Some last minute trickery that may be of interest:
The trumpet cord is made of two threads of different colours from my mothers sewing kit, twisted and then fixed together with a coat of Humbrol Clear.
The reins are made from paper, blackened with a felt tip. Once they were attached to the horse and rider, I soaked them with water to make them supple, and pushed them down a bit. Gravity and drying did the rest. Another one of those cases where you don't simulate, but effectively build the real thing at a much smaller scale, and with different materials.
