Cosmo died in a pasture near Camrose on a wet spring afternoon in March. There was melting snow and many tears.
The 17-year-old mare was the pride and joy of Louise Erskine, who rode her in 4-H events, on trail rides and pack trips and through all manner of horse pursuits.
“She was an all-around kind of pony,” said Erskine.
“She did everything for me, which made her very special. She was my sidekick.”
Seeking a memento of her equine friend, Erskine got in touch with Donna Murray, who makes handcrafted items out of horsehair. Now, every day, Erskine carries a keychain that maintains her connection with her horse.
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“Every time I have my keys, I can rub my hands through my horse’s tail and it just kind of reminds me that she’s with me all the time.”
Those kinds of emotions are well known to Murray, who has been making custom horsehair items for about 25 years. A former horse trainer and farrier, she understands the bond between human and horse.
“I kind of fell into a niche market of doing custom pieces because horse people love their horses and when (the horses) pass away, sometimes they’ll think to save some mane or some tail hair as a memento,” Murray said as she worked on a hitched horsehair hatband in her Lethbridge home workshop.
“I’ve had lots of people just stumble across my website or somebody tells them about my work and they realize they have this hair in a bag or a drawer, and they can pull it out and send it to me and have something made.”
The “somethings” in Murray’s repertoire are vast. She uses horsehair to make jewelry, belts, hatbands, tassels, ties and even wineglass charms, among other items. She also works with wool, fashioning saddle blankets that often incorporate the customer’s brand or initials.
Murray is self-taught in the craft and has studied books and videos from experts to hone her skills. She now has several albums of custom orders, photos of beloved horses from all over the United States and Canada and stories from their owners who want keepsakes.
The creative process begins when she receives horsehair from a customer.
Sometimes the amount of hair determines what can be made from it, but if the customer wants a particular item and hasn’t provided enough hair, Murray will get their permission to augment it with extra hair she obtains from the horse slaughter plant at Fort Macleod, Alta.
“It’s a very emotional thing for people to take the hair from their horses. Some people are OK. They can take a lot. Other people, its just too hard and they take just a little bundle.”
Murray washes the hair, dries it and makes it into “pulls” that each have six to 12 individual hairs. She uses these to hitch or braid.
“I believe very much in the spirit of the horse,” said Murray.
“Once it leaves the horse and it’s washed, it doesn’t have the energy, the same vital energy as when it’s attached to a living being, so it does feel different.”
Some clients favour natural colours, while others want a pattern that requires several colours or hair dying. Murray uses protein-based dyes that have been set in vinegar baths to ensure colours stay true.
With the pulls in hand, she begins making the horsehair hitched or braided items. Orders come in fairly steadily, through her website and word of mouth, and Murray said she is as busy, and perhaps even busier, than she wants to be.
There is a wide range of prices based on the type and size of item and the amount of time she finds it necessary to invest.
“I’m not completely independent yet with my horsehair work, but it’s becoming a bigger financial factor in my life. I’m busy enough that I could let my other part-time job go.
“I love the creativity of it, and I like being home. I’m very blessed with a great circle of friends and family, so it’s not like I ever get lonely.”
She often makes recommendations to clients who are uncertain about an item or design and tries to incorporate a personal touch. That’s what happened with Erskine’s keepsake.
“She sent back this gorgeous keychain,” said Erskine, “and she had incorporated my show colours. I had a show shirt that was baby blue. I didn’t ask her to incorporate it but she saw it in the picture…. That was really special, that she kind of put a personal touch in it.”
