Slaying the dragon

I have made hundreds of saddles in the last eight years.  The vast majority of those have been "English" saddles, but I've also built several different types of Western saddles, English and Western endurance saddles, Charro saddles and a whole slew of racing saddles...  And, oh yeah, there was also one Portuguese saddle.

You can read the whole sad saga of that first Portuguese saddle here.

Although Regan has won a lot of NAN cards with it, I was never truly satisfied with the way it was put together.

If I was smart, I would have quit while I was ahead. Unfortunately, I am a slow learner.  In December 2008, I agreed to take on another Portuguese saddle order.  Then, in October 2009, I did it again.  

I have tried and tried and tried to make those saddles.  I can not explain it, but it's obvious that I have a real mental block when it comes to this particular type of saddlery.

Yesterday, however, I had a breakthrough.  Today, I have most of a saddle.

As usual, this is not nearly as finished as it looks. I still have a ton of work to do, but the basics are there and this time, I'm much happier with the way it's going together.  It's not perfect, of course.  I still see things that need changing, but it really feels like I'm on the right track.  Finally--I'm on the right track.

Oh, you have no idea what a relief this is!  For the first time in a long time, I actually think I'm going to slay the Portuguese saddle dragon!

Sneaky peeky

There's a new project on my work bench and it's not an English saddle...

Wish me luck--I think I'm going to need it!!

Almost wordless Wednesday

More photos from the performance division of the Hearts N Horses Live Show held last weekend in Leeuwarden, Holland.  Many thanks to Anne Van der Weel for sharing these with everyone.

Other Performance

Showmanship

Showmanship winner, owned by Charlotte Pijnenburg

Horse Agility

Another great entry from Charlotte Pijnenburg

Oh no--it's the Breyer jump!  Someone beat me to it!

Friesian Fun class

Friesian horse, cows and men!

Winner of the Friesian class-owned by Charlotte Pijnenburg

Hearts N Horses 2011

Today I am pleased to share this show report from Dutch hobbyist Anne Van der Weel.  Anne was one of the participants in Erin Corbett's Hearts N Horses live show which was held this past weekend in Leeuwarden, Holland.  Anne is also an accomplished Western tackmaker.  You can see some of her work by visiting her blog.

Hearts N Horses 2011 Show Report

by Anne van der Weel

Last weekend was show time! Hearts n Horses 2011, the first big show with an American format was held here in the Netherlands. It was a fantastic show and I had a blast! There are some big differences between the Dutch and the American format so this show was very exciting for us.

Erin's signature pink and brown rosettes

Let me start by telling you how we used to do things in the Netherlands. The day begins with Performance, seven or eight classes, give or take. Usually Harness, Dressage, Jumping (includes Hunter, Jumper and Cross-Country), Western, Arabian Costume, Spanish Costume and Other Performance. You are allowed to show a horse in no more than one Performance class. After Performance is done Halter begins. Almost everybody shows their Performance horses in Halter too. I’ve never seen a Dutch show with more than two rings and it’s not uncommon to have only one ring.

The Hearts N Horses show hall with all those rings!

So, a show like this one is quite different from what we’re used to over here. For Halter showers the main difference is in the number of rings. However, for Performance showers a whole new world emerges! The number of classes quadrupled and we’re allowed to show a horse in as many classes as we like! How awesome is that? Of course, we’re not used to doing tack changes, let alone speed tacking, as previously we were able to tack up horses at home before the show, put them in their class in the morning and then untack them for halter.

English Division entrants

In December Erin held a small live show to practice with the new format and I used that opportunity to test some set-ups and see how much I could handle without missing classes or holding up the show. I don’t know how I would have survived the big show without it! Now I felt rather well prepared (except of course for the boatload of stuff I still needed to finish, but that happens before every show, haha!) and confident that I understood the format. Which was just as well because it was my job to explain it to the other Dutch showers.

