Braymere Custom Tree Removal

Over the course of the last thirty six hours it has become increasingly obvious that there is no quick fix for our plumbing woes. Nothing less than replacing the offending pipe will do, and unfortunately for us, that pipe is located some nine feet below the big tree in our front yard.My whole family loved that tree. None of us wanted to see it go, but it was either that or give up toilets and showers. That's not a sacrafice we were willing to make, so today we said goodbye to the tree.

At first it was very sad...

but then it just turned into a whole lot of work.

We did it, though!Here's what's left of the tree. Is it weird that I'm already planning to use some of those logs to build cross country jumps?

That was an interesting way to spend a day, but I do not think I will be offering my tree removal services to the public. I'd rather stick to tackmaking!

Under water

It's rare for me to go an entire day without thinking about horses or tack, but today has been that kind of day...I've spent most of the day mopping up my basement and dealing with the plumber. The problem still isn't fixed. I hope to be back to tack tomorrow, but no promises.

Studio visitors

People sometimes ask me if I ever get lonely when I'm working in my studio. What they don't realize is that the studio is often the most populated room in the house!

My girls are almost always in here with me.
There are actually two dog beds, but both Abbie and Maggie like this one the best.

The kids are in and out a lot, and they bring their little furry friends with them.

Don't be fooled by that innocent face. Cinnamon is a menace. Here she is trying to take out a rider doll.

Her sister Basil isn't much better. Watch out gum tragacanth!

Lonely? In this studio? Not a chance!

Tack Tips--Spring cleaning for bridles

Sometimes it's not just my house that needs cleaning, it's my tack, too! Today's post is all about dealing with two common tack care and cleaning issues. I found Honeyson Fellow's bridle in the pile of old basement tack earlier this week. It's a nice bridle, but after several years of neglect it's dusty, dried out and stiff. The reins are kinked and do not lie properly on his neck.Almost any type of leather cleaner that is appropriate for real tack will work on your model tack. I prefer lighter, non oily products that smell nice such as the two pictured below. Avoid all types of leather oils. These will darken your tack and may also adversely affect the glued areas.

I never apply the cleaner directly onto the tack. Instead, I pour a little onto a soft cloth and use that to gently clean both sides of all the straps. I am careful not to saturate the leather as that could lead to color changes and may also weaken the glued areas. This is definitely a time when less is more. You don't want the leather to feel wet just a little "tacky". Let the bridle dry completely, and then go back and buff the straps with a dry cloth.

Here's Fellow's bridle after a good cleaning. It looks and feels brand new again. Hurray!

Excessive wear on the straps is another common problem. This is especially true for bridles with photo etched buckles. After a few shows, it's not unusual for the strap to start looking worn and fuzzy. The left side cheekpiece and throatlatch on this endurance bridle are a perfect example of this.

Of course it's impossible to undo all the damage, but a little gum tragacanth will go a long way towards restoring the strap.

Simply dip your finger into the bottle and rub the gum tragacanth onto the leather paying particular attention to the edges and flesh (back) side. Once that's dry, I will often go back and refresh the holes with either an awl or a pencil punch.

After just a minute or two, Balthazar's bridle is looking show ready once again.

In addition to slicking down the fuzzies, the gum tragacanth also acts as a stiffener. Not only will the strap look neater, but it will be easier to feed it through the buckles and keepers. I keep a little bottle of gum tragacanth in my live show box to spot treat problem areas as I'm tacking up.

Questions, comments, more tack cleaning advice? I'd love to hear it! Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Toy horses

All three of yesterday's cheap Breyers have been claimed. Thanks for your interest--there will be plenty more in the days to come!

I am still working my way through the mountain of hobby stuff in my basement. Most of it is similar to what you saw yesterday--old, often unfinished, tack projects and original finish Breyers.

There have been, however, a few surprises including a box of really old toy horses from my childhood. I hadn't thought about any of these models in years. I didn't even realize they still existed, let alone remained in my possession. Despite that, I remember each and every one of them clearly including their names, breeds and "occupations."

The first, and oldest, is Blackjack. He was given to me by my friend Amy in first or second grade. In case you can't tell, he's a Shetland Pony.
Denmark's Little Bit is a three gaited Saddlebred mare.

This pinto mare is named Crazy Eights and she was one of my many jumpers. Ok, I realize there is absolutely nothing about this horse that says "jumper," but back then I didn't care about things like conformation and biomechanics. I liked jumpers so that's what most of my horses were!

Kanika was also a jumper.

I didn't know about the Pony Jumper division, so this Welsh Pony named Surprize Package had to be a hunter turned broodmare instead.

Surprize's twin foals were attached to her saddle via chains that hooked onto their neck loops. I thought that was weird and creepy so I removed the chains. I would have gotten rid of the neck loops, too, if I had known how!

A pair of Thelwell ponies. I don't think these two ever had names, which is kind of strange since I've always liked naming things.

This Appaloosa is roughly Little Bit scale. I know I had a bunch of these at one point, but (thankfully!) the others seem to have disappeared.

Last but certainly not least, here is my very first original sculpture. I made this in a long ago summer school art class. It's newspaper glued over a coat hanger armature. I remember that I wanted to keep working on it, but the teacher made us move on to another project. I was so disappointed--why would you want to make a mask when you could be sculpting horses instead!

Oh, I don't know what to do with these! Even if there was a market for models like this, I think I'd have trouble parting with them. Probably I'll end up putting them back in the box so I can rediscover them again in another decade or two...

Spring cleaning

Our basement has a built in craft area with shelves and a work table. When we first moved in, I tried to use the space for tackmaking, but I never really felt comfortable working down there. The lighting isn't great and I didn't like being that removed from the rest of the house. It wasn't long before I moved my tools and supplies upstairs.

Over time the space has become one big messy catch-all for all my hobby overflow, and I've decided it's high time I reclaim the area and make it useful again. Eww! I'm not sure which is worse--the dust or the severed plastic horse limb.

Here's the same space a couple hours later. It's still cluttered, but at least now it's a lot less embarrassing.

I found all kinds of bits and pieces from long forgotten tackmaking projects. I never know what to do with this stuff. It's not good enough to keep but too good to throw away...

Surprisingly, there was one nice tack set amongst the junk. Does anyone want a circus costume? This is probably three or four years old, but it's nearly equal to my current work. It's a bit stiff from being in a baggy, but that's an easy fix. I guarantee this looks much better in person than it does in this hasty photo! I'm asking $50 now. Once it's cleaned up and rephotographed, I'll be listing it on MH$P for $75...

While I'm in the selling mode, does anyone want these Breyers? I am trying to trim the herd a bit and am willing to let them go for next to nothing (seriously!).

Please send all inquiries/offers to braymere@comcast.net and keep an eye out for more spring cleaning bargains in the weeks to come!

Party/Puppy/Derby

I survived the birthday party.

I would like to say it was a big success, but that would be an exaggeration. Ten minutes into the party we had an injury serious enough to send one kid to the ER (he's ok now). Then, the pizza I'd ordered and paid for hours in advance was never delivered. I ended up serving birthday cake for dinner. The kids thought that was pretty great, but I was less convinced. Oh well. At least it was memorable!Today was also busy. My friends Carol, Cara and Kristin came over with their newest family member. This is Delilah. Just look at that face! I think I'm in love...

We ate Kentucky Derby pie and watched Super Saver romp in the mud. All in all, it was a most satisfying afternoon.

Well, that's it for now. The restaurant that was responsible for last night's pizza fiasco has offered us five free pizzas as a consolation prize. We are heading out to take advantage of that. Hopefully this time there will actually be pizza and not just birthday cake!