The Micro Hunter

It's becoming clear to me that I just really, really like micro jumpers. But I did decide that after two cross country projects, it was time for a little back to basics.

This was another project I started in 2015 and eventually deserted for one reason or another- finding a project already partially completed is always a treat!

This little guy is Maggie Bennett's "Jumping Mule" sculpture, who is no longer a mule but instead a neatly braided bay hunter with some sweet high whites.

Hunter jumps fall easily into the trap of white poles and forgettable standards, so I knew I wanted to try something a bit new and different for this one. Each little shack standard was constructed board-by-board, then weathered down and accented with some moss to really give a lived-in, outdoor life look.

The little trees were sculpted by hand with Apoxie, texturized with rough sandpaper for some believable bark, and decked out with my new favorite thing ever, Woodland Scenics' foliage flocking. When I originally bought this stuff, I was confused and disappointed by its clumping, stick-together quality; I thought I'd purchased a bag of loose flocking! Turns out this was a blessing in disguise, as this stuff makes for the best no-mess tree flocking I've ever used.

The top layer of the base is sculpted specifically to hide the horse's attached base, and I love the balancing illusion of the final product. He's still fully attached to his solid pewter base, it's just hidden in the "sand"! For once, I have no worries about the horse coming unattached from the base or tipping over.

Sculpting on that top layer of the base also provided an opportunity for packing in some extra detail such as sandy texture and itty bitty hoof prints. I think the lack of a glass-smooth surface adds to the arena dirt illusion!

And finally, an obligatory scale picture:

I've been really, really enjoying making these self-contained micro dioramas. While it makes my heart happy to hear people are taking them to shows (facing off against horses five times their size!), I also think they make lovely little shelf pieces. There's something so satisfying about this scale!

The Thick of It

I don't know how many English sets I've made in my "career" so far. If I had to guess, I'd say somewhere between a good few and a bunch.

What made this week's set different than the past many, is the fact that it's made entirely from 3mm tooling cowhide. 

Here's a thickness comparison reference for you:

The cowhide is easily double the thickness of my normal leather, skiver, which still needs to be skived down quite a bit to be usable for mini scale tack. Using this super chunky stuff meant at least double the skiving time on every. Single. Piece.

Grace, you ask, if it takes forever to make usable, why use the thick leather in the first place?

Good question.

While there's nothing especially wrong with my skiver, I've been looking for a leather with a smaller grain for a long while now. 

Skiver saddle, sometime in 2015

Cowhide saddle, circa today

Besides the more discreet grain, this thicker leather also has a bit more body to it, which makes all the little tiny straps and whatnot feel slightly less fragile.

It's also much better at holding little details like stitch marks, and I like its overall well-oiled, quality kind of look.

The added prep work time means charging more for cowhide sets than skiver ones, which I don't love. My prices are slowly increasing over the years as the quality of my tack increases (I hope!), and I do my best to be fair to myself and my customers, but pricing is still super tricky for me. 

At this point, I really like the cowhide and I'm not sure if this is a full transition away from skiver or just a fun departure. I feel like the big skiver grain will bug me much more now that I have a better alternative...

I was really pleased with how these boots came out! The new leather definitely molds to the leg better and holds a nice shape.

And of course, what pad color could I possible choose on St. Patrick's Day but spring green?

For this set, I aimed for a good kind of starter English package to cover jumper, hunter, and your trail/games/other classes in the English division. I figured as I'm not currently taking commissions, it'd be convenient to offer a full package kind of deal instead of leaving someone wanting for boots or a breastplate or something. 

Having done a few basic/general purpose sets back to back, I'm really itching to try something a bit different next. I'm thinking some crazy eventing set or something?

Any other tackmakers out there, I'd be interested in any leather suggestions that might split the difference between the cowhide and skiver- thinner than cowhide with tighter grain than skiver?

(Update: this set is now up for grabs on MH$P here!)

Hunter Set Pics

This one's been a long, long, time in the making... but it's finally done, and ready for a new home!

Studio Update: October 10

So many projects. Why do I keep starting projects?

This is probably my proudest accomplishment; a saddle with piping along the tops of the skirts, and a new wire rack to keep it on.

I'm really pleased with how that piping came out, as well as the saddle's overall shape.

I think it'll be a part of a sales hunter set for the Dungaree mold eventually.

My other big project has actually been quite small; an original micro scale sculpture, because it seemed fun?

This is definitely not my area of expertise... but I had wire and clay, so I figured, why not?

He still has a LOT of issues, but it's been a really fun distraction side project for me while I work on art school applications. 

Maybe one of these days I'll finish something?

More For Me?!

Show prep is coming along slowly... but nicely!

I recently completed this set for this girl, who will be my OF performance horse for these shows. 

Back to it!