Anne's Roxy winning the Cattle Work class

Now the fun thing about the American Performance format is that it presents you with a choice. You can show models in a specific pose that is great for one or two performance classes (e.g. doing a sliding stop) or you can go with a more versatile model and try to show it in as many classes as you can. I chose to do the latter and Roxy was going to be my girl. Together we went on a quest to win that awesome saddle Erin made. With all those international people showing Performance I had little hope of winning but hey, just do your best and have fun!

Anne's Roxy winning second place in Dressage

Well, it certainly was fun! This is the biggest show I’ve been to so far. It worked out great with six different nationalities and there were lots of super nice people to meet. Everything was extremely well organized and you should have seen the raffle! I did take a picture of the raffle tables but you can’t see half of the items on there. Erin really outdid herself!

The raffle table

Roxy was having fun too and did really well in Performance. I showed her in three divisions and she won Champ in two of them. She then went on to win Overall Champion Performance!! 

Anne's Roxy with her winnings

Showing in more than one division seems to be a good strategy. I think I’ve only seen one other model that was shown in multiple divisions. I don’t know if it still needs to catch on over here or if it’s the same in the US. Anyhow, I like the challenge and I’ll keep doing it. Having this many Performance classes only feeds the addiction, haha!

 In the English division Roxy was wearing my brand new BCS tack set and in the Western division she was wearing two saddles made by me.  

Congratulations, Anne, and thank you so much for the show report.  Look for more of Anne's Hearts N Horses photos tomorrow!

Fixing things

I like fixing things.  

This is a valuable trait in an underfunded hobbyist.  I learned early on that otherwise unattainable items often become affordable when slightly damaged.  Most repair work isn't terribly difficult and there is something enormously satisfying about returning a broken piece to its former glory.  

Nowadays, most of the things I fix belong to someone else.  This is the case with Kellye's hand-embroidered Cary Nelson Arabian costume.

At first glance there is absolutely nothing wrong with this beautiful piece... 

However, a peek under the flaps reveals a broken billet strap.  

Because the other billets are also showing signs of wear, I decided to remove them in their entirety and start from scratch.

I made the new billets from 1/8" kangaroo lace.   

I secured the billets to the saddle flap with a dab of glue and then sewed them into place.

There wasn't really anything wrong with the old girth, but Kellye wanted something that would be a bit easier to use.

I made her a contour English style girth with elastic on both ends and roller tongue buckles.    

Nothing is ever truly finished until I've actually tried it on a model.  Happily, this passes muster!  

One last look at Kellye's beautiful costume before I box it up and send it back to her...

I've always been a big fan of Cary Nelson's work and it was a great pleasure to have this piece in my possession even if it was only here for a week or two!

Darcy the diva

A couple years ago, my husband bought me a portable photo tent for my birthday.

 It's easy to set up and allows me to take professional looking pictures with a minimal amount of effort.

There's only one problem--it's a little too small to use with traditional sized models. Fortunately, I am nothing if not resourceful, and I've become quite adept at whipping up temporary photo tents in my living room.  I've been doing this a lot lately as I've been working on pictures for an upcoming blog series.

Most of my models live in the basement, so the photo tent is often left unattended while I carry models up and down the stairs... 

Every single person with indoor pets knows where this is going, right?  Darcy won't stay out of my photo tent!

I can't decide if the tent is really that comfortable or if Darcy just thinks she's that cute.  Either way, I can't resist taking her picture each and every time!

The Year of the Mink

Officially, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. 

Unofficially, however, it's the Year of the Mink.  Of course when I say "Mink", I'm not referring to a semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammal... 

I'm talking about model horse artist extraordinaire, Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig!

The Year of the Mink started last November with Dagobert.  Gimme S'more followed soon after, and today I welcomed Mabel to my herd.

While Dagobert and Gimme S'more are resins sculpted by Sarah, Mabel is a resin painted by Sarah.  

She was sculpted by Donna Chaney of Animal Artistry.  

Apparently I like my Minks small and spotted!

Happily for me, the Year of the Mink is ongoing--there will be another addition to my Mink line-up before the Year is through!