Lemme Just bombard you with photos while I'm at it...

The First halter up there is on my Peter Stone Design a Horse arabian.  I bought him specifically for photographing arabian show halters.  His attitude really sets him off I think.

The next photo down is of a breastcollar that I made to match a bridle that I ended up not using at all at NAN.  I'm going to keep it for now though.

The rest of the photos are of various pieces of tack while they're still at my house.  Soon they will be sent to their new owners.

Chelsea N Saddle Set! Finished!

 

Above are photos of Chelsea N's Finished saddle set!  I'm very pleased with the results and I hope she likes it too :-)

Real fast.....

Bridle for the Utterly Horses Hullabaloo

Bridle for the Utterly Horses Hullabaloo

Halter for Mary B.

Halter for Mary B.

Halter for Mary b

I swear I've been busy.  Got the Donation for the Utterly Horses Hullabaloo (in ENGLAND!) done and shipped.  And Just last night I finished up the First of my order backlog - a Western Show Halter for a Victrix on my Valor. (the halter is very adjustable).

I am like thisclose to finishing up the breastcollar for the Chelsea Nichols Saddle.  I had to readjust it a bit after I found that it was just too short..

Next Up is a slew of Arabian Show Halters.

Also, I'm working on a blog article about showing your Model horse Saddlebred in Saddle Seat (it is two words).  Hopefully this will clear up any misconceptions or maybe add to them.. I dunno. that post will take me a while to complete though.

My NAN Photos from 2012 have all been uploaded to my photo website:  http://www.abounaderphoto.com and I'm working towards uploading my 2010 NAN photos as well.

This year at breyerfest I spent a lot of time with different people so I didn't get to get out and photograph a whole lot of things. (and it was desperately hot).

I also went to the 2012 Shelbyville Horse Show Last weekend and shot a few photos there.

More soon when I get a chance to breathe!

Breyerfest "loot"

Left to right: Top row: Halter plates, Robin Clark Bit, Small (awesome!) classic western tree: Second Row Hammered Wired Buckles, Carol Williams Bridle with original CW Bit; Carol Williams bit; halter plates

Glossy bay Stone Morgan modeling my new parade set.

OOAK Stone Performance Horse

One of 10 Braided Mane Stone ISH

Before I fall happliy asleep here, I want to writ about how wonderful this Breyerfest/NAN has been.  I think that I have been showing long enough, and coming to Breyerfest Long enough to actually call many people "Friends".  This year, most of those "Friends" were here in Lexington, KY and I had time to sit and talk to many of them.  I truly feel like I belong to this hobby.  LIke I have a place in it and maybe I've made some kind of Small impact.  I've been given the sweetest little gifts of praise from many people and the gift of them allowing me to connect with them.  They also have given me tips, and hints, and been open with me about their methods of making tack and innovations.  I hope that I gave enough in return. :-)

I'm sad to say that Susan Taylor has stated that her hands are no longer allowing her to make tack, so she is liquidating her inventory.  I wandered into her hotel room tonight to see what she had and wandered back out shortly afterwards with new "Treasures" for my own Tack Collection. ( I collect tack as well as make it because I know the time and effort that goes into it".

The first picture above is my "loot" from her room.  Two Precious Bits hand made out of real silver by Carol Williams of www.riorondo.com .  I have been a long time admirer of Carol's skill and workmanship with tack.  She was a tackmaker before she was a sculptor and her fantastic talent shows through her tack pieces.  I am going to make braided bridles on those bits and I hope that I do them justice.

The Robin Clark (Sister of Ginger Ryals) bits are a rare find now a days.  Robin no longer makes them and hasn't in quite some time.  I acquired more of Robin's bits when she sold out about 10 years ago but I never had any of this kind. (the parade set bit was one of her creations)

The hammered silver wire buckles I bought because I've never been able to make them myself.  NOt because I can't, but because I rarely think about doing so and these are already made.  I think that I aquired a renewed appreciation for things that would save me time after I made my parade set.

