Unpopular opinions

I got this idea after watching some "unpopular opinion" videos about art from Youtube. I mentioned this to my friend LittleYoungOne and we started thinking about a model horse version of such a list. Here it comes! (And these are indeed opinions, so don't pull a pea field into your nose if you disagree. I know that I write in an aggressive style, but I will not sand corners off from my words just to please others.) 

Rämä the rex rat boy with an ASB filly called Piiru.

Perfect is not realistic and realistic is not perfect. (Alias perfection is overrated.) I have talked about this before, though not so sure if I have published any of that yet. But I stick with this saying, as it's basically my motto.

I feel like the browband is too short...

Another reason why I think perfection is overrated is because ideal setups are rewarded, although the other option could be realistic despite not perfect. I mean, sometimes you see real horse tack being put on sloppily or just weirdly. Things don't always look clean, sometimes it is just messy or half-done. Why is that not okay for a model horse setup, if it still could be seen in full scale? I don't understand. 

(Just a note: I think this perfection vs. realism is a topic which most potentially gets misinterpreted and also the one which most likely makes people angry.)

Drafts and ponies are underrated. LittleYoungOne has felt that drafts have been underrated since her earliest years in the hobby. It can be true. I have noticed how drafts are underrated also in real horse life (which I mostly see through internet, ah irony), to the level that people describe them as "slow, clumsy and incapable". All that only because the draft is not going to help you to get towards your competition success. May I ask, why are people hobbying horses to begin with - to be around horses or just to ride to gain success? 

Limppu with a halter which I made to fit a Stone Percheron. (The halter now lives in USA.)

Showing is overrated. Have I mentioned that I have never done any showing? And that I want to learn to do quality horses and tack just for the sake of having them? Usually when I see people collecting tack or wanting to improve, it seems to be because they want to show. Why? Could you seriously put all that effort only because you want to compete? 

Maybe this is showing, or maybe it is just about posing for a nice photo.

And as Jennifer Buxton has mentioned in some old blogpost ages ago, the community often forgets that there (here) is also a herd of model horse collectors who don't show at all. I am one of them.

Common and basic colors are underrated. Leopard complex, pinto patterns and all kinds of fancy dilutions are really popular, and you see them way more than you could in real life. I personally am a weird horse person in the sense that I could prefer a "boring" color, like any kind of solid bay, over a spotted blanket, tobiano or - aaaaaa! - a frame overo. Seriously, people should study the base colors further... There's way more to see and paint than you could think. I recently colored a lineart and used a photo of a chestnut horse as my palette. I don't remember the exact number, but maybe I used seven or more shades and tones for the body and legs only, and then some more for mane and tail, then don't even make me talk about skin, eyes and hooves. That is your average 'solid' chestnut horse. 

The said solid chestnut.

Non-smiling dolls are underrated. I am biased with these, so believe me. Plus I am a pessimist myself, so overly happy and smiley people just annoy me. But the real reason to why I listed this, is because I don't see many Barbie-smiling riders in photos of real riding. Some kinds of confused or grumpy expressions could be way more accurate most of the time, especially for scenes where there is more action. And isn't a grumpy face often a sign that the rider is focusing on their riding, which should be a good thing...?

Little Damage focusing on a horse who is not his.

Non-teamworking (performance) horses are underrated. I don't even know where to begin in this... People can see a misbehaving model horse, for example a bucker or just... not moving perfectly. They think it's not correct or that it will not be successful in shows. To me, those are what gain my interest more than anything - it's the dynamics! And seriously, real horses misbehave, and that gets recorded in videos and photos all the time. Even at the big levels. As I have mentioned, perfect is not realistic and realistic is not perfect. The first thing I ever learned about this hobby is... the need for realism. One more motto: If it's possible in real life, then it is possible in model life. 

I didn't find any useable photos with imperfect horses, so have some pretty trot instead.

Vintage molds are sometimes more realistic than newer molds. This I have noticed accidentally... The oldies may be less flashy, less shiny, less muscular, less detailed, less colorful. But they are more authentic in many ways. They look actually real, unlike all those flashy show horses with balloon muscles and all that shine. (This was exaggeration.)

