As I said earlier, May has left me with not much interest in anything plastic pony. As much as I wanted to take another commission, I had a hard enough time finishing my last one, which was just supposed to be one of those breezy odds-and-ends orders.
That said, I decided what I needed to kick me back into gear in time for long summer days with little to no commitments was some good ol' fashioned instant gratification.
To do this, I decided to finally 'tackle' the finishing touches on this working western set for Seabiscuit.
I can't even remember how much work went into this saddle - I just remember messing up so many fenders when I hammered right through the leather (used a cube bead from Michael's as a 'stamp')
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| The sticky wax on the bridle is purely decorative |
Thankfully, all I had to do to make this sale-ready was assemble the already created pieces of the bridle, and change the bit to one of the cast ones I purchased off eBay a few months back.
There are some messier pieces here (see: rear cinch), since this was more of an experimental set where I could play with what worked and what didn't in my first working western set.
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| Franken-cinch! Yikes! |
The cast bit is definitely a nice touch. Miles better than my old wire ones, anyway. The only issue is they come in gold, so this one is currently just painted silver. I'm not sure how that will hold up to some handling, though.
That said, I'm more than pleased with how it turned out over all.
There's lots of fun little details - such as the futurity knot browband and mechanically correct splint boots.
And most importantly, I think it gave me just enough of a boost back into tack making that I'll be able to continue on through the summer with some sales pieces!
MH$P add for this set can be found here.
For now, commissions are going to remain closed unfortunately. I know there are people still on the waitlist who I talked to about possibly getting a spot this summer, but I want to make sure I only take on a new project with someone that I know I'll be able to finish.
