I hate spiders. Hate them. Their eight creepy little legs skittering across the floor sends shivers down my spine. Ew. So you can imagine my frantic panic when a fairly large one descends from out of nowhere, down my dash and onto the car floor. OMG where did that come from and where did it go? Never mind the fact that I am currently driving seventy miles an hour down the highway. So here I am twenty minutes into my hour and a half commute pulling off the highway and searching the car for the stupid thing. After about ten minutes and not finding it, I reluctantly get back in the car and continue on. I could not get home fast enough. Ew ew ew ew ew.

So now what? I'm not getting back in that car. I know that spider is still there just waiting for me. This was last Tuesday. So I took my Honda to work the rest of the week. Hey, why else do I have two cars? CPF says I'm ridiculous. Maybe so.

Anyhow, car got a thorough vacuum and cleaning. Sunday on my way to the barn I noticed there are now cobwebs covering the entire dash and passenger side. Fantastic.

This morning I'm getting ready for work, only to find a spider hanging onto my kitchen cabinets. Lovely.

I get in the car and head off to work. Sitting at a traffic light I see a little gray spider crawl up the side of the window by my head and disappear into the door frame. What the heck? Is it attack of the spiders day? Good thing I need gas anyway and at least I found the cobweb culprit. So I pull into the gas station and am just about to get out of the car, when out of the corner of my eye I see the big fat brown spider from last Tuesday hiding right above my shoulder in the cracks of the door. Ew ew ew ew! How is this still in my car?! How did it survive the vacuum and the baking hot sun for hours on end? How is this possible? At least I was at the gas station and could properly 'remove' it. And at least it's gone now.

As for the little gray one? Let's just pretend I didn't see it.

Yes you can laugh. I know I'm ridiculous.

Almost there. Just needs the stirrups and underside finished. I used a different technique on the the knee rolls and I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. All I need is one more afternoon and this saddle will be complete. :D

Sneak peak…

I'm really liking the way this set looks on this guy!

I've got the breast collar pretty much done, it just needs to be sewn together. Of course I've saved my least favorite part for last—the string cinch. I don't know why, but I really dislike making them. I should make a bunch and keep them on hand so I don't have to make one every time I make a saddle. Of course after I get done with the first one, I've just about had enough!

Once I've wrapped up these final touches and taken some good photos, it's off to auction!

Here is a quick look at the progress I've made on my new studded saddle. It's currently missing stirrups, but I hope to have the entire set finished soon.



In other news, this past weekend I got to attend a Tom Curtin clinic. Fascinating. I've never been to a clinic before, and now wish that I had entered Mia. It would have done the two of us some good. Oh well, maybe in the fall. But still, I think I learned a lot.

Once the dye has completely dried the next step is to rid the edges of any 'fuzz'. Followed by sealing each piece with a leather finish. After the saddle is complete, I will add another layer of finish.

Since this is a dressage saddle, my saddle tree will have to be modified a bit to form the tree into a proper deep seat. I've done so on this tree using layers of foam. I haven't tried it this way before, so we'll see how it goes.

Next it's time to piece everything together!

I'm currently working on multiple projects at the same time, so that as i wait for glue or dye to dry one one, I can still be productive on others. Normally this multitasking doesn't work very well for me, as I am so easily distracted, however I currently feel a bit inspired by several things. Which of course is working to my advantage.

Here is a quick look into the process of my dressage saddle. I've made one in the past, but the pattern needs to be reworked. So much so, that I'll be making two at the same time. One to keep as a sample prototype, for when I can't remember how I put it together. ; )

I begin with a pattern made from cut paper, which I trace onto the leather. I always mark any flaws in the leather on the backside, so that they don't end up on the top finished panels. I've also had issues in the past with the tooling leather darkening when left out (oops, left window shade up), to the point where the pieces couldn't be used as the color was not even. Of course for dyeing black, these are perfect.

After trimming all the pieces out and tooling them as needed, they are then dyed to suit and left to dry.

My new girl officially has lyme.