Ludi being ridden by Silly Silli, the only human in my modelverse. (Thanks to LittleYoungOne for getting Silli to me! He is one of my studio mascots these days.)

Plain tack is underrated. It's great that people want to reach higher levels and challenge themselves with more detail and decoration, but... Where are all the generic stable halters these days? Non-decorated bridle browbands? Flat, non-decorated bridle nosebands? Why is everything so flashy and fancy, like fashion? Simpliness to the clouds! Or wait what... I focus on tack which is more or less just functional but not exactly cool to look at. Or then the coolness comes from the proper function and clean seams and such. Basics. 

A very basic halter where the leather got sanded.

Okay, I eat some of my words now, because I personally try to challenge myself with complex tack exactly because if I didn't, then it could become uninteresting (and this has happened, with halters). But I still mean what I wondered in those tack questions.

What could you like to read next time?

Brainfall: a model horse photo challenge

I cooked this list up back in February 2022. It is not actually a challenge, but more like a list of prompts/ideas of scenes which people could photograph about their plastic animals, barns, etc. I hadn't thought about publishing this, really, but I got a reason to and so... Here it comes. The list is copyrighted to me, Afuze. 

Note: This is not a competition. It can be compared to performance showing, but it is not performance showing, and you do not have to know about any discipline rules or anything. Many are just scenes and scenarios and they have nothing to do with competitions. I only want to give ideas for creative model photography.
- This list can be used so that you complete the list for one horse or then use which model you feel is the best for each step. It's up to you. The attempts can be humorous or serious, how you like, I don't limit it. Interpret these how you want. 

There also is no deadline. Take photos when you want and feel right to. They do not need to be taken in any specific order. 

The lists got numbered during spring 2023, so now I know there are almost 100 prompts... I could add more if I manage to cook up any.

SIMPLE (15):
1. Conformation shot with a handler.
2. Headshot with tack.
3. English dressage.
4. English showjumping.
5. Western.
6. Gaited.
7. A new family member.
8. Gift horse.
9. Lake.
10. Snowstorm.
11. Thunderstorm.
12. Sandbox.
13. Best friends.
14. Getting ready for a trip.
15. Cookies.

COMPLEX (contains some negative/difficult topics too):

16. Horse therapy.
17. Riding therapy.
18. Sensory overload.
19. Animal rescue.
20. Rope jumping with a horse.
21. Circus pony.
22. A relaxing day.
23. A busy day.
24. Night ride.
25. Herd dynamics.
26. Trick horse.
27. Party pony.
28. Good horse!
29. A birthday ride.
30. Dancing horses.

31. Defying the odds.
32. Better option.
33. Helping hand.
34. Ugly duckling.
35. Distinctively different.
36. Unexpected visitor.
37. A learning experience.
38. Reaching the heights.
39. Exceeded expectations.
40. Prove them wrong.
41. Forest trail ride.
42. Neighborhood.
43. Something paranormal.
44. A bloodsucker.
45. Impulse buying.
46. Stolen horse.
47. A secret ride.
48. New outfit.
49. Nope, no that!
50. Black and white.

51. Writing a book.
52. History lesson.
53. Lost memories.
54. Famous last words.
55. End of an era.
56. Trick gone wrong.
57. Food allergy.
58. School bullying.
59. A crime scene.  
60. First try.
61. Trust building.
62. A photography session.
63. Painting a portrait.
64. Pride in pride.
65. Better late than never.
66. Enough is enough!
67. You are too early.
68. We don't do that here!
69. Social distancing.
70. Selfishness.

71. Generosity.
72. Money well spent.
73. I don't believe you!
74. That does not exist!
75. Latest news.
76. Common sense.
77. That's what I said.
78. The leader.
79. Ghost town.
80. Don't eat it!
81. Done for the day.
82. That's not good.
83. Question everything.
84. Old and happy.
85. Escape.
86. Worst enemies.
87. Appreciation.
88. Almost got hit.
89. A golden moment.
90. Everything is blue.

91. Big dreams.
92. Showing example (for someone).
93. Role model.
94. An idol.
95. A good listener.
96. Beating the odds.
97.
98.
99.
100.

