Custom Julip and new tack!

This has been a VERY long time coming, apologies! I got him well over a month ago but haven't managed to take any decent photos until recently! ::)
Anyway, I went to the Royal Highland Show with another Julip collector who, on the bus back to the station gave me a very generous gift, a Cob Stallion who was in need of a little help after her hamster had err...taken a liking to him. :o





The pesky rodent had nibbled away at his face and hindquarters!





If I remember correctly he had been a 'second' on the spares page as he had a few mould flaws too but I didn't mind at all - I like a challenge! To begin with I just assumed this was to be a restoration job for her but it wasn't until I got home that I realised I was to keep him! O_O

I wanted to keep as much of the original finish as I could to begin with but as it was so speckly and awkward to match I decided a full repaint was in order...



This one shows his colour most accurately I think.



You can still see the nibbled latex at his eye in this one but his forelock obscures it now that he's finished so it isn't too offputting. I used Games Workshop paints if anyone's wondering. :)



I gave him some heavy feathering (which I may have to redo as I overdid it on the glue front and it keeps cracking) and a nice thick blonde mane and tail.







He also has a headcollar...



...a bridle...



..and a saddle, which was actually intended for Simba but Fred seems to have decided to nick it.


I reckon he's going to be one of those seriously laidback cobs who does what he's asked but begrudgingly, and if he can get away with just standing around somewhere and sleeping, he will. XD





As for the name, well, I've seen Deathly Hallows pt 2 twice already and he's orange so it just kinda had to happen. :P

Tackwise, I've been busy!

As already seen being modelled by Fred, Simba has a nice shiny new GP saddle - my best yet I reckon! The headcollar's new too - I don't have any decent photos of it sadly but it has little 'silver' name plates with his name scored onto it and a rolled throatlatch courtesy of one of Jennifer Buxton's excellent tutorials!



(the stirrup leathers have been trimmed since these were taken. ;)



Pirate also has a new saddle - the black panels are actually made from textured neoprene from an old school pencilcase! XD I used Jennifer Buxton's buckle free method for adjustable leathers which I think I'll end up adopting for most of my tack from now on as it is just SO much easier to deal with!
I actually hated this saddle for a ridiculous amount of time. The panels wouldn't fit properly, the tree was wonky and I couldn't find the right colour of leather for the seat but now that it's actually finished I really couldn't be happier - especially as it goes with his bridle. :)







...and Freya finally has a bridle of her very own. The headpiece went horrifically wrong and will be redone at some point but I'm really pleased with the raised noseband. I used yet another of Jennifer's tutorials and it was a lot easier to do than I thought!-here-






I'll need to resurrect the big tack list at some point as I've made rather a lot of stuff since I originally posted it!