She had been acting a bit "off". No lameness, but a bit of a sore back leading to lots of bucking when saddled. I'm not surprised though, as I did get her out of CT. We went through a terrible case with our yellow lab two summers ago. Really thought we might lose him. At least now I know more about lyme than I ever wanted to know. It's crazy.

At least she's making friends.

While I'm waiting for more tack supplies to come in I've started work on a couple more projects. So next on the list I'll have a dressage saddle and a fancy western show saddle. I've got new supplies for the western saddle that I'm pretty excited about and a couple of new techniques to try, but you'll just have to wait and see. :)

You could say I've been a bit, uh… distracted.

I totally need to start a new blog for this, however for now I'll hijack this one and post here. I mean really after the novelty wears off, am I still going to want to write about her every five mins? Well, maybe :)



Here she is. I've officially had her for a week, and I think I finally have a name.

Mia



She came with the name 'Spirit', but let's just say that doesn't roll off the tongue very easily. She's supper sensitive but very kind and eager to please. Check out the white on the tips of her ears. So cute.



Can you tell I have a thing for spots?

My sweatshirt smells like horses. And hay. Oh, how I've missed that.

At last.



I'll be posting this set to my yahoo group in the next few weeks. But wait 'til you see what's coming next. Here's a sneak peek. :)

I swear, I'm going to finish up the jumper set this weekend. I should have the house to myself, which is a rare event, but that will allow for some much needed hobby time. : )

In other news... I'm very excited to say I've taken the plunge and am buying my first real live horse! Thus the lack of model horse time lately. But now everything is in place, and if all goes as planned I will be a new owner as of May 3rd. woohoo! I might just have to start a new blog. We'll see. : )

I have been a bit distracted lately with a couple of non model horse things, and time just slips on by.

I dyed and re-dyed the fenders three times before getting them to a point were I was satisfied with the color. These lighter dyes are not as easy to work with and show every last flaw. Lesson learned, I suppose.

He was like, what the heck are you going to do with a 3 foot fiberglass horse?!
and I said, paint it?

As if I need another project. But I couldn't resist. I'd have loved to go with a full sized one, but let's be realistic, where would I put it? This one is half scale, I believe.

She'll be painted to mimic the antique style of some of the older wooden carousel horses. Nothing bright and glossy. Right now I'm thinking gray. Maybe dappled. I'm toying with the idea of chopping off her tail and adding a horse hair one. We'll see how ambitious I get once I start. : )

Just when we thought spring was around the corner, we get hit with more snow. I'm not complaining though. I get to call it a snow day and stay home. Which means this project just might get completed sooner rather than later. All that remains is the saddle and saddle pad. Plus a few adjustments to the boots, and of course the raised browband/noseband. Having issues with the dye at the moment.

I am loving this color on Sally. :)

Here's a sneak peak at my latest jumper set.

I plan on adding the "raised" part of browband and noseband as well as removable stoppers on the reins to accommodate a running martingale. The flash is also removable.

After redoing the reins twice, I think I've found an efficient way to get the lacing even and correct. :D

Things are moving along, slowly but surely. I recently went through a few unpacked boxes in the office, and came across a few unfinished projects. So, for a change of pace I just finished up this jump.

Of course as I was in the process of photographing it one of the furry little monsters snuck in and knocked it over, snapping off the flags. Which, I must add, are removable to minimize damage. Of course.

Anyhow, after a little repair here it is. I think I need a better photo booth/setup...

I've done a bit of rearranging to my website. Mainly to shift the focus to my model tack, but also I thought it might be nice to break up the groupings a bit more. I hope to have more to fill in the empty spaces soon, but we'll see. :)

Check out the group for the finished product. ;)

Where oh where has the time gone? Sorry for the absence and lack of updates.
I swear, I'm the slowest tack maker ever.

Now that winter is here and the snow is falling, it's time to get outside and have a little fun. And what could be more perfect for this time of year than a pleasure harness, complete with sleigh bells? The harness is very near completion, with only the bridle remaining. Once complete, it will be offered to my yahoo group members.