The Tack Room

Book excerpt: Polo, horse-racing, show jumping, endurance riding, ploughing, pit ponies, mounted police, carriage driving: all these different activities require different tack. Paula Sells shows how the tack used in 27 different disciplines has become specialised for each. She describes the tack rooms and their contents, conversations with the owners and the history, current status and challenges of each discipline. Each tack room has been selected for its importance in the discipline it represents: Badminton House (Duke of Beaufort's Hunt); the Household Cavalry; the dressage, eventing and racing tack rooms of Carl Hester, Mary King and Andrew Balding. Tack rooms are treasure houses of traditional and innovative modern craftsmanship. The wide range of tack they hold reflects its evolution through our social history and the changing partnerships with horses in modern culture.