Snakey...

Sometimes you just have to do something a little different....this little snake is part of a performance set up made for a Performance Club member.

This is a little Paddock Pal scale rattle snake. Alright so it's a little out of scale but it is still rather cool :)




Please ignore the rider and pegasus :p













Here he is with the paddock pal horse he is to go with! Scary snake makes him scared...

Grackle Bridles

Today I have entered into much research regarding grackle bridles. This all started when a customer who had ordered a grackle decided to ask for it to have a pelham bit. In my eyes a Pelham wouldn't be used with a grackle so I decided to do some snooping...

What I have discovered is thus...it is recommended that you only ever use a pelham with a cavesson noseband and not a grackle or flash although these are seen.

But that is not the interesting discovery. The interesting discovery regards the design of a grackle noseband and what creates a true grackle movement. According to the experts in such things the more usual type of grackle noseband with rings like this one:



Does not create a proper movement. This is because the top band is fixed to rings instead of being able to move freely. Actually originally grackles looked like this:



With the top band running through two loops. This allows it freedom, gives you more control and creates a proper movement.

So yes random post about grackles, I've actually changed the design of my grackle bridle in light of this new information. I am a big one for actually looking into why we use things and why we design them in certain ways. Post of the two different bridles next to each other will be up when I finish the new one! (with or without pelham bit depending upon what the customer wants)

Chestnut Arab Gorgeousness

Hello everyone! Long time no post I know but hey married life you know!

So this is a little post about a little Arab...well actually he's a sorta medium sized Classic Arab but me and him are completely in love. Unfortunately he is going to a new home but I'm enjoying having him on my desk while it lasts.



Yep I told you he was gorgeous...just look at that lovely chestnuty goodness :D



And the other side of his gorgeous body





And his beautiful face which I love very much



He is going to one of our performance club members as a lovely Western hacking set up. I have a few more days of enjoying him before he has to go to enjoy him at least.

New Commission Pieces

I decided I would quickly share with you two new commission pieces done for Lacey Marshall. Lacey is one of my best customers and is a US collector with a passion for Paddock Pal scale models such as Schleich, CollectA, Papo and Bullyland. In fact she only collects this scale! She decided to commission me to paint two CollectA Friesians as well as purchasing another CollectA Friesian whom I had for sale.

The first piece is a rather unusual bay. She sent me a reference picture of a lovely red bay with a skunk tail. Unfortunately as this was a while back I can't find the reference picture for either of these pieces but you get to see the custom at least!

So here is commission number one:



A front shot showing the white blaze and wall eye which she requested:





The second custom has been named Voltare. For this the reference was of a very dramatic grey Andalusian. Although the reference picture itself wasn't great she was very happy with the end result.

So meet commission piece number two:



And the other side:



The beautiful veining on the Friesian model allowed me to get out the white pencil and highlight this to create a very realistic effect on the horses legs. Many grey's have this but it can often look a bit off on customs when the model itself does not have veining. I love a model that allows you to add these gorgeous realistic details!

Hello all! Just realised that you are probably all thinking that I have fallen off the face of the Earth! Well I haven't....although I have got married so maybe comparisons could be drawn...

So yes this is the reason for my recent lack of activity! On August 18th I got married and am now official Mrs. Catriona Harris....think of that what you will!

I followed the wedding with what was suppose to be two weeks honeymooning in Scotland. Unfortunately last Tuesday I got a call to say my Nana (who had suffered from demetia for years) was dying. As my parents were out of the country and we are her only relatives I made the decision to drive from the Isle of Islay in the Hebrides to Suffolk to see her and be with her. Unfortunately we did not make it in time, this did however mean my honeymoon was cut abruptly short!

But on a more cheerful note I decided that you may wish to see some wedding pictures so here are links to the albums and one of my favourites at the end! (look out for fellow model horse enthusiasts and some little china editions to the wedding cake):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151164715640155.486578.689360154&type=3&l=6404f32fed

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151168724885155.487346.689360154&type=3&l=5ca78e2995