Both in my professional and private life, I am known as something of a “horse girl.” You might even say I am obsessed.
This interest began during my PhD, when I studied fragments of ancient horse tack from Early Iron Age elite burials. Because only the metal components survived, I set out to understand how the equipment originally fitted together and what it could reveal about use in practice. This question quickly moved beyond the archive. I sought advice from equine archeologists, but also started riding lessons to better understand horses and their gear from the inside out. More than a decade later, I now co-own two feisty mares, regularly go on riding holidays, and have a well-established habit of bringing horses into almost any conversation.
This combination of practical experience and archeological research has profoundly shaped my approach to ancient horse tack. It has led me to question long-standing assumptions and to rethink reconstructions that often prioritize form over function. My aim is always to “put the horse back in the tack” — ensuring that reconstructions are not only visually convincing, but also mechanically and practically viable.
Because surprisingly often, they are not…