Horses N Hangars custom halter, part two

More photos from Custom Halter division at the Horses N Hangars Live show held last month in Broomfield, Colorado.  

The Stock Division opened with a big and tough Appaloosa class.

This Breyer Zippo was customized by Pamala Hutton and is owned by Kim Lovelace.

Paints were next. 

This sweet faced ISH is owned by Christine Holt. 

What's this? A Purdy horse that does not belong to me?!

Two Purdy horses that do not belong to me? The horror! 

Onto Quarter Horses!

Once again there were two Purdy horses on the table. This one's mine... 

and this one belongs to Kim. 

All the first and second place winners came back for the Stock Breed call backs. The ISH on the far right was Champion and the grulla Purdy Paint was Reserve.

The Pony Division opened with the American Pony class. Fresh from a nine month vacation with the cows, the best my custom Flash could do was fourth.

The winner of the American Pony class was Snickers, an absolutely darling Classic Mustang Mare owned and created by Bridgett Murphy. So cute!

Not certain but I'm guessing this pretty boy is a Charlotte Donahue piece... She does the most amazing braids!

And then there's this guy... Isn't he a resin? I swear I've seen him before, but I can't remember his name. 

Onto the Drafters!

Love!

I also loved the Long Ear/Exotic class. 

So... 

many... 

mules!!!

Here's a look at the call back table for the Overall Custom Halter Championships.

And the winner is... I hate to say this, but I'm not really certain. I think it was Kim Lovelace's Prius. 

Congratulations to all the winners. That was definitely the best Custom Halter Division this area has seen in a long time!

Horses N Hangars custom halter, part one

Colorado is not known for its tough Custom Halter classes, but you would have never guessed that if your only point of reference was last month's Horses N Hangars Live Show in Broomfield, Colorado.   

I have no idea where all these nice horses came from! 

Seriously--the tables were loaded with pretty new faces.

Not certain, but I'm guessing this pair was owned by the mother/daughter team of Christine Holt and Tara Oliver.   Those two have quite an enviable vintage custom collection.

Despite all the tough competition, the Championship went to a familiar face.  This is Scrambellina.  She is customized, painted and owned by Sheila Anderson Bishop and was also Reserve Champion Stock Foal at this year's NAN.

Light breeds were next.

The Arabian classes...

 were filled with beautiful newcomers...

but once again it was an old favorite who came away with top honors.  This time it was my own Nejmet es Subh, a Breyer PAM customized by Judy Rene Pope.

The rest of the Light Division was made up of National Show Horses, 

Half Arabians (that's Khompounded Interest winning the blue),

and Morgans.

Here's a look at the Custom Light Breed Championship table.

Hurray!  My girls won both titles.  Khompounded Interest was Champ and Nejmet was Reserve. 

Onto Sport Horses!

This old guy sure is cute!  I think he's a Capwell, but I'm not certain. 

I know this one is a Jennifer Read creation.  His name is Priux and he was Sport Breed Champion.  Kim Lovelace is the lucky owner.

Kim also owns this guy.

He's a custom Breyer Salinero by Sue Kern.  So cool! 

Champion Spanish/Gaited went to this Alborozo painted by Sheila and owned by Teresa Fedak.

Stock horses, ponies and drafts to follow!

Cory's bridles

If you're a fan of my Tack Tips tutorials, here's the best way to encourage me to write more of them.

Today's photos come from Cory Sanford.  She writes: I just wanted to share with you some bridles I made using some of the tips found in your wonderful blog!  You are more than welcome to the pics to share if you like.  I just wanted to show you these as proof of your top notch 'tutelage' through your Tack Tips section for great ideas and to give you a big thank you for those as well! 

There's nothing wrong with that black bridle, but it's the brown bridle that truly blows me away.

Cory describes it thusly: Raised English Bridle(2nd bridle made) - bridle has working buckles and is adjustable to models a bit bigger or smaller than Salinero; features real (tedious ) stitching on brow band, nose band, caveson hanger, reins and even at the buckles; keepers by buckles are glued in place but second keepers are movable; curb chain not on this bridle but can be included with S hooks; bit and reins are removable; the reins are laced with working buckle and have an actual hook to attach them to the bit. I used a jump ring as bit just to take the pic. This bridle will be for sale!

For the record, there has never been a Tack Tip about real stitching on an English bridle.  That attention to detail represents a level of crazy that I have not yet explored.  I have, however, mentioned teeny tiny stitching in this post.

Thank you, Cory, for sharing pictures of your stunning bridles!  I look forward to seeing lots more of your work in the future.

Overheated

For the past seventeen days, temperatures in the Denver metro area have soared above and beyond the ninety degree mark.

My entire house is hot.  We don't have air conditioning, and the combination of unrelenting heat and unusual humidity (for Colorado) has overwhelmed my ancient swamp cooler.  It's not ninety degrees in my studio, but it's much too close for comfort.  Not surprisingly I really, really, really did not feel like working on tack today. 

But...  the deadline for that sidesaddle set is looming so I forced myself to sit down and make the bridle.

It wasn't until after I'd finished that I remembered I'd used gold toned hardware on the saddle.

Crap!  The idea of building a whole new bridle made me ill, so I decided to see if it was possible to swap out the hardware on the existing bridle.

Fortunately, it was! 

Still, this was not one of those days when I think I have the best job in the world!

P.S.  Just in case anyone is wondering, it's ok to have a hunt type bridle with gold buckles and silver bits.  

I have also seen this kind of gold/silver combination on dressage bridles.  Model horse folks are much more obsessed with the whole matchy-matchy thing than real horse people.