Busy January

I started school at the local community college this week, I have 3 classes left until I am DONE with my associates.

I have also started my latest Horseisle tack set order.

Pegasus Saddle

Those photos were from before I got the piping, rear pads, feathers, and stirrups added. The saddle looks a bit more like this now...

(Notice my desk is still a mess)

I hope to have the netting and the tassels added by sometime this week, I may do the girth tonight and start work on the bridle. 

One set a week seems to be my new norm! It's fun to be busy, mostly because it doesn't interfere with my school work for now.

Best Dressed Pony

This month Newsworthy has been my resident "saddle stand", and winner of biggest closet.

I have made two fairly identical sets of tack for the little grey pony, both in two-tone brown, one as an eventing/jumper set, and another as a hunter/eq set.

The latter is nearing completion, and I am VERY pleased with how it is turning out, the saddle in particular. There are a lot of firsts for my tack on this set; stirrup leather keepers, piping around the skirting, piping on the pommel, and pinning of the skirting through the tree in lieu of glue.

This is my first time making stirrup leather keepers

I pinned the skirting through the tree with a head pin tucked neatly under the panels (first time doing so!)

I absolutely love the profile and "look" this saddle has. 

The bridle is even cuter (in my opinion)

This will be my first successful split crown piece, padded noseband/browband/crown, first successful raised noseband and browband, and probably the nicest bridle I've made to date.

Newsworthy is definitely my best dressed (sometimes the only dressed...) pony!

Little Things

   There was no pun intended when I titled this blog post, but it seems fitting enough to keep. All of the little things in my life feel like they are falling into (and some out of) place.

   I have one more semester until I am done with my associates, which feels great, but leaves some uncertainty about what I will be doing this fall.

   Lily, my lease horse, has had a tendon injury. It's early in the season, so I won't count us out for shows later on in the season, but it does put a damper on our progress. However, I do have a new horse Montana and two free ride horses (Ziggy and Eddie) in addition to Liam my mom's horse that I can go ride anytime. I'm trying to not let Lily's injury get me down, and stay focused on those other horses.

   I have completed two full tack sets, and taken a few more tack set orders in my books, it feels great to have some business. My tack sales profit will stay in my PayPal account until I decide what I will be doing with it this summer; USPC Championships at Tryon or Breyerfest at the KHP. I would be thrilled to go for either, and given Lily's injury, if it ends up recurring, I may be more inclined to go to BF 2018. I will be bringing as much tack with me to BF and to USPC Champs either way.

   This will be my first time participating in NaMoPaiMo, and I have selected a TSC Jacy to be my model to hold the portrait of the newest herd member at the Hatgi house, Montana. Known to us as "tana" now, she is an 11 year old mare of unknown breeding, and perhaps the sanest horse I have had the privilege to own.

She went to the local McDonald's without any problems!

 This might be the most sufficiently whelming two months of the year between school, tack making, real horses, and NaMoPaiMo

Hercules Tack

I find myself making tack that doesn't actually exist outside of my work bench, and that is thoroughly exciting! (I also find myself using exclamation points often)


This set of "herc" tack is going to my friend Lindsay in the great state of Texas. We know each other via a game called Horseisle, it has consumed a great deal of our childhood, and she asked me if I could do something that has never been done before; make a set of tack from the game for a model horse. She recently had two of her favorite horses commissioned from Sakori's Customs, this set will be for "Josie" who is painted on the Othello mold.

I took a few up-close shots of the tack via Horseisle library, and a reference photo of the tack in proportion to Josie's body in game. From these photos I started to make the set.

Josie the Shire horse with all of her Hercules tack on

Bridle

Saddle Pad

Saddle

Work began with the bridle for Jos

Luckily I have a Wintersong to body double for Josie

Then the saddle progressed in various stages of doing and undoing over the course of about two weeks (due to weather being so nice then not so nice, etc.) Progress photos are available via the ZHTack group! Feel free to request membership, everyone will be accepted. Step-by-step progression will be shown for every set of tack I make.

The finished saddle is my favorite, for obvious reasons, and for the fact that I created something that does not physically exist except here, now, on my table! I am very excited for the opportunity to create a unique set.

If you ask my friends they will say that the saddle pad was my least favorite part of the set to make. Over several days I complained about how horrid the pad made the set look, and how I wanted to just "half-butt" the pad for time sake. Alas from their support I persevered and the saddle pad was born. I cannot forget to credit my mom for countless 3-minute brainstorming conversations to inspire the final pad design, and to crawl towards finishing this lovely set. 

I want to thank Linds for allowing some creative freedom, and for my full head of hair that remains only because of concessions made on design for convenience sake and safety of the models. 

Here displayed is the saddle pad, saddle, girth, and bridle

Josie's Maryland double all tacked up

Next I will be working on a pegasus saddle set for Nirvana (Vana)!

Tackling Some Goals!

I have a new tack item up in my Etsy Store! I have been working on mass-producing, or rather producing in batches. I made 6 identical black with silver hardware breastplates, all of which are available on Etsy right now :)

Two goals checked off so far! New items in the store, and a blog post written!

2018 Goals

Goals work better if you write them down I'm told (sarcasm, goals are so much more achievable if written down, and are basically impossible if left scripted only in your head)

1. Add 1 sale item to my Etsy store a week

2. Blog weekly, even if it's only about the new Etsy item

3. Make a saddle set each month

4. Go to Breyerfest 2018 with a few sets of tack (3?), 10 Halters, 10 Bridles, and 10 Breastplates

5. Add some resins (at least 1) to my Breyer collection

6. Rid myself of some (5?) of my OF Breyers

7. Try my hand at customizing, emphasis on the "try"