A Brow Band Making Party

Gretchen, Lora, and Deb admire their purchases

The Bad Cowgirls--Lora, Deb, Gretchen, and I--got together to make browbands.  The craft making session was preceded by another adventure--Goodwill Hunting--in a search for suitable belts.  Of course other treasures were found during this expedition.  Thrift stores are an excellent source of barn clothes.  No matter what color of barn clothes I wear, they all eventually turn green from Blessi snuggling and snorting.

Gretchen makes a template

The Bad Cowgirls had a blast making this bling.  Wine was involved and a lot of giggling. We also tried wearing the browbands ourselves thinking that it gave us a medieval princess look or a 60s hippy aura.  During the hammering of the rivets nobody smashed a finger. And none of the helpful dogs or cat ate any of the hardware.  And there was chocolate fondue at the end of this craft making session.

Do you think the belt on my forehead gives me a
Viking princess look or is it the wine?

So here are some tips when looking for belts to use for brow bands:

• Select a belt that suits the shape of your horse's head.  I selected a sparkly blue, pink narrow band for my instructor's Arab Skye.
• Consider your horse's personality.  Deb selected a beautiful black belt with blue dragons for Abner, her handsome, large, black Tennessee Walker.  (And her husband likes dragons so it is a win-win.)
• Look for a color that will compliment the color of your horse.  Gretchen  used a sparkly silver, rose, dark blue floral design with silver beaded edges that is going to pop on her gray horse Flynn.
• Choose a belt with a design that can be centered.  Some belts have designs or studding positioned so that you cannot get enough of the design centered in the brow band.
• Don't use belts with studs or grommets that extend on the underside of the belt--they can irritate the horse.  If you really love the design, you would have to line the belt.
• Be careful with any belts that have beading or braiding that might fray when you cut it.  This type of decoration may unravel over time.

The tools and finished browbands

And here's to Lora who won the find-a-belt jackpot.  She had purchased a $3 leather belt with large flat scallops; engraved silver, heart-shaped conchos; and engraved silver buckle.  Upon closer inspection, the belt was made by Justin Boots and the conchos and buckle may be German silver.  Lora may choose to wear the belt or sell it on ebay.  If not, her horses Quigley and Hollyanna will be sharing a stunning browband.

For detailed directions on making your own browbands, check out the following Blessiblog posting.
http://blessiblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/blessi-bling-how-toleopard-skin.html