I had a person ask about mounting their pet horses head after it dies.. She has had it for 25 years and is checking into what it would cost and if I would be able to do it.. I told her I would have to get back to her. My questions are, 1.)Does anyone make horse head forms and if not what would I use? 2.) Is there any laws that prohibits mounting horses? 3.) If I can find a form and mount this horse is the mounting process pretty much like that of a deer. 4.) Would the tanning process be the same as a deer? 5.) If you think there is anytrhing I am forgetting please let me know. Sorry about so many questions but I want to get everything figured out before I say yes or no. Thanks for all of the help.
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Van Dykes and Jonas carries horse forms, tanning is the same, expect a lot of altering on the form, luckily there is a lot of reference pics for horses.
Jeanette Hall at http://www.jeanettestaxidermy.com Jeanette won a third place in the Nationals this year with a horse. She has pics. of it on her website. Jeannette is a excellent taxidermist. And would probably be more than willing to help you out with your questions.
I refuse to do pets... No mount can be done to give back the exact same feeling that the owner had or felt.. I just feel like the customer will not be pleased no matter how good of a job you do.. GOOD LUCK!
First of all your asking if your allowed to mount horses . It looks like your new to taxidermy since you dont know you can mount any creature except people . Then you dont even know you can buy a horse form . If I were you I wouldnt touch it since its a petthat they had for a long time and if you screw it up , you might have a law suit . Stick with deer until you know what your doing . The only pets I do are birds and small mammals , not cats or dogs . Rick
That wants their pet mounted, is to emotionaly close to the pet in the first place. IF they are that close they want back what they had before it died. Maybe not all of them, but that is just my opinion. If you do the Horse mount, make sure you make it fail safe in writting that if they are not satisfied in any way, for any reason, you are not at fault! Like Newbirdman said, you could get a lawsuit on your hands.
The difference between mounting a guys deer vs. his dog is that he will be happy if his deer looks like A deer and not like THE deer he shot. The dog owner will only be satisfied if his dog looks like HIS dog and not A dog of that breed. Having said that, I did mount a donkey using a zebra mannikin. It was no harder than a deer and the only alteration was that I had to narrow the neck. And it came out looking exactly like "A" donkey. Explain this simple premis to your client. If they'll agree to it I'd go for it, providing I feel competent in doing it. On the upside, if they agree to this premis, besides having their business you'll be doing them a heartfelt service.
The horse is still in the land of the living and there's a very good chance the owner will change her mind. If not, make sure you are paid a sizeable deposit before you touch it. There's an equally good chance they won't be satisfied, or will change their mind about hanging "Flicka" on the living room wall, after the work is completed. Oh, and remember a taxidermist's reputation is their business. Bad news travels at the speed of light.