Breyer Horse Display

The former owner of the house had trains and cars displayed on plain wooden shelves above the windows in the bonus/office room.  I already knew once seeing it that I could maybe do something for my Breyer horses.  I've gotten a lot of ideas from Braymere Custom Saddlery.  I'm not longer an active hobbyist and when I was it was original finish but I live through reading her blog and seeing the amazing tack and miniature model horse stuff.

The shelving was narrow so the main worry was if one of the horses became unbalanced from vibration or something like that.  A fence seemed like the most logical answer and would add to the charm of the display.  I went to Michaels Arts and Crafts store to pick up some basswood pieces of the correct size to make a fence post and railings.

After measuring and cutting my husband and I were able to get the perfect fit of the fencing to span the shelf yet allow the horses room to be placed onto the shelf space.  Glue and paint; and vuala!

I tried to group the horses with different colors spread out so it wasn't just a tone on tone look.  My favorite coast colors being darker ones like bays and chestnuts being the majority of my collection this task was a little bit of a challenge but I think the few lighter color horses break up the monotony. 

All of the horses I have left from my childhood collection fit!  I've sold many in the past years since I had a ton and with getting my own horse and then moving it just never made sense to cart around boxes of model horses.  Now I have a fun display in an area of the house walls that would otherwise be empty aside from maybe a picture.  When I look up and see my precious collection I think of the horsinalities each Breyer was given and the games my childhood best friend Jessica and I would play.

There is Marshmellow, the colt who won championships at a local Breyer horse show and his adoptive uncle Firebolt (personality modeled after Jesse from Full House).  Then there was Jackie the buckskin pony who all the boys were hot for.  Then there was BC Requested a buckskin galloping horse I was so excited to get for Christmas.  BC was my "stable" name; Blue Crescent Stables.  Oh the joys of childhood.  Now I just need to figure out where I can put the barn my dad and I made together....I have a couple ideas....

Horseshoe Wreath

Starting to feel Christmasy!!!  Bought the horseshoe wreath and then added the decorations.  Love it!  Lots of cute ideas online.  Now my front and back doors have a wreath!

H- Horse Art

How many cultures in our world owe their livelihood to horses?  Probably a good portion of them.  Horses are seen in the art of almost all cultures in our world.  They are a big part of our history and helped humankind colonize this little blue globe.
 



In a recent trip to a Mexican restaurant here in Colorado Springs, I noticed a plethora of horse paraphernalia.  Wall paintings, sculptures and hangings.  It's always fun to find horses in places you aren't expecting.

Now there are some cultures where horse culture was what their lives revolved around.  They were nomadic and their horses were their riches.  They supplied transport, clothing, housing (hides) and food.  Arabs and Native Americans are the first cultures that pop up in my mind though I don't think these particular cultures ate the horses.  I'd love to see if there are books on this subject since it's an area in which I'm not too knowledgeable.  A quick search on Amazon presented this book Song for the Horse Nation: Horses in Native American Culture

In many cultures horses were a status symbol.  Those in the military that rode a horse were of higher rank, the same went for household that had more horses in their keep.  Horses were also a main mode of transportation for many cultures and just like our cars today, make, model and accessories were important attributes to their "rides".

I found this little Mariachi band of horse sculptures to be very cute, though stylized in an almost cartoon fashion.  Could you imagine a horse in real life with such short legs?  How would they walk!!??

 

The whole set was at the front of the Mexican restaurant and I'm sure the hostess thought I was crazy snapping shots of these little figurines but they were just too cute!  I'll have to do some more research on horses in art, this Blogging A to Z thing is making me think of horse related subjects that I know little about.  Hmmm.

My Present From Braymere!!!

A while back I was excited because a fellow blogger over at Braymere Custom Saddlery, a gal who makes the most awesome model horse tack, was giving away free model horses...beat up ones. She wanted people to tell her what they would like from her collection and she would see what she could do. Well my email described that I just wanted heads!

