Tack of the Expo

There were numerous types of tack at the PA Horse Expo.

A lot of the saddles I saw were more western and english.

Here's a saddle seat saddle.

Then I started to see other types of tack like this racing saddle.

Here's a line of Australian saddles that I forgot to come back to take close photos of!

And then I wandered to the DP Saddlery booth. Pat told me they'd be there and to take pictures. So I did. 

There were English-type saddles with tooling. Isn't this dressage saddle pretty?

Detail shot of the tooling.

The saddles then bridged away from english and western. DP Saddlery had a bunch of Baroque type of saddles on display. Some had lots of tooling.

Others did not.

I tried to take plenty of detail shots of them.

 Making a Baroque saddle has always seemed elusive to me because they're so different from other types of saddles.

 But these pictures helped break it down into containable chunks. I can't say this is something I'd tackle in the near future, but at least I have some references!

Because I finally saw some in person.

There were also headstalls.

And here's a Mosquero. It connects to the browband of the bridle. 

I hope you enjoyed the different types of tack! I know I did. :)

A Great Way To Start The Week

Yesterday, I received this in the mail.

It was for the annual writing contest held by WITF . I've entered it before and when my mom told me there was an envelope from them in the mail I expected it to be the 'thank you for entering' letter.
So I didn't open it until late last night. And I was surprised to see that I'm one of the 13 finalists for it. I get to go to the reception and be present for when the first and second place winners are announced. Yay!
Lizzie also had a great start into her week. Over the weekend she went to the Berks Saddle-ites show.

Photo by Lizzie Mace, Zebra customized by Eva Bradley.

I couldn't attend because of a real horse show (got that 6th), so Lizzie sent me pictures instead.
She showed With Pleasure in western OF.
She did well in other western,

Photo by Lizzie Mace, props by her, tack by Niki Hertzog and doll by Anne Field

 western games,

Photo by Lizzie Mace, props by her, tack by Niki Hertzog and doll by Anne Field

and western trail.

Since I couldn't go to the show, Lizzie asked if she could borrow some of my western tack.
Doesn't her Peter Stone look nice in it?

Photo by Lizzie Mace, tack minus the tie down by Kristian Beverly

Photo by Lizzie Mace, tack minus the tie down by Kristian Beverly

Final ribbon amount!

Photo by Lizzie Mace, tack minus the tie down by Kristian Beverly

In english, Lizzie showed her new Roxy.

Photo by Lizzie with props by her, saddle by Pat Coulter, pad by Rachel Fail, 

And she showed her saddlebred, Murphy.

Photo by Lizzie with props by her, tack by Pat Coulter

 He did very well.

Photo by Lizzie with props by her, tack by Pat Coulter

He ended up earning Grand Champion in OF performance. 

Photo by Lizzie with props by her, tack by Pat Coulter

Lizzie showed her custom Zippo in performance.

Photo and props by Lizzie, tack by Kristian Beverly

Photo by Lizzie, tack by Kristian Beverly

It looked like a fun show. Thanks for sending me pics Lizzie!

PA Horse Expo

The end of last week was the PA Horse Expo. I missed it last year so I made it a point to make it this year. On Friday after my last class (and start of Spring Break!) I wandered around the expo.

I really enjoyed watching the Breed Showcase.  

Chincoteague Pony!!

I also wandered around the shopping area paying particular attention to the tack. 

I took enough pictures to have a post about the breeds and tack I saw. Did anyone have a preference of which one they'd like to see first?

Let's Do Painterly Things Without Painting

My attempt at NaMoPaiMo was a really nice try.
I had a model to paint

even if I accidentally dropped her and chipped her ear. In August I accidently knocked her over so she tumbled down my shelves in a series of loud thumps. 

I'd gone out and bought supplies. I decided to paint her in oils to some sort of bay. 

My Michaels had a 2 for 1 deal on oils. I read Jennifer Buxton's Jennifer Scott post about oils and decided to try them. I got the basic pallete of plastic pony colors plus a new set of brushes. I use Turpinoid for colored pencils so I didn't need to buy that. 

The last needed supply was reference photos. I really wanted to do my Hazel justice, which meant I needed good reference photos. I have a binder of horse photos plus I have taken plenty but in the end I just dumped more photos onto my horse reference pinterest board. I pinned a rainbow of bays before deciding on a final shade. 

And that's where my NaMoPaiMo ended. School work and getting sick ate away my free time. I didn't finish NaMoPaiMo nor even start it, but I gained so much knowledge from reading the tips on the board and on Jennifer's blog during the month of February. Learning is just as important as doing sometimes.