And why is it called Brainfall? That was a brainfart which happened when I and LittleYoungOne tried to figure out a logical name for this mess of a list. Hooray for the overly active imagination. At least I don't think we can confuse this to any other hobby challenge now.

Why is my modelverse in traditional scale?

In my case, the whole craze for a modelverse, alias worldbuilding and scene making by using miniatures, started from Schleichs. I started everything by customizing them and assembling riding scenes, which I then took photos of. That was a thing until 2013 or 2014. 

I have tried many many times, and can't add more photos, so let's have this only one then.

That, exactly the Yule 2013, was when I got my first 1:9 scale rider dolls, two Breyer men. In the early 2014 I customized their heads, so they no longer were humans.

There was a time when I thought I will remain as a Schleich collector for... Forever? I wanted to specialize in them, making worlds for them. I wanted those worlds to be the kind I see for them in my head. I can genuinely say that my stuff is something I have never seen in anyone else's Schleich worlds to happen.

I knew about Breyers' existence already around the early or mid 2000's. That was when I saw them in Lahjakas, a webstore which currently specializes in animal figures. I tried hard to not get interested about Breyers, because it could have meant that I have to start a new collection, a new world from nothing. And of course I regret that a little, as I now windowshop those exact models I saw in Lahjakas ages ago from American online thrift stores. And by starting from nothing I of course mean starting a new modelverse from nothing, into a whole new scale and with new resources. At those times my Schleich collection was already rather large, and I had some tack and props for them, so it felt easier to stay at them and develop that modelverse further.

Well, as I mentioned, in 2013 I got those Breyer guys and didn't even manage to customize them before scenes already happened. I hadn't even managed to show a knife for those doll heads when I already had fun with them. I put them to ride my three traditional scale horses which I had at the time, of course. Only one of them was a Breyer. The other two were a Blue Box QH and a flocked horse. Occasionally the boys also tested riding classics (which Grand Champions and related are, to me, despite how much bigger they are when compared to Breyer classics). That looked unbalanced, so didn't happen much, I think.

There was no quality, and everything was rather rough and ancient, but still, it was totally different from what it is when I assemble scenes from Schleichs. And here we get to the whole point of this article. 

The exact reason why I prefer traditionals is because it's bigger, more detailed and more practical than little bit. Tack is easier and nicer to make. Its own aspect is of course the fact that horses by Breyer are more or less realistic no matter the scale. Plus, they come with more variety in positions, breeds, facial expressions and in just everything, when compared with Schleichs.

If a reader knows me as a collector, it should come as no surprise that I stopped collecting Schleichs years and years ago due to that worsened sculpting style. It alone does not explain why I switched to a bigger scale, but it has a part in it.

First, Schleichs have been released in a narrower selection of molds and colors than Breyers. Every "stable" has the same horses, and of course the usual unrealistic things like przewalskis or zebras (and in my schleichverse's case, fantasy equines...). I have come to a conclusion that I simply "burned out" seeing the same things repeating in every single Schleich stable I stumbled upon online. In other words, I lost interest towards reading Schleich stable blogs since story plots were too predictable. Also the humans and horses were never individuals. Meanwhile I also hated the fact that by that my own horses weren't unique neither. The only unique individuals were (are) customs. And I have a large herd of them - but I haven't seen customs in any of those story blogs I browsed... So that's it then.

So, buying Schleichs was no longer interesting. New horses didn't give me the joy and excitement they used to give, and eventually I bought them only for customizing and as something to compare customs with.

Same cannot be said about Breyers. With them I have the exact same craze and excitement which I used to have with Schleichs. This is why I windowshop Breyers for example form MHSP. I mostly hit my eyes at bodies, because I am a customizer.

One human simply cannot own a herd similar to someone else's. It's impossible even if two people had equally large collections, same molds and same eras - no, these have been produced for so long in so many molds, colors, editions and eras that it simply is impossible that someone could have all what you have. And this is why I like these and the modelverses people have in (especially) traditional scale. There is more variety in the horses. Also especially Americans customize and repaint way more than for example Finns do, and there's nothing weird or special in it.

