Christmas Saddle Pad

I'm a bit of a Christmas freak. I decorate my house, car, tack locker etc. So it should come as no surprise that I also decorate my horse. Last year I received 2 burgundy saddle pads from a friend. I really only needed one so the other one sat in it's box for months unused until November when I found a good use for it.

A Christmas Saddle Pad!

I measured the amount of trim I would need and went to the fabric store. While they had what I needed with the other trims, I found that I could save a little money by buying 2 white boas that were less expensive.

I had to hand stitch the trim onto the pad, which was a time-consuming pain. But in the end I think the result was worth it!

I left the section where the girth goes un-stitched so that I could do my girth under it.

Good luck! I have to say I might try this for other holidays...

Sparkle Gel

So if you do gaming, parades, schooling shows, or just like to add a little sparkle to your horse, then you've probably bought this at some point or another...

The stuff is pretty cool I'll admit but the $10 price tag seemed a little steep to me... So I figured out how to make my own! It is incredibly easy and allows you to make any color you want to match a particular show set.
The things I used to make it were:

• Glitter in your choice of color (I found the finer glitter works best but any glitter will do)
• Clear hair gel
• plastic ziplock bag
• stir stick
• Empty container

This was the only clear gel my local store carried, you can find a much bigger and less expensive container somewhere like Walmart... shop around if you're looking to save some money.

 Put the clear hair gel into the plastic bag, add glitter and mix! I found that it was easiest to use the gel if put into a squeeze container I bought at the drugstore for about $1. To do so, I squeezed the glitter gel into the bottom of the bag and cut off one of the corners which allowed me to squirt the mixture directly into my container, no messy spoons or funnels needed!

Custom Stock Pins

If you show an English discipline, then you've experienced the pain of stock pins. Yes, the attention is in the details and they give a nice appearance. However I've found that there is an utter lack of variety. The cheapest I've found are a few dollars and with those, you really get what you pay for. My favorite is one I bought in a tack store several years ago, which is silver with a blue and white sparkly horseshoe on it that probably cost me $20-$30. I know that's a little pricey but I really wanted something different from the standard gold horseshoe, bit, horse head, or horn that you usually see.
It hit me today as I was planning future blog posts that a stock pin was something I could probably make myself fairly easily. The benefit of this being that I could make them as personal or unique as I wanted and I could use quality materials like sterling silver if I wanted.

To make your own stock pin you'll need:

1. large safety pin or kilt/skirt pin like this one from amazon (be careful with sizing, the pins are the right style but vary greatly in size and quality - do your research)
2. your choice of charm, bead or whatever
3. Soldering iron and solder or super glue, depending of materials your working with

If using a charm you'll also need some sort of nippers or cutters that will cut off the loop that would be used to hang the charm. You may need to file away any rough edges after cutting.

Center your charm on the pin and either solder or glue in place... That's it. You should now have a beautiful and best of all unique stock pin to set you apart in the show ring. Keep in mind though that for some shows, it is best to stick to traditional designs. 

I like the idea of using charms because they're about the right size and the choices are endless. I would probably do a sparkly horseshoe or the first letter of your name for a classy look. 

Example of Horseshoe charm and Initial charm

I'll add pictures as soon as I make one!

Hello!

Hello and Welcome to anyone who happens to stumble across this blog. I know there are literally thousands of horse-related blogs that are probably better than mine, but I hope that you can find some new knowledge to aid in your horsey adventures! Just so you know, I did have a blog (also called the DIY horseman) which I've been posting to for a few months but I was having issues with the web hosting I was using - it's pretty difficult to maintain a blog if the site is constantly unavailable and the maximum number of pictures you can post on the entire site is 4... needless to say, blogger is the new home of the DIY horseman.

A little about myself... I'm a horse freak. I live for my horse. I'm the kind of person who goes to the grocery store in manure-crusted boots and hay in my hair because I'd much rather spend the 5 minutes it would take me to change into clean clothes doing something with my horse. I don't have eons of horse experience but I'm not a beginner either. I have taken formal lessons in western, hunter-jumper, and dressage and compete regularly in local shows. I have owned a horse in the past but I'm currently leasing a Saddlebred gelding named Desi who I will probably talk about a lot. I do not technically own Desi but his owner is taking a few years off from horses and in that time I am entirely responsible for every aspect of his care. I ride primarily dressage right now but I still love english and western... and I have nothing but respect for those of you who do saddleseat, gaming, reining, eventing,  driving, vaulting, and any one of those other awesome equestrian sports.
Unfortunately, my horse does not live at my house so there is a lot of time I'm not with him. Which is probably the reason I've filled my spare moments with a myriad of projects devoted to my horse. The ludicrous prices of horse products (not to mention how hard it is to find them if you don't live near a good tack or feed store) have inspired this blog. In addition to projects, I spend a fair amount of my time researching new ideas related to horse riding and care which I will also blog about. I think the best horseman is one who constantly strives to seek new knowledge in order to better themselves.
I wish you luck with your horse, they are beautiful and life-changing creatures.