The classic sized western saddle tree I bought because I've long wanted to make a classic scale (1/12th) western pleasure set and eventually a parade set.

The second picture down is of the New Morgan mold being produced by the Peter Stone company.  Morgan horses are one of the Breeds of horses that I really love and this guy really just screams morgan to me.  He's also in a nice, "normal" morgan color and I love a glossy model..

The Next picture is a Peter Stone Performance horse with a customized mane and tail as well as a lovely factory paint job.  He is a one of a kind piece.  I have a new eye for "performance" showing so I think he'll fit right in.

The fourth picture down is a Peter stone Ideal Stock Horse Mold with a braided mane and a customized tail.  He also has a lovely paint horse paint job in a nice "conservative" Bay pinto.  I'm thinking english trail with him and maybe whatever else I can come up with.  He also will make a nice halter horse.  He is a one of 10 run.

My "Breyer loot" is wrapped up still but I'll be shooting pictures after I Get home tomorrow.  I really bought a lot more this year than I have in several years

Today Anthony Brought RJ to his First Breyerfest and we really wore him out.  He saw a lot of horses but as usual his favorite things were the birds.  Sometimes a kid just like what he likes and no amount of outside influence will change that. (Trust me, I know.)  So we spent time out by the "Man O War" Statue to see the ducks and geese that in habit the fountain and the little pond near it.

I didn't shoot as many photos of horses this year as I usually do because I was spending time with friends but I still shot a lot of photos.  Unfortunately the Jousting was held inside the indoor arena so my pictures are awful.  For some reason I thought that the jousting would be held outside and that I would be able to get some decent action shots. Not so I'm afraid...  I got some photos of the horses and the "knights" but it was not at all like I pictured in my head. (Course.. what is? LOL)

Well, it's time for me to crawl into bed.. as I tweak photos I'll post more...

Two TOp Tens!.........and a brain fart...

 

After a VERY long day Showing at The North American Model Horse Nationals (NAN) in Lexington KY, I'm thrilled to say that Managed to get two top tens out of three entries!  A top ten in CM/AR Western Trail (Stock horses) and CM/AR Western Pleasure (Stock horses)!  The saddle, should look familiar if you have been wonderful enough to have read my drivel for some time.  It is the "Anthony Saddle II" made in 2005.  I didn't have a true Western Pleasure Style Saddle of my own so Anthony was nice enough to let me borrow his. (With the Stipulation that I not sell it and that it goes back into it's case as soon as it gets home!)  The Bridle is new.  I figured that I would have less trouble with some nice black braided reins with some quick knots so thats what I made.

I think I would've done better in Parade if I had moved my breastcollar forward.  I think I knew that it went in front of the withers but the Jitters from NAN made me forget that.  OH well. there is always two years from now! LOL!

I proxy showed for my Good Friend, Karen Jensen and out of four OF horses she top tenned with three!  That Karen can pick a butt kicking OF!!!

I was even "good" in that managed to work a bit on some of my tack orders while waiting for my classes.

I was bad that I celebrated with Pizza but I will do a tremendous amount of walking today to make up for it. (or at least thats what I tell myself! LOL!)

Reining set

I'm pleased with the way the two part silver plates came out and I am very pleased with the cantle plate.  I have the breast collar started.. just need time to do knots.. NAN next week!  EEP!

Parade Set does well first time out!

At the Big Orange Bash in Knoxville, TN yesterday, I was lucky enough to win both the Grand and Reserve of performance.  I'm so thrilled and I can't thank Carol T. enough.  The work I put into the saddleset paid off and I'm walking on cloud 9!

Another Sneak peek of the finished Parade Set.

The parade set has already met with approval from my 4 year old son who said: "Thats beautiful mommy!"  So I know it has at least one admirer.. lol!  This is the finished bridle and breastcollar.  The headstall turned out a tad larger than I had intended but that just gives me a reason to make another smaller one :-)

sneak peek of the parade set...

