Heart warming

When our clients order a piece of jewellery, we often hear lovely and touching stories about the relationship between our customer and her/his horse and their shared journey. So in this case too! 

Krista received a bracelet Puella Star as a gift from her mother. The ribbon is woven of tail hair of her late Ferrari. We got a wonderful story from Krista about her and Ferrari's time together and, of course, these stunning pictures, as she is a professional photographer.

"Ferrari and I traveled together for more than sixteen years. That's more than a half of my life so far. Though losing the one you love the most leaves behind a daily sadness, I will be forever happy for the special time we had together.

Sometimes, perhaps by chance, two souls who are lost in their lives meet, grow a support net which supports each other out of their incompleteness, and create a healing bond of trust that reaches the ends of the earth."

"As we grew together I learned a lot not only about horses, but also about myself. Ferrari showed me the strength dormant in my own sensitivity and showed me how a whisper can be louder than a shout. During our walks together I used to whisper to Ferrari that it was the finest horse in the world, my most precious treasure and a dream come true - more than I could have ever asked for."

"Though we no longer hike along the paths of this world, I will always have my own treasure with me. Grateful for our unique journey I can now wear the touch of Ferrari on my skin in the form of a bracelet and feel that my loved one is still close to me."

"With her perfectly developed hand skills Nanna was able to capture the most characteristic and authentic parts of Ferrari in a beautiful creation. I am particularly impressed by the similarity between the ribbon and Ferrari. Knowing Nanna's professionalism, I expected nothing less - all my wishes regarding the details of the jewelry came true. The sparkling heart gives a perfect finishing touch, and  diamonds' vivid shimmer reminds me of the twinkle in the corner of Ferrari's eye." 

- Krista Kuusela, Finland -

Photos by Krista Kuusela, all rights reserved.

If you, too, wish to have the most valuable piece in your jewellery collection, proceed as follows: 

1) Contact us and tell us which item you would like. In the reply mail you will receive detailed instructions, e.g. about the amount and length of hair strands needed, and of course the answers to your questions.

2) After we have received the hair strands, Nanna has checked them and all the details related to your order have been agreed, we will send you an invoice by email. Once the invoice has been paid your jewellery will begin to be manufactured. Delivery time is 3-4 weeks.

 3) When the jewellery is ready, we will contact you again. You will receive your item as a courier delivery or a registered mail and get a tracking code. 

Send e-mail to minna.maattanen@nannasalmi.com or use contact form on our website. 

Feel free to explore the jewellery models and choose the one you like best! Please note that nannasalmi rings are very massive. They are convex on the inside and have raised edges that protect the band. In this way the most valuable part of the jewellery, the woven ribbon, is best protected from hits and abrasion.

www.horsehairjewellerynannasalmi.com

You just know it´s yours - Nancy and Dior.

In the beginning of November we published this photo collage on our Facebook page and Instagram. Soon there was a comment from Nancy.

 "Is it true that I recognize Dior´s grey hair on the ring Leyla?"

Yes, it was true!

In 2015 Nancy won ring Leyla in our raffle. Her late horse Dior had a few grey hair in black tail and she wished that one of them would be woven in the black ribbon. There it is!

Your horse is unique, so is the piece of jewellery we create for you using

your horse´s tail hair in the weave. Each woven tail hair ribbon looks individual

depending on the colour of hair we receive.

Dior 1.1.1985 - 8.10.2017

The first sentance I spoke was; "I want a pony"

This is my Bella. Isabella Vida. I had wanted a horse my entire life. My mom says the first sentance i spoke was; "I want a pony". I took riding lessons, but when my parents divorced when I was 11, everything changed. There was no money for such frivilous pursuits.

I would ride whenever I had a chance, a trail ride with my husband to be at a family reunion and a trail ride with my son when he was 5. still, despite all that life brings, my love for horses remained in my heart.

Then one day I was at the pet store buying bird food. The young woman that worked there had horses. She had invited me out to ride. It was in my mind, but as a single working mom, I hadnt taken her up on it. She had a flyer that there was going to be a big horse sale at her barn. She said there was one big thoroughbred mare (having heard my preferance's before) I went straight out that day and saw a stick thin, big bay.

Her story was that she was off the track. Hurt her leg in her first out of the gate and her career ended. And it looked like her care did too. She had such kind eyes. I went home and thought of the money. I couldnt get her out of my mind. Went back the next day and she was mine. My 40th birthday present to myself.

I had waited my whole life for this wonderful soul and she hasn´t let me down one minute since I have had her. She very well could have ended up at slaughter, so one could assume that I saved her life. Truth be told, she has saved mine many times over!

