A story of a saddle and a bridle

I'm attracted to shiny things, I love looking at tack on MH$P, and when I have money it burns a hole in my pocket. So when I saw this gorgeous Erin Corbett saddle available, I had to have it!

After a few weeks of time payments it arrived and I drooled over the detailed tooling.

There was just one catch: the colour didn't suit any of my models. (If you're wondering, the colour is truest in the first photo. It looks different in the other photos because my camera is crap.) This saddle (and matching bridle and breastcollar and pad) had already cost me a fortune and I was heartbroken. I whinged to Lisa and after some accidental arm-twisting she decided to purchase it from me. Yay!

However, the bridle that came with the set from Erin was too small to fit the classic QH mare (it fits, but looks a bit silly), so I agreed to make Lisa another bridle for her.

Yesterday, I received a pony in the mail. And what do you know, but the Corbett saddle suits her to a T! *facepalm*

So I spent all of last night hurriedly making that bridle for Lisa, so I could steal the saddle while it's still here and get some photo showing pictures. Here's the bridle.

I'm not sold on the browband - it's a V shape that is more structured than an English V browband. The silver is coated leather; underneath it's black, and if you look at the browband in the right light, you can see where I have made cuts in the silver to make it sit in the correct shape. (Note to self; wider lace such as 6mm or 8mm glued to a base and then trimmed should eliminate this problem.) It's a great browband for photo showing, but I think I'll make Lisa a one-ear browband as well.

I also tried two new things with this bridle, and that was waxed reins and slobber straps. The reins are waxed polyester thread, and the very light wax coating allows the reins to be set into position and show the right amount of contact. Slobber straps are usually used with mecate reins, but are sometimes seen with split reins, as I've decided to do. In real life they add a bit of extra weight to the bit so it sits properly in the mouth, and also so the reins aren't damaged by slobber and dripping water when the water drinks. I don't think either of those last two reasons will be an issue in a Western arena class, but I do like the look of them! (They also make the reins removable as the slobber straps aren't glued together.)

When I find my silver studs from TWMHC, I'll be putting one on the slobber straps, I think, to bring them in from trail reins to more pleasure reins.