Boots for Fuller Calves

For those of us with short, thick Icelandic horse style legs, here is a boot that I found that fits well and
still looks stylish. This Ariat Heritage has the same riding sole/heel as their paddock boots but it is much easier to get on than the tall English riding boots.

The boot decoration is a left over piece of a belt that I originally disassembled to make a period bridle for Blessi. Blingy jewelry that is perhaps too tacky to wear as personal jewelry makes great boot enhancements.

Notice the nice soft shine on the boot. While learning to make period bridles, I picked up the tip of using wax to buff a shine onto a boot. I used a cheap, white wax candle to rub a thick coat on the boot. I then took a soft rag to rub off the excess wax. This methods adds shine and a bit of waterproofing.

Argentia Polo Riding Boots

I have a terrible time finding tall riding boots that fit.  My calf is short and wide but my arch is tall.  Well I found my favorite pair ever in a vintage store---Argentina Polo Boots.   Adjustable Velcro along the calf ensure the fit is comfortable.




At first there was some pressure on my ankle bones.  I looked up how to break in mounted police boots and learned how to bend and fold the boots to help the boots break at the proper place at the ankle.  Plus I started using some of Blessi's self wrap elastic to cover the ankle bones.  They now
fit like a dream.

Norse Jewelry from Raymond Quiet

Raymond Quiet is an artist specializing in making historically accurate reproductions Norse, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, etc. jewelry and armor pieces. His work is exquisite. I own several pieces--turtle brooches, needle case. Plus I have Rus buckles to make another bridle. Kathy and I met him at Viking Days in Ballard. So if you are interested, here is the link.

To the right is a photo of Raymond's Viking horses on Turtle Brooches used on a Norse apron.  The horse projections were used to attach ribbons.

http://raymonds-quiet-press.myshopify.com/collections/viking

Icelandic Horse Pendant from Hugrun

 




Pat, who is a fellow boarder at Blessi's stable, just returned from a riding holiday in Iceland.  She gave me an Icelandic horse decoration.  Although it is meant as a Christmas tree decoration, it looks lovely as a pendent. 

I wear it frequently and get a lot of notice.  Once the comment had more to do with the soup I had spilled on it.  Sigh!  No wonder Blessi always checks out my shirt or jacket.  It must smell of such interesting food possibilities.

Snaffle Bits in Haute Couture

Ever wonder what to do with your old snaffle bits? How about adding some class to your attire? I've often seen bits on belts or handbags. But how about adding them to skirts or coats? You don't have to sew, just enhance. Here are some examples of vintage clothing. The green skirt is by a well known designer but I have forgotten his name since I have a vintage brain. Wait! When I captured the image I named it Gucci. Could be a hint.

Tolting Treasure--Another Filly

Here is the stuffed pony that I made for the annual fundraiser for the Lower Puget Sound Dressage Club.  This year, Vinda, a silver dapple filly, is going to represent my "breeding farm" Tolting Treasures. I love making these toys and getting to name them--all the fun of breeding and none of the risk.

Last year's colt brought in $150 in a bidding war.  I hope Vinda does as well for the club.

Material: Fabric: wool, mohair, alpaca.
Inside Ears: leather suede.  
Mane and Tail:  Wool roving.  
Eyes: Vintage glass -- 1920s maybe

Sisterhood of the Traveling Sunglasses

Keeping track of my sunglasses has always been a problem.  While visiting the stable,  I put my sunglasses on the tonneau cover on the back of my pick up truck and forgot about them.  When I got home, I realized that my favorite pair of sunglasses fell off the truck sometime during my journey.  Oh well another pair of glasses lost.

Next time I went to the stable, Lora was talking about the great pair of sunglasses she found in the road leading to the stable.
"Are they large framed,  tortoise shell with a gold KC on the side of the frame?," I inquired.
"Yes," said Lora "and they are in great shape for being found alongside the road."
"I think they might be mine.  Could I take a look?
"No, because I wore them trail riding in Alpine Forest.  When I asked my mare to pick up a canter, the glasses flew off into the bushes."

Oh well....I replaced the sunglasses with another style.

A month later I was playing cards with some friends.  The conversation turned toward trail riding.  Bonnie mentioned the great pair of sun glasses she found in a bush in Alpine Forest.
"Are they large framed,  tortoise shell with a gold KC on the side of the frame?," I inquired.
"Yes," said Bonnie "and they are in great shape for being found in a bush."
"I think were once mine.  Could I take a look?

