Long time followers of this blog will know that I have a particular obsession with making showmanship halters, usually in bright colourful leather with lots of added sparkle.
So it was only a matter of time before my new re-found love for tack making subsided into obsessive making of showmanship halters.
Firstly it is very clear to me that I need to order more hobby supplies. I have a distinct lack of decorative plates and had to just order a load more coloured leather lace as I only have black, brown, natural, blue and pink left!
But that hasn't stopped me from getting my sparkles out and creating a selection of new pieces. All of these are for sale on our website so if you want a bit of sparkle in your life why not add one to your collection?
First up is this lovely blue leather one. This has a working buckle and decorative plates. This was the last of my metal buckle keepers!
Second is a black leather one. This one has slip buckles (much easier to use but less fancy) and three decorative plates. It also has Swarovski crystals on the plates and halter. Photographs always make these look so plain but they are beautiful and sparkly!
Finally is the one that I completed today. This is a natural leather halter with decorative plates. On this halter the side plates have been placed on a leather backing which raises them slightly. This makes them stand out a lot more. It also has slip buckles (as I said no buckle keepers) and Swarovski crystals, I used a slightly different crystal on this one that has more of a pink tone. It sparkles beautifully in the light.
If you want to make your own showmanship halters they are great fun and really easy to do. You can buy leather lace from a variety of places but my favourite is Kangaroo leather lace, I get this from Australia. The plates I use come from Rio Rondo but a few places sell decorative plates. You can get sparkles from generic places such as eBay or other hobby shops. I recommend spending a bit more from proper Swarovski ones as nothing quite beats their sparkle!
Then you just make a standard leather halter and add on the decoration. If you get one of the Rio Rondo halter sets they also include things like buckles and halter slots that are all fancy and make the entire halter look completely OTT and awesome. Here is an example of one I made a couple of years ago that takes OTT sparkle to a whole new level:
