre to complete her saddlery qualifications. A scholarship from QUEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust) then enabled her to learn from harness and collar-maker John McDonald.
“I’m still mastering the skills of collar-making,” says Carolyn. “It's so physically demanding and involves a lot of thumping with a very heavy mallet.”
Carolyn and Max were unbeaten in Single Agricultural Turnout classes last year, and have more competitions coming up through 2025.