Parade Set

Here is the parade set so far.. I think I'm going to keep it under wraps now until I show it in a couple of weeks.  I KEEP trying to keep everything simple but my brain keeps coming up with ways to make things "cool" and "complicated".  I have become a better Solder-er out of all of this though and that is a thrill for me! lol!  I'm surprised at how this set is turning out and how quickly I've been able to get it done.. I want so bad to make the hummingbirds myself but I've resigned to using the silver ones that I bought from Fire mountain gems.

I'm six conchos away from being finished with the reining set and I have been working on dremeling the conchos out of silver... 

Sneak Peek

Sneak peeks of the parade set being built.. lots done this past four days..

Parade tack

I have been working feverishly on my parade tack.  Almost nonstop for the last three or four days.. I want to get it to a point to where the big things like designing and "editing" are well behind me.. and I'm almost there.  On Friday I discovered that while I had THREE bottles of dark brown dye, I had NO black.  My parade set is going to be two toned so not having black was a "big deal".  Saturday I was able to make it to Tandy leather and Get some black dye so I'm all set.  I then accidentally dyed some of the pieces too lightly so those pieces had to be redone and redyed.

I really would like to take the time to make everything myself out of silver but I really need to fly in making this so I'm using some pre-made hummingbirds from fire mountain gems.  I'm trying to figure out how to get some color on them instead of just leaving them all silver.. but i do like the silver against the black and dark brown.  It's harder NOT to use real silver than to use found objects and tape for me.. lol!

Anyway, photos when this thing looks like it's supposed to.. and I have to figure out how to make a decent corona pad for it considering it's shape..

Parade set Sneek Peek

This is just working out an idea for the Serapes of the parade set.  I'm trying REALLY hard not to make this set as complicated as I normally would due to time constraints..  That is proving harder than I imagined.  Sue B-Y and I talk a lot about artistic license and about how we want to make things that showcase everything we can do -whether that is warranted or not...  So I'm trying really hard to NOT think of ways that I can make every little thing myself.  I'm trying to stick with Basic Shapes and things that I could maybe buy online pre-made.... but thats difficult too..

The silver tape proved trickier than I previously remember but that may be due to my xacto blade not being as sharp as it could be.  I do have some "maid O metal" but I like the thought of the "sticky" backed silver tape.

I try to keep in mind the "context" of what the climate was during the hey day of these saddles.  The 1930s art deco movement was about simplification of shapes and clean lines..so I'm trying to keep the lines of the leather sharp and geometric..

I have some work projects coming up this week that are very "scary" in that I'm not 100% comfortable with doing them and I've been so emotionally and mentally overwhelmed that I haven't had a lot of mental energy to prepare for them.  It's just hard to focus.  Anthony was out of town all last week and Rj is a smart, Energetic, non stop kind of 4 year old so by the time Anthony came home late yesterday I was completely worn out.  I still am... lol

June 4th will be the 1 year anniversary of my dad's passing.  I'm no where near over it.  My brain keeps chewing on the "impermanence" of life which keeps me sort of in a emotional place.  I am better than I was last year but I'm not 100% ok... I don't know if I ever will be and that is a bittersweet thought.  Good that he was such a wonderful part of my life but hard to chew through the loss. 

I keep trying to move forward though and I'm very much looking forward to model horse showing, furthering my tack making skills, and taking better photos at horse shows..

OH and I want to say Go "I"ll have another" in his Zenyatta like Win in the Preakness!  It's shaping up to look like he may be an actual contender for the Triple Crown.  Hopefully the Trainer will ship him to NY TODAY and start training on that belmont track... (crossing fingers..)

MOre Progress.. slowly but surely

Halter Slots have been spoken for!

THank you Everyone!  All of the slots have been spoken for!!

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