About My Business
Someone sends me an envelope. Inside is a small bundle of hair — carefully gathered from the mane or tail of a horse they love, or a horse they have loved and lost. Sometimes there is a note. Sometimes that note is hard to read. This is because grief makes writing difficult. Always, without exception, what arrives in that envelope is irreplaceable. That is where my work begins. My name is Anna Miles, and I am the founder and sole maker behind Equine Mementos — a bespoke horsehair keepsake business based in Waimate, South Canterbury. Using traditional Victorian hairwork techniques, I hand-braid and work each client's horse hair into something lasting and personal — bracelets, hatbands, pendants, tie bars and keyrings, set in precious metal, wood, leather or stainless steel. Every piece is made to order. No two are ever the same, because no two horses and no two relationships between horse and owner, ever are. Victorian hairwork is a heritage craft that was once widely practised and then almost entirely lost. To my knowledge, I am the only person in New Zealand doing this work commercially. I came to it through my own loss — the death of two beloved horses — and the realisation that there was nowhere to turn for something truly personal and handmade. I taught myself the craft, built a studio, and opened the doors in 2019. The process begins with a kōrero. I take time to understand the horse, the relationship, and what the piece needs to mean. Some clients are celebrating a living horse — a milestone, a retirement, a bond they want to treasure while they still can. Others are navigating loss, and they need to feel that the process is in safe, caring hands. All of them receive the same quiet attention, the same clear communication, and the same commitment to getting it right. My clients are located throughout New Zealand — from Northland to Southland — with international commissions fulfilled to Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. More than a third of clients have returned for a second or subsequent commission. Growth has been built entirely on word of mouth and organic search, with very little advertising. Every piece leaves my studio having been made with care, precision and genuine respect for what it represents and what it deserves..
Why We Should Win The Peoples Choice Award
I want to tell you something about the people who find Equine Mementos. They are not browsing. They are not impulse buying. They arrive because something has happened — a horse they loved for twenty years has gone, or a beloved companion has been lost suddenly and without warning — and they are looking for somewhere to take that feeling. Somewhere that understands what a horse means to the person who loved them. Somewhere that will handle what they are carrying with care. That is what Equine Mementos is here for. I am Anna Miles — a horse person, a maker, and a one-woman business operating out of a purpose-built studio in Waimate, South Canterbury. For six years I have been hand-braiding horsehair into keepsakes using traditional Victorian techniques that very few people in the world still practises. Each piece is made from hair gathered from a client's own horse. Each one is unique. Each one carries a story that only that horse and that owner share. I started this business after losing two of my own horses. I know what that grief feels like. I know the particular ache of wanting to hold onto something tangible — something made with care, from the horse themselves, that will last. I could not find what I was looking for, so I learned to make it. And then other people started asking. Six years later, Equine Mementos has clients in every region of New Zealand and in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. More than a third of everyone who has ever commissioned a piece has come back for another. People find Equine Mementos because someone they trust told them about it — a friend who received a piece, a fellow horse person who wanted to mark their own loss, someone who simply said: “you need to talk to Anna”. In 2023, Equine Mementos was a Finalist in the South Canterbury Business Awards and Runner Up in the People's Choice — a tiny one-person business standing alongside much larger companies, recognised by the public. In 2026, we are finalists again. But here is what I would really like you to know. Every piece I make matters to me personally. Not because it is good for business but because it is somebody's horse. Somebody's companion. Somebody's twenty years of early mornings and quiet rides and a relationship that words do not quite cover. When that envelope arrives in my studio with a carefully gathered lock of hair inside, I understand the weight of what I am holding. I treat it accordingly. Voting for Equine Mementos is a vote for a business that was built from grief and grew through genuine connection. A vote for a heritage craft being kept alive by one person, in a small South Canterbury town, for clients who need something that almost nobody else can offer them. It is a vote for doing things carefully, personally, and with real heart. I would be honoured to have your support.