Shawna Pinillas, Florida, USA

When I was a kid, all I wanted for Christmas...

When I was a kid, all I wanted for Christmas – every Christmas – was a horse. Actually, a pony. A black Dales pony. With 2 white feet and a star. Not that I thought about it much.

I spent a great deal of my childhood in denial about the possibility of owning a pony: we spent half the year in Florida and half in Canada, which is not an inexpensive proposition for my imaginary pony and my parents.
Fifteen years later, after graduating from university, I visited a ranch in San Diego to enquire about riding lessons. One of the first horses I was introduced to was a green-broke 15.1hh bay Arabian mare named Myriah.

When we approached the gate, she came racing in from her pasture to say hello, so very pleased to have attention and so very excited at the possibility of treats. It was love at first sight. I became a working student and my project was Myriah. Three months later, she was offered to me for purchase and I jumped on the chance quicker than you can say “unrequited pony dreams.”

And so, for almost 15 years, I was the proud mother of a brave, sweet, amazing Arabian mare. We moved thousands of miles together, from sunny southern California to steamy South Carolina to snowy Quebec. She carried me through woods and over streams and down roads and in rings; she kept me company patiently through 2 pregnancies and 4 houses and years of midlife growing pains and life-consuming entrepreneurship. That mare braved bears and deer and horse-eating cows for me; she could float 3 feet off the ground like the hotest halter horse and seconds later be gentle as a lamb with my 3 year old son. She had such a special combination of fire and softness.

I saw her through Cushings, sweet itch, navicular and devastating laminitis. I could treat an abscess with my eyes closed (and so could my 2 year old – I caught her applying diapers to her rocking horse’s feet more than once). I learned to a million ways to disguise the taste of bute and where to get pills of pergolide that she would actually swallow. I researched supplements and hoof boots endlessly.

Even during the years she was retired, and we could not ramble the country roads together as often as we both would have liked, I was just as excited to greet her at the pasture gate as I was way back in San Diego. I know she watched for me too, and sometimes after dinner she would walk up behind me and rest her chin on top of my head and we’d watch the evening fade together.

I lost her this year. We won so many battles but we finally lost the war.

So it turns out that my true dream horse was not black, not Dales, and had no star. She did have two white feet though.

And she was perfect.

Tamara Ensio Johnson, CAN

Best Decision Ever!!

When I found Spencer on January 7, 2011, he was hip# 853 in an auction feed lot. His description said aged TB, rode quietly. He was emaciated (a friend described him as being "a bag of bones"), covered in rain rot and physically didn't look well. When I looked past the need for care, his conformation was great, and he had a beautiful, soft, intelligent eye. So I took a chance...Best Decision Ever!! 

A friend and my husband came with me to pick him up at the auction house, that's when he got his name. My friend walked up and said "Hi Spencer!", it fit, and I kept it. 

Once Spencer was home, we were able to read his tattoo. Turned out he was a 10yr old ex-racehorse, who raced until he was 8yrs old, and earned $388,854 over his career. What ended his career I don't know, nor do I know how he ended up in horrid condition.

Spencer steadily gained weight, his temperament remained steady, and everything about him was brighter. He has a wonderful quiet and kind disposition. He's great around dogs, kids, people, and my (non-horsey) husband can handle him. 

I'm so happy to have Spencer! At the moment we are just trail riding, and figuring out what he would like to do. He is a beautiful mover, likes to work, and I think he'd enjoy showing but that will come. For now trails are a lot of fun.

This is my favorite photo of me and Spencer's Gold. It was taken by my husband a couple of months after we brought Spencer home.

Kirsten Edlund-Tunkel, Millbrook, New York, USA

Quinn and Chance

Here are my boys - Quinn is the roan, and Chance is the black bay. This is the first day I turned them out at our place when we moved in 4 years ago, and I love this photo because they were, and still are, so happy to have the space to run. 

My passion for horses came to light when I was 5, and I always managed to find a way to be around them. I've learned some of the most important lessons in my life from horses. After a fairly successful career as a trainer, I left my equestrian life in my 20's for an education, then work and family, and I was a 'has been' in the realm of horses.

I got Quinn as a weanling in 2002, and I'm grateful for him every day. He is a ham, and a muddy mess, but he has a heart of gold and will do anything for me. Chance came to me from my brother; and he brought the two of us closer. I rode Chance until I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with my daughter (she's almost 8 now), with never an incident. I can put my daughter on either of these horses now and have no worries. These boys have been partners for almost ten years.

