Oh goodness it's been more than a week!

I have misplaced my camera, then found it, started a post, and procrastinated until now!

This week I have been working like a mad woman; two saddles, a martingale, two pairs of boots, two girths were made, and another full set is in the works. Here in Maryland about 10" of snow fell cancelling school for three days, which definitely helps stupid day job getting in the way of tack...

Fun green/brown x-country set

Hunt-seat saddle made with my NEW ROO LEATHER
(can you tell I'm excited about my NEW ROO LEATHER!!!)

Some TEENY TINY open front boots, with yes,
functioning buckles on frustratingly tiny straps

Saturday (technically yesterday now?) I received my FIRST EVER RESIN. Excited is an understatement, I feel changed since opening the box from Deb at Resins By Randy. My new herd addition is an exquisite Leica Vino by Alexandra Kline at Kline Sculptures. I can't wait to tack her up, I have a few sets in mind, which I'm sure will come about in the next few months. A likely story I tell myself.

Brunello for scale..LV is a BIG mare

If you have been stalking my blog, you will see I have added an itemized price list, and a list of artist resins I am looking to buy or trade for. Feel free to email me (zoehatgi@gmail.com) or message me on Facebook (Zoe Hatgi) if you interested in purchasing tack, trading an artist resin, or looking to sell your resin for cold hard paypal currency.

Breyerfest is 110 days away, find me with Enterprise Props in room 203 at the Clarion! I will be bringing tack (as much as I can make!!). Feel free to comment if you have any specific requests for tack that you would be interested in purchasing :)

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

Tool Time!

     I am very fortunate to have talented people in my family, most of all my dad Mark, and my great-grandfather Fred (known as "Grandad" in the family).

     I have had the hardest time making consistent center-ring backings on breastplates (the part that goes behind the ring, it protects the skin of the horse from getting caught in the ring/straps/etc.). Today I went over to my dad's shop, to see if he could help me figure out a solution, luckily he had some scrap copper tubing I could play with, and I made my "prototype" which kinda/sorta/not really cut through leather.

Squashed (sad) looking cutter on the right, my shaping tools,
and the leather cut out it made, not half bad for a piece of scrap tubing!

     It was a little squashed to be honest, but now I had a good idea of how to make it. So I went back over about 10 minutes later, to get another piece of copper tubing. My dad said forget trying to make a million prototypes, and he beveled the copper section on his lathe.

I cannot tell you how convenient it is to have the ability to make my own tools, especially when I know the quality of the tack matters, including consistency of shape and reproduce-ability.

With a few more minutes I had my tool made:

There's nothing some channel locks can't do

Looks to be about right! 

My great-grandfather is making a stitch wheel for me. He has quite a lot of watch parts from making and fixing watches through his lifetime. When I have it in hand I will post pictures. Unfortunately I cannot explain how to make one because I don't even know that, I just helped pick out a gear and gave him a tool to mount it on. The tool he is making will have interchangeable wheels (and a teeny-tiny screw to hold them in). I am very excited to have a nice stitch marker, and will post pics of comparisons against the commercially made one.

I did purchase a few tools in the last week that I am unlikely to have made...

Saddler's knife, single sided, bought on Amazon

Vinyl clamps, from MicroMark, very nice for keepers
and all things on bridles

My new favorite hole punch, a 0.3mm mechanical pencil
bought on Amazon

If you would like to know where to find any of these items feel free to contact me or comment below!