Headcollars for all!

Well, perhaps not all, but two's certainly a start!

Since getting them back from the Copperfox show, I knew I wanted to give my newbies some clothes. I'm keeping my glossy Cadno boxed for now as I literally have no more space for trads until I get my room redecorated with new furniture and things (hopefully this summer, fingers crossed!) but the matte version is happily out on display with his two Kickstarter CFs. 

 

I'd made Fantastic Mr Copperfox a headcollar and rug fairly recently but Kick Start 'Er hadn't had anything so I thought I'd rustle her up a halter at the same time.

I haven't named this one yet, and although the mould is a mare, this one is looking decidedly geldingy to me. He'll probably have 'Gartmore' in his show name somewhere as that was where the show was held and it has a nice ring to it I think.

Lime green looked great against his chocolatey coat, and I added some complementary brown felt padding at the nose and poll for extra comfort and to prevent any rubs. (You can tell I'm really pushing the boat out with these as I used etched buckles instead of my usual handmade wire ones!)

I bought a load of this grosgrain ribbon in a variety of colours from the lovely ladies of Solstice Sky Studio, at the show, so I'm well catered for for any future headcollars! 

I don't do very much with my trads with regards to performance or even just photographing them as I haven't the space to set up any scenes in my house or garden, and unlike Julips, which can be wrapped up in a few layers of fleece and stuffed unceremoniously in a rucksack, OF plastics are a bit more fragile so I don't really take them out anywhere. As a result, the handful of riders I have are very underused, and mostly broken (though I'm working on that, watch this space!) but with a new pony on the scene I thought I'd jazz up one of my old Breyer riders a bit. Her jodhpurs and the pink gilet are Breyer ones, but I made the jumper and her boots. 

At some point I'd really like to make this lad some proper tack but don't hold your breath, I struggle to make consistently decent saddles for Julips, let alone anything more realistic and twice as big! 

I could probably manage a bridle though.

 

 

 Next was the pony, who I think will always be known affectionately as 'Chubby' as she's the spitting image of a pony of that name I used to ride as a child. Basically a ball with legs, she was a true 'Thelwell' pony, always stopping before a jump and then just walking over (or through) it, and would much rather stand around and eat than do anything remotely energetic!

Because she's so round, she actually looks a better size mount for the rider's long legs!

To finish, here's the pair of them, sans halters, on their shelves, chilling out with some of my books.

 Please do your best to disregard the dust, it's honestly not as bad as it looks with the flash!

Annoyingly I've lost my copy of Sabriel - I wanted to re-read
the trilogy but now I can't as its the first in the series!