I was lost, and these boys have brought me back home. I can rely on them to help me find clarity, to remember who I am, and to remind me that I have the strength to move forward no matter what the obstacle. At 45, with all my flaws and shortcomings, they help me remember that I am the best I've ever been, and I'm only getting better. They help me be the woman I want my daughter to learn from.

Thanks for sharing all the heartwarming stories, and your beautiful art.

Lynda Lindsey, Orlando, USA

My Girl Trocadia

My girl (Trocadia) has a special story. She comes from the stud Olympia. After a few races she has been rejected. One win and a few positionings haven´t been enough. Afterwards her previous owner (herself a jockey) took her and she got 2 foals. 

Her owner kept the foals but the mare in addition was too expensive. By chance I heared of her, went to see her and immediately fell in love with her. She set me back 200 €. We moved to a western barn and I decieded to ride her in western style. 

Since about 2 months she is under the saddle now. Sometimes we still have some differences. She has a lot of character and she is very intelligent. But anyway I prefare those horses.

She is a real beauty (and she knows it very well). And for me she is very special. My dream and my wish complied absolutely with her.

Alexandra Spürck, Germany

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David is the world to me

This is me and Davy Boko (alias David), a Dutch race horse (standardbred). On 25-8-13 he had to race the biggest race for 3 year old horses in Holland, the Derby. He was one of the favourites, but a couple of weeks before this race he stopped with eating. He ate, but not much. He was not happy and vital anymore and we knew there was something wrong. 

So we brought him to several vets and nobody could exactly tell us what was wrong. So the day of the big race we were all very nervous of course, it was now or never… 
The race went well for him and in the last turn he took him out and he won very easily. So end good all good we thought. We were in the clouds, so happy with our lovely horse and that he did so good despite he was not 100%.

Only 3 days later we fell off that cloud…. He had a fever of 41,6 degrees. He was so sick… couldn’t even walk anymore and we feared the worse. We had to bring him to the clinic (and normally he should not be able to be transported, to weak). He did not want to eat and drink, so the fever stayed also (around 40 degrees). 

Firstly we could not visit him because he was in quarantine, but finally they told us maybe it will be good for him to see people he knows. I saw him standing in the box and I felt terrible, there was nothing left from this beautiful young stallion. I filled a bucket with water and instantly he started to drink, I gave him food and he started to eat. And he didn’t eat for almost 3 days…. 

From that day on I almost visited him every day (together with the mother of his trainer, she loves him also very much). Every day he was getting a bit better. And we could have a little hope. But still it was not certain he would survive. Finally the vets came with the conclusion that he had a very bad stomach ulcer, so bad that it could have been fatal for Davy. But now he has been treated for that and after 2 weeks we could finally bring him home. I thank God every day that he spared us and gave me my little boy back. I have been so frightened to lose him, couldn’t eat or sleep… my stomach hurted so badly so eventually I went to the doctor and he told me that I had a stomach ulcer…. I thought this cannot be true… 

I have the same problem as David… How do you mean solitaire to the horse… 
David is the world to me.

The race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35h3Ywn63e8

Jennifer Jenna Michaela Hills, Netherlands

Since I was a small girl...

...I have always loved horses.

My dream finally came true 11 yrs ago when I brought home my first Mare. She came from
an Auction, her owners were selling her because she was accidentally bred. I was in heaven..
A 2 for 1 deal even!!

She didn't come with a name. So after some thought I named her Sierra. In the months that
 followed Sierra and I bonded, I spent many hours sitting with her in the barn or out in the pasture, Just being with her was a kind of therapy, the peace I feel when cuddling my girl is hard to explain.

I brought her home in November, she gave Birth to a pretty Colt the Following April. He is now a beautiful 10 yr old gelding, His name is Chase and he has a long story of his own.

There is nothing overly special about my little horse, but to me she is extraordinary and irreplaceable! I will love her forever and always!

Recently a friend convinced me to have some pictures taken with my girl Sierra, memories to keep close to my heart. This is one of the pictures.

Amanda Budny, USA

This Is The Story Of Me And My Horse

2 1/2 years ago, my friend sent me a homepage name, to show me where her horse is from. I looked over the page and went to the side FOR SALE... This single click changed my live.

The first picture on the site showed a beautiful bay QH-Mare with an amazing expression. It was like falling in love at the first sight. But the moment was absolutely wrong.

Months passed away and 1/2 a year later, she was still for sale. My situation had changed a lot, and so I decided to drive 800 km to the Toscany to have a look at her in real. Arrived, it was the same feeling as half a year before...and shortly after, one day after my birthday, Maggie came home to me.

