Experimenting with magnets

Horse boots can pose a real problem for the performance shower.  By their nature, they don't lend themselves to speedy tack changes.  As a result, it's not uncommon to see models performing bare legged even in events where leg protection is the norm.

Over the years I've tried numerous methods to make my boots user friendly.  To date, nothing has been a roaring success.  Buckles require a fair amount of patience and manual dexterity.  Tack it Over and Over glue is fickle.  Velcro is out of scale.   

Recently however, I've heard of two ideas that have the potential to revolutionize the way I make boots.  One is Anna's wire method.  The other involves micro-magnets. 

Meg Walker mentioned these on the modelhorsetack yahoo group.  I was immediately intrigued by the possibilities and placed an order.  My magnets arrived today, and they both wonderfully tiny...

and strong.  

Really, really strong!

I can't wait to start experimenting with these in earnest.  Thanks for the idea, Meg.  I can't remember the last time I was this excited about making horse boots!

Ponies on the brain

There's no denying it--I've spent most of the weekend thinking about ponies... and pony saddles!

One of these saddles is going to my friend Sheila Anderson Bishop for use on her Cerridwen and Comet pony resins.    

I just love these resins!  They have such nice pony character, and the size is perfectly in line with other common traditional scale ponies.  This may not seem important to the casual collector, but it sure makes things easier if you're interested in performance.

In fact, Cerridwen's saddle fits both Newsworthy...

and the Stone Pony quite nicely. 

It's also passable on Flash, although his mane makes things a bit awkward.  

If you're interested in adding a "Sheila pony" to your show string, be sure to check out her ads on MH$P and Facebook.

Pony moving day

Trillium moved to her new home today.

I am more impressed with this pony every time I see her.  She is just so darn good minded!  

She came off the trailer quietly, waited patiently while her pen was located and settled in like she'd lived there all her life.  

What me worry?  I'd rather eat! 

Such a pretty girl.

Tuesday is the official first day of my lease--I can't wait!

Phone Book Race

Here's another performance idea gleaned from last Saturday's Pentathlon at the Cottonwood Riding Club in Littleton, Colorado.  The Phone Book Race was part of the Trail class there, but it works equally well as a stand alone gymkhana event.

The rules of this class are simple.  The competitors ride to a designated spot, where they must dismount... 

and retrieve a specific page from a phone book.

With page in hand, the riders remount and check in with an event official.  The pair with the fastest time (and correct page) win.

So there you have it--reference photos for a timed event in which grazing is not a serious fault.  Woo hoo!  

More braiding

Quirts aren't the only braided item I know how to make.  Here are two two eared Western show bridles with braided romal reins.

The brown bridle was made in 2004.

The light oil bridle was made today.

I've had a lot of fun revisiting my braiding roots, but tomorrow it's back to English tack!

Braiding

Long before I started making saddles, I financed my hobby by selling lots of small tack items.  Since most of what I knew came from Susan Bensema Young's Guide to Making Model Horse Tack, it's no surprise that a lot of those items were braided.   The quirts featured in this long ago post, were some of my hottest sellers.  I think I must have sold at least twenty of these in 1999 alone.

Nowadays I rarely get orders for braided items so I was surprised to receive a recent request for a pair of quirts.  Even more surprising--so much time had passed since I'd made a quirt that I wasn't sure I remembered how to do it!

Of course that meant I had to experiment a little...

They're not perfect, but I think I'm ready to say yes to that order request.  Now if I could just find that email...

English tack

In regards to tack, "English" is a catch all term that encompasses saddles for disciplines as diverse as dressage and racing.  Although this type of saddlery has roots in England, English saddles are made and used the world over and include variations that are decidedly non British (e.g saddleseat) .

Unlike my usual fare, this tack set is both generally and specifically "English."   

Marianna ordered this set for her Roundabout resin.  "Roundie" is a classic sized British heavyweight cob sculpted by Karen Gerhardt.  His tack is typical of that seen in the UK show ring and includes a saddle with straight cut flaps, a balding girth and a double bridle with flat nose and browbands.  I used a guest post from my own blog to guide me in the creation of this set.  Thanks again, Lauren.  That was really helpful!

One new feature of this saddle is the black piping along the skirt pieces.  Marianna had originally asked for the lighter piping often seen on English saddles made for the American market.  I couldn't find any evidence of this on British hunter saddles, so I asked if I could use a more subtle darker piping instead.  Marianna agreed and this is the result.  

FYI--this particular Roundie was kindly loaned to me by Karen and Jennifer Scott.  He is a donation piece for Jenn's Horses N Hangars Live show which was held last month in Broomfield, Colorado.  Jenn will be painting him and offering him for sale sometime this fall.

Thanks to Karen and Jenn for the loan, Lauren for the information and Marianna for such a fun order!