My husband brews beer and thinks it would be cool to make the tap handles horse heads to combine our two hobbies. I received this draft horse for his draft beers....LOL. Jennifer over at BCS added some details to the forelock, carved out the ears, and nostrils and added some texture to the fuzzy face of this drafty steed. She did a lot of work fixing the head as it was a resin that was not cast right. All I have to do is paint him and ta-da we'll have our first tap handle horse head!

One of my good friends commented on Facebook that I should place the horse head on Steve's side of the bed. Hmmm....I really don't think this has the same effect as the horse head in The Godfather.....what do you all think?

Funny Horse ipad....Gotta Love BBC

Pony Keg

My husband is part of a home brew club.  He has the nickname of Shoe Brew, since I was telling the guys long ago that he has more shoes than me!  When they saw a picture of him and Dani on Facebook they started touting Horse Shoe Brew!!  I've always been Pony Keg.  It just works.  I finally got around to making my shirt.  This is the logo on it.  What cha think?  I made it to kind of look like Dani!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Try and Painterly Effects

So what do you all think of these two paintings.  The first one I tried to do a painting look with the actual Watercolor filter on Photoshop and that was just too grainy looking.  Then I found a tutorial online and redid the photo and did an additional couple photos to practice.  You'll probably have to click on them to see the full size to get the full effect.

You likie?

 

You likie?

I have already received an 8 x 10 print of the two above and will be putting it up on in my bedroom along with an awesome art piece I bought at the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo.  I'll post pics once the hubby and I hang the decor (straiten and dust the room!).  Our bedroom has been "sans wall art" for 4 years!!!!  I've just concentrated on other rooms in the house, backyard landscaping....LOL.  So excited to get some horseness in my boudoir!!!

And just one last photo painting that I don't have future plans for hanging in my house just yet but I thought it was fun to try to the painterly artsy, fartsy Photoshop stuff!  Not that this Andalusian needed any helping looking like an art piece....sigh.....

5x7 Folded Card

Black Border 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

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Snapshots of Horses

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Shutterfly photo books are the new way to preserve your memories. Create your own today.

I had a free 8x8 Photobook from Shutterfly.  So I went through my horse picture folder, suitably named Horsing Around, and picked some of my favorite pics...enough to fill a 20 page book.  Not many pictures and honstely I've had little time for actual "photoshoots" so these are definitely snapshots of my beloved animal.  So many dreamy horses.....

Fire Horses

It's amazing to me that horses have done so much for us!  I recently saw War Horse and was awed.  I've been on horses that shy at a bird singing and yet war horses had to deal with fires being shot and explosions!

Fire horses are no different.  Not only did they deal with a siren but they dealt with the noise and chaos of a building on fire.

My local fire operations center, I go there often because of my job, has a museum with old fire engines and then these set up with model horses pullin scale fire engines etc.

There were also many photos of the actual fire horses.  How regal they are!

Of course the fire hydrants were kinda cute, I had to take a picture of the different types and kinds.

So this was a short post, I just wanted to get the pictures of the old fire engines and the brave horses up for everyone to see.  Does anyone see a dalmation dog in these pics?  I know they were an importatn member of the fire team since they worked to keep the horses calm. 

PONY MAGAZINES!!!

So the mail was on hold since December 22nd and was just finally delivered today because of all the holidays....I have not one, not two but SIX horse magazines to read!!!  SWEET!!!

I love it!

Horse Table

On a recent trip to Anniston, AL for work I discovered this neat table in the cafeteria of the training center for Homeland Security.  PONIES!!!

Kind of random...

It was pretty random to see this intricate table in a very plain, "government" type building.  So I had to take a couple pictures...I have a horse blog afterall!  You never know when you might happen upon something neat and interesting!

Detail of the horse head leg

Hoof Trimming Jewelry

This is pretty neat! Equinite  Nice quality jewelry made of horse hoof trimmings.  I know a lot of people keep a lock of their horses mane, particularly after they pass on.  This is a great idea and very pretty I might add!  There is one option where you can have a few strands of the horses mane over the "stone".  Pretty neat!

Another site I came across also have fingerprint and nose print jewelry!  What cute ideas to keep your beloved pets and family members close at hand in a non gross way.  Nothing like a vial of dried blood EWE!!  These are very pretty! Fingerprint and Paw/Nose Print Jewelry