Dee Crawley

Because of the model horse hobby, I have a lot of friends I could not pick out of a line-up. Dee Crawley was one of these.

We met through social media and bonded over our shared love of horses, model horses and model horse tack. Like me, Dee was a tack maker. She specialized in Arabian costumes and, later, Akhal Teke and Marwari tack.

Her work was neat, precise and always aesthetically pleasing. I am fortunate to own several of her smaller pieces.

Dee was a longtime blog reader and a generous supporter of the Jennifer Show. In 2016, she donated a beautiful Arabian horse jewelry presentation set.

In 2019, she sent a gorgeous set of Akhal Teke collars.

Dee and I chatted occasionally over the years. She was as nice as she was talented, which is really saying a lot.

Dee lost her husband, Brad, to cancer in December 2020. In a cruel twist of fate, she was diagnosed with cancer just a few months later. For a while, it sounded like she might beat it. She made one last beautiful tack set before announcing that she was no longer in remission.

Here is one of her last messages to her hobby friends, which was posted November twenty third on her Facebook page: I have enjoyed this hobby and the friends I've made. I always tried to make costumes to the best of my ability. I was pleased when people were happy with what I made for them, and it was icing on the cake when people would win at shows.  Especially people that would get a costume just because they had faith that they might win. That always floored me, and I would do my best to hopefully have them win. I really did put everything I could into my tack. I want to thank you all for being my friend through these years. With Love, Dee

Dee passed away last night. On behalf of the model horse hobby, I want to thank her for being our friend through all these years. We loved the costumes, but even more, we loved Dee. The hobby is a lesser place without her in it.