Tack day

I've said it before, but it bears repeating--the best way to improve your tack is to spend lots of time studying the real thing.

And when I say "the real thing," I mean exactly that. Google Images is a great tool, but pictures on a computer screen can never compare to real world observation. I like to touch and feel and peek under flaps and flip things over to see their undersides and.... Well, you get the picture!

So, with that in mind, I took a break from my studio and spent the day looking at real tack with my friend, Teresa.
Our first stop was an upscale English tack shop in Boulder, Colorado. I had not shopped there before and honestly, I can't really afford to shop there at all. Still, Teresa and I had a great time looking and touching and dreaming. I was especially impressed with this wall of Butets. Sigh. I just love a good French saddle...After we left FoxCreek, we headed back east to the barn where Teresa keeps her horse. There is a wonderful communal tack room there filled with high end dressage saddles,

bridles,

and all sorts of interesting odds and ends.

After I was done photographing the most interesting bits and pieces we slogged across the grounds to visit Teresa's boy, Flick.

Flick was turned out in the big pasture and he was not a happy camper.I can't say I blamed him. Look at the mud! Ew, can't it be Spring yet?

Crabby or not, Flick has a cute face!

All in all, this was a nearly perfect Tack Day. My eyes feel refreshed and sharpened. I took lots of good reference pictures for my files and have a few new ideas I can't wait to try out. Best of all, I had a ton of fun.

Hey Teresa, let's do it again sometime--preferably when there's a little less mud!