One more reason for why I like the bigger scale is... Well... How should I say it? The fact that I get closer to it? Yes, when my horses, the tack and the riders are bigger, I see them better. I could say, I get closer to that world when so. I can get into that world much better than what I could get with Schleichs. Larger horses don't limit as much, and I also am able to see these literally from their level. Also photographing is way easier when I don't have to abuse my camera by forcing it to focus on microscopit details. (Though, my DSLR is already so old and used that he is often not into the traditionals neither.)

Since I am on the neuro spectrum (autistic), I am able to "dive into my mind" deeply and forget the rest of the world when so. That happens for example in the shower or in toilet. Years ago I liked to do this during long bus trips. Digging brains for fun is almost the best thing ever - but if I get that rich story stuff or thoughts out into a concrete form... That is the best. This is why I photograph each setup alias photo stack, alias scene. I want them to be preserved. So, only hallucinating is not enough, and I want that hallucination to be seeable also later.

It doesn't end there, into the picture level. I also like to write something about these scenes, and have a whole own text file for it. I write everything up to the degree that there has to be the photography date; usually it also becomes the date the scene happened story-wise. The photos get sorted and archived by a rider doll's name and each folder also will get numbered. That way I can see who has ridden how much and which horses. Keeping record of everything possible is nice.

So, I said what I was meaning to. What else? Hmmm, questions for the readers...

Are there any Schleich stables anymore, or did it die off when blog culture died off? Or did the phenomenon simply move somewhere else where I am not (like Instagram)? Do any Finns (else than I and Kave) hobby this kind of miniature worlds and stories based on them, by using Breyer traditionals? And since this is an international blog - if any reader has a modelverse, let me know!

Why only one is not enough

This is for all those people who question my need to buy more horses so often and despite how I 'already have so many'. These people never seem to hear it when I say that there in America are collectors, who have HUNDREDS of traditional scale models, shelves full. I have only... 50? That is not much!

These three were bought from a fellow Finnish collector.

So, why only one horse is not enough?

Well, let me explain.

One thing I want to point out is scale. Model horses come in many scales, and I quite like to know what the difference between them is by experience. There was a time I didn't know how small stablemates are, and had to ask it. I still remember the description: "lightly hand-wrappable" alias so small that you can almost close the horse into your hand. 

The palomino and the pinto came from my American friend, LittleYoungOne, the dark bay andalusian (who's barely visible) and warmblood came from Kave (who painted both). Behind the palomino is my NaMoPaiMo model Torsti, as you can't see.

Different brands. Sculptors and styles vary, and every horse is different. Every brand is different, and often brands don't share sculptors with each other. 

Got this mare similarly as most of my collection, but she's a pretty model and therefore worth photographing and sharing.

Breyers are better than Schleich. I have a rather massive collection of Schleich, most of them from the early 2000's to the mid 2010's. There was a time I enjoyed Schleich and genuinely liked to buy new ones. Then the quality went down, and at the same time I already may have known what Breyers were like. Now Breyers give me the same enthusiasm what I felt about Schleichs years ago. It is what it is - I could never have only one or a few, I want a lot!

I make tack. It could be boring to do a ton of stuff and only for one size. With both real and model horses, one size does not fit all. I could not make tack for my friends if I had only one horse. I like the fact that now I can compare different models to make sure the tack is accurately measured. There is a lot of variation even among 'equally large' horses like warmbloods. Oh, there's so much variety in that box!

I made this halter to fit specifically the exact mold it is on; though the horse it's going for is in someone else's collection. (The horse is not scratched - just dusty!)

I am materialistic. I don't understand why people are so scared of materialism, or think it's a bad thing. Having stuff around makes me happy, even better if I can see it! Model horse hobby is one of the most perfect forms to let it storm around. For me, it has always been an option, because I don't know how to organize (or keep things organized all the time), and as a traditional artist I've already gained a massive amount of art supplies and have zero space for it. It's completely natural... But basically I can just honestly say that hoarding hobby stuff makes me happy.

This is partially to the materialism part: I like to have several pieces of something matchy, for example models of a certain scale or brand. In fact, I need to have it so, no less. One or two is not a collection, but a ten is. I don't even know why I feel it like this, but as long as I have too few of something, I don't bond with it properly enough. 

Everything in this photo came from my American friend LittleYoungOne. The skeleton got named Silli (Silly Silli), and he's one of the funniest things I found from that package. He may be a potential studio mascot.

