I can see clearly now...

...the rain is gone
I can see all the obstacles in my way...

And boy are there a lot of them.

I finally received Susan Bensema Young's Guide to Making Model Horse Tack, nearly 4 weeks after she shipped it out. Not only did I have to wait a long time, I also had pay a customs fee on top of the $20.00 it took to ship it here. Not her fault, of course. Sometimes I just wish I lived in the States.

Anyway, her book is wonderful! All of those little things that it would have taken me years to figure out are right there to help me. It has lots of great diagrams and advice--I'm just itching to try my hand at carving a western saddle! Some of the techniques are a little less refined than we're used to seeing now (it was written twelve years ago, after all), but it's still a great starting point. If you're thinking of making your own tack, I would definitely recommend this book. It will save you a lot of frustration!

My problem is, I want to be really good really fast! Hence the obstacles song ;). I guess I'll just have to master tackmaking one aspect at a time.

My swap horse is unfortunately not finished yet. I feel really bad about that. Next year I won't do any resculpting, just painting. Hopefully then I'll get it to my partner by Halloween. Shauna sent me an adorable sm named 'Donwanna'. She's a black appy mare with her ears pinned back and a very stubborn expression on her face ;) She also sent me chocolate and awesome chocolatey-smelling soap :D

Here's Ellie so far:

Still working on her off side blue eye (it's harder than it looks!):

And a close up of the medallion:

I do have a photo tent, but I am just a lazy bum so I didn't bother to get it out. Here's my handy-dandy wainscoting backdrop:

It's just the right width for a stablemate!

I also managed to finally make a rope halter with a fiador knot. Unfortunately, you can't see it in this picture. But it is there! That braid on the right will be the lead rope--it's a four strand spiral made out of embroidery floss.

I'm still trying to figure out where to get the rope that Rebecca Dunne uses here: http://www.freewebs.com/griffyndoonropesaustralia/. Aren't the halters she makes bee-yoo-ti-ful? I can still remember when she made her first rope halter...ah, I feel old. But seriously, if anyone has any suggestions I'll be glad to hear them!

I'll leave you with a picture of the double rainbow we had a few days ago:

Cheers!