They were my former sunglasses!!!!  I offered to trade Bonnie for my new pair which she liked better than the pair she found in the bushes anyway.

That is how I got my favorite pair of sunglasses back.  And I still have them.

Designing a booth for Icelandic horse shows

Designing a booth for an Icelandic horse cub---imagine the horses in stall areas made to look like a Viking long ship.

We can even call the ship "Sea Stallion."  A very famous Viking ship was the Havhingsten or Sea Stallion.  "Sea Stallion" was often used as a kenning or metaphor in Norse poems for ship.  Just as "whale road" was a kenning for the sea or "Viking moon" for a shield.  Beowulf the poem mentions a "foamy throated sea stallion."  Isn't that a great metaphor for a ship flying through the waves.

The booth ship will have a prow, a sail, a shield for each horse stall painted with Norse designs, and gripping beasts on the hangings above the stall.   Lisa found wood patterned material for the sides of the stalls.

Folk are all making stuff to help out.  I sewed the "sail" and have drapery with gripping beasts that I use for SCA events on my pavillion tent.  This will so cute!

Half the sail shown under the gripping beast drapes.
 Wasu the cat had to be in the picture.

Etched Icelandic Horses on Glass

My friends Judy and Dave made this candle holder with an etched Icelandic horse tolting.  I love, love, love how it looks next to my computer.  I really think they should sell these.  What do you think?


I was having fun taking photos so I have posted two of them.

My new Icelandic "Breeding Farm"--Tolting Treasures

This is Galsi from Tolting Treasures.  He is a yellow dun.

1-17-15 Update--I just found out that Galsi raised $150 at auction for the Lower Puget Sound Dressage.  Evidently there was a bidding war.

If I win the lottery, my fantasy is to start breeding a few Icelandic horses.  Of course in my fantasy all  offspring achieve first and second prize.  In reality, breeding quality horses involves a certain amount of money, a lot of knowledge, considerable experience, and bit of luck--none of which I possess.

A few years ago, I found some quality German mohair being sold quite cheaply at a local thrift store.  Using this "distressed stock,"  I made about 20 Icelandic foals.  My first thought was to start a business but economically this only made sense if I had a continuing supply of cheap mohair.

Instead I have given these little guys to friends or donated them to charities for fund raising events.  Above is my last offspring  Galsi from Tolting Treasures.  He will be auctioned off by the Lower Puget Sound Dressage club in their annual fund raising event.  Last year, there was a considerable bidding war over his sister Drifa.

One of the things I discovered about myself through this hobby is that the "fun" of "breeding" for me was getting to brainstorm about  the name for my farm and naming the "offspring."  And I don't have to worry about anybody forgetting to feed these little guys or failing to give them vet care after the sale!

Blessi and his camel hair coat

I bet you were thinking that this post would be about the thick winter coat of an Icelandic horse.  Sorry to disappoint you but today's post is about Blessi's new cooler.  I made it from camel hair wool found at Goodwill for about $1 a yard. 

I didn't have quite enough of the camel hair so I used some burgundy melton wool which gives the coat a kind of a harlequin effect.  How do you like the bellywarmer?

The pattern is from www.suitability.com.  I used tailor's chalk to make sure the curve of the back and the darts were custom fitted to Blessi.  And the embroidery was done by Monograms By Coleta of Silverdale, WA.  She did a fantastic job!

Blessi Bling--A True Blessi Treasure

When I first got Blessi, I wanted a constant reminder of how special he is to me.  So I had a bracelet woven from his tail hair.  Susanne Storms did the custom work and it turned out beautifully.  She was able to create two intertwined coils of hair from the different colors highlighted in his tail--pure cream and golden red.  What a treasure!!!!

Here is a link to her web site.

http://suzannestorms.com/_Neck-Pin/Necklace.htm

Blessi Bling--More Browbands Python, Croc, and Rattlesnake

I had been collecting a bunch of belts from Goodwill that I thought would make good browbands for Blessi.  I ended

up with an assortment of exotic leathers.  From top to bottom, there is basic navy snakeskin, python, aligator, black leather with fancy silver, hitched and braided insert, and more snakeskin.

