APHA Trainer Tina Langness Breaks Into the Jewelry Biz With CHARMING, Elegant Horse Hair Jewelry

By: Brittany Bevis

Many in the APHA industry are familiar with competitor, coach, judge, and trainer Tina Langness, who has amassed over 65 APHA, PtHA, ApHC, and NSBA World and Reserve World Champion titles throughout her career. What you might not know is that Langness is also a budding jewelry designer who has combined her love of horses with a creative talent she never knew she had.

“This jewelry thing just kind of took off and snowballed in a weird sort of way,” Tina says. “About three weeks before Christmas, I was trying to come up with something nice I could make for my clients as gifts. I ended up making 24 horse hair bracelets and my clients and friends loved them. Many of them were personalized by using the client’s horse’s hair, and that’s exactly what I wanted – something personal, handmade, and for them to know some serious time, thought, and love went into every piece.”

Backed by her clients’ enthusiasm, Charming Elegant Horse Hair Jewelry was born. With no formal training to speak of, Tina relied on patience, practice, and trial and error to hone her craft. “I just started braiding hair and figuring it out on my own,” she says. “I had four strands of yarn, ribbon, and cord tied to things in my house (the living room lamp, a door knob, and to a table in my office) that forced me to practice and learn how to do it. Once I got the braiding down, I went to the local craft store to figure out what I needed to secure the ends. I learned all about jump rings, clasps, thingamajigs, and all kinds of other jewelry findings.”

Tina’s favorite part of the process is searching for the “sparkly bits,” like findings, beads, charms, crystals, and pendants that give each piece it’s own unique personality. “Everything is hand selected; I don’t order anything in bulk because I don’t want any of the pieces to be the same. Many of the parts I use come from high end, specialty stores.”

When designing a new piece, Tina begins with what she likes to call the “center of attention,” a main bead or pendant. She then lays out the initial design on her work table and builds from there. She also likes to add a personal touch to each piece, either in the form of a special charm or birthstone. “I have a whole table full of pretty things pulled out, and I just start playing with a design. Once I have the design worked out, then I’ll start the actual building process and putting it all together.”

“Doing the memorial bracelets has been rewarding. There is such a connection and a special feeling I get knowing the importance of the hair I’m handling. I’ve had hair sent to me from people who have kept it for years. They wanted to do something with it, but didn’t know what.”

According to Tina, the best horse hair to use for jewelry-making is tail hair, because it has a coarse texture and is easy to work with. Mane hair can be used in a pinch, but that often results in short pieces being mixed in the bundle that have to be removed before braiding can begin.

“A lot of people think it takes a big chunk of hair, but it doesn’t,” she says. “A pencil’s thickness is all I need and for length 14-16” for a bracelet and 22-26” for a necklace. I buy my tail hair from an actual supplier who lets me purchase in ounces versus pounds. The hair seems more consistent in quality and coloring when bought in smaller amounts. I can purchase any color, and I love to mix colors to get special effects.”

Some pieces take hours to create while others can be assembled in just minutes. “Sometimes, my hands can’t keep up with my brain because it’s brimming over with ideas. It’s just fun! It’s certainly been a journey for me, and an artistic side has flourished… one I never knew I had.”

The past two years have been challenging for Tina because her family has suffered from considerable loss. Jewelry-making has allowed her to find a place of inner healing, ‘yoga for the mind,’ as she likes to call it. “It has created an outlet that allows me to let go of frustration, stress, and to use a creative side I didn’t know was within me. One of the greatest rewards is to know it doesn’t go unnoticed and it’s appreciated by so many.”

A big step in turning this budding hobby into a small business was finding a partner with excellent photography and graphic design skills who could assist with marketing, web, and social media. She found her match in Joselyn Leonhart of JML Design, who also creates many of Tina’s horse ads for industry publications. “A big piece of her goes into everything she does, and I love her work ethic.”

For now, Tina plans to focus on the creation of bracelets, necklaces, and Bindi Bangles or dog collars (named after her Dachshund puppy Bindi). She can also make earrings, lanyards, keychains, bracelets for men, and special items she calls Hope pieces that are designed for those who have survived cancer.

For more information about Tina’s designs, visit Charming Elegant Horse Hair Jewelry on Facebook.