Saddle Pads

early attempt, back in the hot-glue-and-say-prayers days of tackmaking

Anyone who has ever asked me will tell you...I hate making saddle pads. Hate is a strong word, but it is an accurate one. I do okay with cross-stitch.

this little darling is for sale, any offers?

  ...but I don't have the best relationship with my sewing machine....

It took ALL MY PATIENCE to make these two silly things

I didn't make the saddle, just the derp bridle and pad

   So imagine my delight when I find a seller who makes LOVELY, ASTOUNDING saddle pads in brilliant colors and patterns, that I can actually justify afford.

CANDY.

Of course my new etchie, Spider, had to have a spiderweb pad!

The web is metallic threads...SO HANDSOME

The first pad I bought from them, looks SUPER CUTE with my favorite Western

Had to try the cutback even though Thor doesn't need it...LOVE.

She uses this awesome fleece that feels super realistic, and thoroughly stitches them.

      So go check out merryjeansdreams on ebay! The pads are a great price and super nice (and I am a notoriously picky person). I know that I will be back for more, so go buy yours before I get there first! She has a ton of Halloween stuff up right now, and lots of other great patterns, as well as some very pretty models, too!

My current collection of merryjeansdreams pads...

RS Spotlight City

My little CWP is done! I was terribly lazy and didn't sand her seams, which I really regret now. Oh well! She's still really cute and turned out better than I feared. It's the ones that fight you the most, sometimes...

RS First Contact

After so much time away from my models, I suddenly got hit with inspiration.

I would like to proudly welcome RS First Contact (barn name "Montana") to my herd!

I wasn't planning to paint that particular model...but I am not disappointed with the result. It's funny, when I started, I told myself "ok, now no bays, and no paints, because I have plenty of those!"
Well, oops.
Oh well!

The Long-Awaited Etchie

After four years of being alternately etched and tossed in storage, at last, the poor body Trakehner has a new, and very handsome look as an Appaloosa Sport Horse.

Now he just needs the perfect name!

Nominated

I was nominated by Trail Blazer Farm for the Liebster Award. So thank you, Trail Blazer Farm! I don't have time for tagging other blogs, sadly, but I feel I should at least answer the nomination by answering the questions.

1. Who is your favorite horse, model or real?

Several years ago, there was a very special OTTB named Rain, who captured my heart. I miss him terribly.  

2. Where do you want to go, any world, any place, any time?

The reality where I have a permanent place to live, and a couple of horses.

 

3. Are you an only child or do have siblings?
I have one sibling and a lot of siblings.

4. If all of your models were real, which one would you want to ride, show, etc.?
Oh goodness...I'd need all of my dolls to be real too, to help me feed all those horses! Uh, hmm. I suppose if I had to pick just one horse to be my personal horse, it would probably be Rubicon. I would also love Rose, because she's so cuddly!

 

5. How did you get started in the hobby?

Model horses? I've had toy horses since I was a baby (if original My Little Ponies and She-Ra horses count) but Breyers, I didn't have until I was old enough to buy them myself, because my mom said they were too expensive and breakable. I was always sort of peripherally aware of them as these unreachable treasures.

 

6. Who was your first model? Rocky. I found him at a second-hand store.

 

7. What was your best model purchase? How do I determine best? 0o I love them alllll. They all have their own stories. The cheapest one I bought was Flik, for $1. He was a 3 legged body at a different second-hand store and I rescued him from being thrown in the dumpster.

 

8. What's the worst thing you've ever bought? Breyer-wise? Probably the Breyer Dressage Rider. She fell apart as I was trying to remove her from the packaging.

 

9. Favorite tv show? Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

 

10. What is your least favorite Breyer mold, horse, and color? Least favorite mold: Running Stallion. Least favorite horse: "Wing Commander" least favorite color: palomino

Old and New...ish.

I had the opportunity this past week to visit a local museum. There were saddles in the basement! There wasn't much lighting, and the only camera I had was my cellphone, but I tried to get what reference photos I could. This saddle was small, but it had a really deep seat. The stirrups were missing. It didn't have any info on it, but it did have a rifle case.

There was also a tree...

And several sidesaddles from the 1800s!

 

I may go back sometime and take my real camera.

The other thing that I did is visit an antique store. There was some tack there, too. Mostly stuff that was beyond hope of repair. I found a white mechanical hackamore that looked pretty gnarly, and a presentation halter with silver. But what I took home was a humble-looking dirty leather halter.

 Which turned into a nice, clean, fairly decent and barely-used-looking leather halter!

Overall, it was a pretty good day!

Moving Again

As of the end of June, I ended up making a very unexpected move several hundred miles south for health reasons. Everything is in boxes. I'm living in very temporary arrangements. Things are beyond chaotic. It might be a while before I am showing off new tack or custom models again. Hopefully not too long though!

In the meantime, here is the etchie work-in-progress Appaloosa Sport Horse that I was working on just prior to moving.