A Visit with Susan Bensema Young - the Tack and Vehicles

(This is part two of a recounting of Friday's get together with Sue.)

Sue is a master tackmaker and it was a delight to be able to sit down for a few hours and enjoy looking at samples of her work and browse through the binders that document each piece, all while chatting and listening to Sue play my piano.

She has a degree in music and a love of ragtime. And just as her tack is beautiful, so is her piano playing. (I wonder if her background as a pianist has contributed to her being a master tackmaker - her fingers are so nimble on those piano keys! Surely that dexterity has been an asset to her in her work.)

This display case (actually an ingeniously repurposed decorative spoon holder) contains samples of her work across time. Sue carefully documents every piece she has made.

 I was thrilled to see this set of snowshoes - I remember her making them and writing about their progress on her blog, Timaru Star II. (To read Sue's blog, go here.) They are just as stunning in person as they appeared to be on her blog.

Not wanting to miss out on time to chat, we even brought things in the car as we drove to lunch and then out to the barn!

Tim always, always allows me to bring people out to the barn and show them around - he is very generous that way.

 But this is the first time I have ever brought someone out who has an encyclopedic knowledge of harness, saddles, bridles, and vehicles.

I learned so much as I observed Sue look at pieces of tack and then make comments on their use or function.

Tim's tack collection, some of it vintage, is quite large and there are some interesting pieces in it. (I can't remember what she said this large white ring on a strap was for. Decorative, maybe?)

I just stood back and listened, asking the occasional question, while soaking up new information.

Then we moved on to Tim's vehicles.

He and his brother had a business where they would find carriages, wagons, and buggies, plus tack and other items and then restore them for resale. Tim would pack a box truck that he owned and haul everything up to Canada where his brother lived, and they would sell their items together. Sadly, Tim's brother passed away recently, so he is no longer doing that.

 My favorite of Tim's vehicles in this 1822 paddy wagon from Morgan County in southern Indiana.

 Sue seemed to like it a lot, too!

Another unique, rarely seen horse drawn vehicle is a mail buggy. This is a poor photo of it, but that window lifts up for good weather, and you can see the slots for the reins. This buggy was found stored in a barn here in Indiana.

I think this is my favorite photo of Sue from the entire day. She is examining the doctor's buggy, but it looks to me like she is exuberantly embracing the happiness of being in her element - tack, horses, and vehicles.

Sue and George had brought their canoe, Indefatigable, along with them as they planned on going canoeing in Huntington, Indiana the next day.  With a big smile, Sue got something out of their car to show me.

I don't recall the term for what looked to me like a lead rope, and which Sue explained was used to tie up their canoe.

 But she pointed out that she had applied her tackmaking skills to it, too. See that braid work?

And on the end of the rope, too! (At this point I was thinking that Sue needed nine lives, like a cat, since she had so many talents to use and share!)

 We wrapped up our get together by looking at more of her tack collection (she brought samples of many people's works in addition to her own), reluctantly finishing around 6:00 PM.  We had to stop as she and George needed to get back on the road - they had reservations in Huntington an hour or two away.

We are both hoping that we might be able to have another get together in the near future - we still have so much to share and talk about!

Thanks for coming, Sue!