Lots of small updates

I'm still prepping the Stablemates. I'd forgotten how long prepwork takes!

In between letting coats of primer dry, I've been trying to assemble my own Aussie saddle pattern in CL scale. I've been making the original shapes out of sheets of foam, so once I've got that finalized, I'll scan them in to show what I've got.

I've actually gotten to the point where I've made the saddle tree, and started making the seat itself. I did something a little different from a lot of model horse tackmakers, making the saddle tree out of sintra. Sintra is a closed cell PVC foam. It's quite resilient, and heat formable. It's flexible when it's thin, just flexible enough that used in tack making, it won't hurt it too much if you squish a saddle. I use sintra a lot in my costuming hobby, so I have tiny scraps sitting around a lot of the time. The cheap plastic for sale signs printed with black and orange that you find in stores are usually made out of sintra, which should give you an idea how cheap the material is.

I'm still working on the flaps, and I want to try something a little different in how my stirrups attach to make them removable and and easy to replace. I was thinking about somehow using hooks and eyes, but I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to make that work yet. I don't have any super-fine leather, I'm using what I have on hand, so it's going to look a little coarse, but it should be sufficient for photoshowing.

I've also got a quick no-pattern Portuguese/Spanish styled treeless saddle I'm making out of vinyl, leather, and foam, which is coming along nicely. I'll make a pattern for this too, since it's pretty quick and cheap to make, and would be good for a kid's tack collection.

I've also entered some of my horses into the races over at the Model Horse Fun Club.