The last two years we have had good but also much bad moments together. At the beginning, she was very difficult to ride, jumpy, afraid of everything and we had a lot of bad luck in health. She always was injured or had some problems. But all this welt us together - in her I found ( in German "Herzenspferd" ) my "Heart-horse", I will never give her away. Even she is injured again at the moment, needs medicine again, we're looking forward to the future ..together we will make it!

From Janine Schwager, Switzerland

In memoriam N.G. Cherokee 1.7.1997 - 7.10.2014

N.G. Cherokee, ”Elmeri”, was our first own horse - he became to us in the age of 13 after he had completed an honorable career in dressage riding in Finland. Elmeri was everything you could hope from a schoolmaster. Intelligent, noble, kind, challenging and fair. He taught us so much about horses and people. Best moments were in the competitions when he walked to the arena proud and helped me through the course - as I was only starting in the easiest competitions and really nervous. It’s like he would have whispered to me ”don’t worry - I got this”. My father was always as a groom in the competitions and shared a special bond with Elmeri. Those were such a special moments. Elmeri was something special.

Elmeri passed away in the age of 17 due to a difficult hoof cancer after a sick leave of almost a year. He left a huge empty space in our family. With my mom we ordered ourselves nannasalmi Cassandra plastrons to remind us about Elmeri. It helped to get through the process of sorrow.

Brooches Cassandra

When my dad had his 60th birthday nannasalmi horsehair jewellery was certainly a perfect gift idea! We ordered him the tie bar Poco Loco and cufflinks Polo. The gift was especially moving and stylish in all it’s simplicity and something he would have never expected. Dad was really touched by this gift.

In a way having these jewelries made of Elmeri's hair helped us to move on from his memory, which is still present in our daily lives. But more like a beautiful dream than a haunting sorrow.

Thank you, Nanna Salmi, for your meaningful and timeless design - it’s truly a jewellery with a thought.

Irene Häggkvist
Helsinki Finland

Poco Loco & Polo

Irene herself is very talented fashion designer.

Please, visit her website to read and see more!

irenemikaela.com

House of Horses Helsinki

Enquieries and orders by email

minna.maattanen@nannasalmi.com

Peak Year Rider

The author of the blog (ruuhkavuosiratsastaja.fi), Anniina, is a high school teacher and student counsellor from Espoo, Southern Finland. She is married and a mother of two.

Anniina calls herself a "Peak Year Rider", which is the finnish name of the blog. It´s not always easy to manage with a full time job, a horse and a family. These things are probably the same everywhere. People like Anniina fill their life with the need to go somewhere witch leads to a terrible rush, when you are always on the run!

Unfortunately she lost her horse, Tintti, in October 2014.

...........................................

 

I became a horse owner a little by an accident. I had been hiring a nice horse for several years until the owner couldn´t take care of it any more. It was time to do some horse trading. The moment was the worst as I had always said to myself, that a woman in the age of making babies should never get a horse to eat time and money. So that very same week I bought a horse - and made a pregnancy test. And started blogging because I could not find peer support on the internet in my crazy life situation: the pregnancy and the very first own horse.

Well, it could have been worse. My horse, Tintti, was the most suitable horse for a "rush year rider" how I started to call myself. The term describes the hectic every day life of a horse owning mother, schedules, hurry, too short night´s sleep... Stretch marks and tiredness... On the back of the horse all that is faded away. Horse has an incredible healing power. On the back of the horse a mother of two children can live a moment only for herself. It is absolutely empowering!

I love eventing. With Tintti I participated one competition before she got the diagnosis of the cushing desease (PPID). The medication that she got is counted in as doping and our competing career was over. But that didn´t stop us training - I would say that the years after the diagnoses were the best!

As I received a nannasalmi bracelet woven with Tintti´s hair in September 2014, I wouldn´t have guessed that I will loose my mare only in a few weeks. Suddenly she was indisposed to move and that worried me - especially as she had been almost perfectly healthy all our 7 years together. Examination at the clinic discovered that her feet had reached their kilometers...

Tintti was put down into a never ending sleep. I had decided that she should not suffer the long, boring, probably useless and frustrating periods of rehabilitation if the situation got bad. I wanted her to go as healthy as possible without unnecessary lengthening her life. It was not easy, though.

Tintti was the horse of my life. She carried me and my children on her back, she educated me to be a horse owner. "A mishap horse" turned out to be one of the biggest growing experiences in my life.

I couldn´t be more thankful for our shared years. I carry them in my heart and around

my wrist with full of love.

Bracelet Mistral made with dear Tintti´s hair

Wish to have one? Enquiries and orders also by email

minna.maattanen@nannasalmi.com