Rachel Fail Custom Tack

The last few months have sped by.  January was mostly just one or all of us being sick.  Our puppy Callie approved of the extra snuggle time. In February, my little girl turned four, and look what she got! She's been riding Jasper more, although some days she says "He's too big for me." In which case she gets to ride Melissa the pony, and sometimes she gets to go for a trail ride with me. Emma and Rob even joined us for a walk, but I doubt this will happen much when the Florida summer heat and humidity arrives. Like every good horsewomen in training, Rylie's getting a well rounded barn education.  Just try to pick up a pile she's working on, and you'll hear "Hey! That's my pile!" Emma's favorite activity while the big girls clean stalls, making sure Jasper stays in treats.  As you can imagine, Jasper adores Emma. I've been spending more time at the barn than I have since Buddy died, and I'm loving eve...

I can't contain my excitement! I was commissioned by Breyer this year to make a barrel racing saddle set , and after months of waiting, I'm so excited to see the final product! Photo on Breyer's Website  Here are the prototypes I made for the creation of this set: I can't wait to buy one of these at my local tack store! It looks like Breyer's version is really close to the original, and I'm so excited to see it in person!

As many of you know, I started making custom horse halters in 2016.  The first one was for my horse love, Jasper. I lease him, and he's got to be one of the best horses I've ridden, period.  He's filled a whole that hasn't really been filled since my paint gelding died in 2012. I recently made him another fancy halter, and thanks to my father-in-law (I never have enough hands to bring my camera AND the kids), I have a great photo of him with my eldest sporting his new one: This photo makes my heart melt. The halters have been a joy to see on the ponies at my barn, so much of what I normally make gets shipped and I never see it again.  I am selling them in my Etsy store now. I sold enough over Black Friday/Christmas, that I decided to let my creative juices flow a bit more and make some variations. "Magic" is a beautiful black horse at the barn that has become a favorite model of mine: I also picked on him to model the new sports team halters...

Making the Australian Light Horse set also required me to get creative and make some items more rarely seen in the model horse world.  Swords, scabbards, rifles, and unique saddle bags. Starting with the sword, I started with the handle. I carved it from some hard craft wood, and shaped some  tin coated steel sheet metal  drilling a hole with a #60 drill bit into the metal and wood in preparation for my tiny screw and washer.  I made the shaft of the sword from a piece of aluminum tubing, crimped and sanded to fit the correct shape.  I also drilled a slot into the wood for secure fastening.  I fit it into some 1/8" brass tubing for a scabbard. I added two brass rings at the top (once piece with two loops on either end), to prevent it from sliding through the scabbard frog on the horse shoe case, by making a slot in the back for the piece to fit into.  Next was the rifle... More aluminum tubing...  I also made a pair o...