Do you know how to tell the difference between aligator and crocodile leather?  Crocodile skin has an integumentary sensory organ pore (ISOs) in each scale.  Each ISO contains a tiny hair to help the crocodile obtain sensory data about its environment.  So the leather that I used in the third browband from the top does not have ISO, therefore it is alligator.

Source:  http://www.ehow.com/info_8422906_difference-between-alligator-crocodile-skins.html
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

The Great Blessi Give Away

Blessi--ngs: Life with an Icelandic horse has been in existence for almost a year now.  So I thought I would commemorate this achievement by giving away a Blessi--not The Blessi--but a stuffed version of Blessi that I made.

So here are the rules.  Just go through the past year's postings and make a comment on one or more posts.  I will go through all the postings on the evening of January 9 and determine the "best" posting.  Criteria will be most amusing, most thought provoking, best shared story of your horse, or whatever may takes my fancy that day. 

On January 10 I will announce the winner and make arrangements to get your address to mail you the stuffed Blessi.  And, yes, I will mail overseas.  Unfortunately, I only have one stuffed Blessi to give away but it is the closest that I could come to cloning him.  ;-)

And the winner is Chris--who not being able to leave a comment due to technology issues, emailed the following comment on the Blessi apple bobbing contest:

Dear Blessi,
I bet I could beat you at apple bobbing.
Sincerely,
Gizmo - Paso Fino, Woodside, Ca.
CONGRATULATIONS GIZMO AND CHRIS!!!!

Blessi Bling How To--My Grandmother's Garden Jacket

One of the challenges if you are a full figure filly is buying stylish riding clothes.  I have started making my own.  I found some light spring wool-mohair fabric in an antique shop--the kind commonly used to make spring Easter coats about 40 or 50 years ago.  I decided to make a riding wrap using Butterick pattern 5680.   It is the purple coat displayed in the upper right of the pattern. 





When it was finished, it reminded me of a field of spring grass.  I happened to have some crocheted flowers that my grandmother made.  I tacked them to the coat.  I liked the result so much that I am not wearing the coat to the barn.  I will have to make another one.  If you decided not to add embellishments to the wrap, the entire thing can be made in one evening.

Of course Merci was very helpful during the process.  She slept on the coat as I was tacking down the flowers.

Blessi Bling How To--Wine Glass Rack for Tack Room

Have a rake that is a little loose and you don't feel like repairing it?  Here is a great way to recycle that farm tool.  My fellow Bad Cowgirl Deb made a wonderful addition for the tack room.  And it is wonderful to share a glass of wine at the end of the day at our boarding barn.

Blessi and the Camo Yarmulke

Blessi and I went to a camping event this summer.  I forgot to pack a fly mask for him so I had to improvise.  This fashion statement is made from a hood meant to keep flies off people.  I cut it in half and tied it to Blessi's halter.  He only wore it during the day when flies were really bad.

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

Saddlepad as Work of Art

This all started with some friends dragging me into a quilting store.  We all got so enthused about the beautiful quilts hanging on display--real works of art--that we urged each other to buy quilt patterns. My friend Gretchen bought the Dancing Chickens pattern.  Similarly inspired, I purchased the Cobbled Crow design, got the material, and actually made the wall hanging. 

There was quite a bit of hand-dyed batik left over--too much to throw away.  So I decided to make a coat for myself using the same design elements.

And still some of the gorgeous material remained so I decided to hand quilt a saddle pad for Blessi.  You can judge the results for yourself.  So far, I haven't found any venue good enough for this saddle pad but something will come along.

And if you like to sew be sure and check out Suitability patterns--patterns for both English and Western riding apparel, saddle pads, costumes, helmet covers, saddle covers, and much more.
http://www.suitability.com/

Wearing Iceland on Your Feet

Halldora's design featuring leather, salmon skin on heel,
horse hair, and lava stones.

Halldora Eydis Jonsdottir , an Icelander whograduated from the London College of Fashion, has recently released her first collection of shoes and boots.  Her high fashion footware is accented with natural products from Iceland including salmon skin, perch skin, lava crystals, horse hair, and lamb skin--all to give a look of natural features in Iceland.  I love some of the detailing and would definitely wear some of these styles.  I am not sure how I feel about the use of "pony skin from Italy."

http://www.shoes.tv/my-first-collection-halldora-90749