What's On a Derby Horse's Head
There are things in a Kentucky Derby photograph that never make the caption.
The trainer's face. The groom's hands. The halter.
All three have been up since four in the morning. All three have done their job without a word of credit. And all three, on the right horse on the right day, end up in a photograph that gets printed in the Blood-Horse and hung on the wall of a tack room for the next twenty years.
At Quillin Leather & Tack, we've been making the halter in that photograph since 1982.
The Derby Trail Starts Long Before Churchill
By the time a horse walks under the Twin Spires, someone has been handling him in a Quillin halter for months. Maybe longer. The Derby trail runs through maiden races and allowances and stakes prep mornings at Keeneland and Gulfstream and Santa Anita — and every one of those mornings, the halter is the first thing that goes on and the last thing that comes off.
That's not a decoration. That's a tool. And tools that fail don't get a second chance in this business.
Our track halters are built from 1 1/8 inch English bridle leather — the same grade that has been trusted by horsemen for a century — with solid brass hardware and stitching done by hand on century-old Campbell stitcher machines right here on Main Street in Paris, Kentucky. They break in to the shape of your horse. They last. They come back to us for repair when they need it, and they go right back to work.
Three Sizes. One Standard.
Most halter makers offer one size and call it universal. We offer three, because a turf horse's narrow, refined head and a power sprinter's broad, bold head are not the same animal. A halter that fits is a halter that stays put. A halter that stays put is a horse that's handled safely, every time.
Order Before the Season Peaks
If you're building out your barn's tack this spring, now is the time. Our craftsmen hand-build every halter, and the weeks leading into Derby season are our busiest of the year. Order early. Your horses — and your grooms — will thank you.
[Shop Quillin Track Halters → quillin.com/halters/track-halters]
— Donna & Ralph Quillin | Quillin Leather & Tack | 716 Main Street, Paris KY | 859-987-0215