Modelverse. I know, you're already so fed up with this topic, but I can't stop. It's my life. I cannot see a world for a certain scale if I don't own enough models in it. But the big thing is, that I must have all the horses I have. And more. I have so many ideas and plans, so few horses (and dolls) to make them real with.

Back before late 2016 I had only three traditionals: my PAM (who was unnamed for too long), an unfinished Blue Box QH and a wrecked flockie. All of these were in standing position and therefore I had very limited options for scenes. I know that some people actually prefer standing models over anything else, but I think these alone are just boring. I want that famous variety I already mentioned in the beginning of the article. 

Sense of community. By gaining a large and growing herd of different brands, scales, colors and breeds I also may get a better feel that I'm in a community. I'm a sideviewer most of the time anyway, so this could be at least the one thing I can relate to others with.

So to put it simple, this hobby could be basically impossible and really odd if only one could be a thing. People with tens or hundreds - let alone thousands - of plastic (or rubber, flocked, carved, china, porcelain) horses cannot be wrong. In a randomie's opinion my collection of Breyers may be overgrown and waste of space. (I occasionally get those "you could make a lot of money by selling these at some point" type of comments.) They just don't know what are like the collections of people who have for example collected much longer than me; those people may also have used way more money on their models than I with mine... 

I made this horse. And tack. And the doll.

So, anyway. I keep spying what to buy the next time.

The good and bad sides in large and small collections

Once I read a blog written by some American collector who has been in the hobby for a very, very long time. Seeing photos of large collections gave me a strange feeling, which, for some reason, made me think the good and bad sides of having small or large collections.

My Breyers somewhere in 2017... The herd has grown a lot since!

I have a small collection of traditionals, if we compare it to what Americans often have at my age. But I also know what it feels like to have a large collection - I have over 100 Schleichs, and many of them are customs. When combined these to the traditionals and yet my old classic scale toy horses, I can actually have a room full of horses; I can't keep them all visible since there just is no space.

The scale doesn't matter when you have to list all your horses, write their infos, put all this on a blog... And it's a lot easier with a small collection, obviously. Also the way you write the info chart matters, and the simplier it is, the quickier it is to fill and publish.

I have listed my collection several times over the years, first on paper and later digitally on computer. Yes, I've made a physical list of my models in a notebook at some point. That was just the Schleichs, and at the earliest years, when I was a kid, I probably also wrote infos as well or only for my classics (Grand Champions and related).

My yet unlisted ornament mustang which I got from LittleYoungOne.

What are the good sides of a small collection?

Well, one obvious good side is that the models don't take too much space. You can put all of them in one shelf and no one needs to go into storage in a plastic tub. Hmm, I couldn't do that (for Breyers) even if I didn't have space (which is true right now)...

Small collections are also easier to list on paper or computer. You can update their infos easily, if you need to do an overhaul.

If you want your every horse to have personal tack, it's a lot easier to achieve with less models than if you have 10 room-tall shelves filled with all kinds of models. 

What are the bad sides of a small collection?

I constantly crash with the issue that I don't have enough variety in models in general, when it comes to traditionals. For example, I want some chances at times when I photograph a ton of halters, but have only a couple models who truly serve good in that. No, the ones with tucked heads aren't those, believe it or not. But anyone with their noses in or near the horizontal line will be nice for this. 

It gets even worse if you have to do tack for molds you don't have, and the fitting has to go right (of course, when shouldn't it?). Making tack for others is always a little exciting because of that, especially if there is nothing you can compare the description to. My solution to this could of course be buying something similar to my own collection, but it's not so simple really.

Don't mind the doll... But I bought this pony mainly because so many seemed to want halters for theirs!

And what are the good sides of a large collection?

Variety... As said. The more horses I have to choose from, the wider variety of options I have for scene photography, matching horses and riders, then that that I may more potentially own a model which can mannequin for a trade/commission piece of tack. 

I often feel like I have photographed everything. New models are fun because of that. I also enjoy naming (if I'm in a naming mood) my models and building new story-related things (deciding which horse belongs to which doll, and cooking up their stories). I remember how dead this stuff was back when I had only three (THREE!) traditionals, and none of them were very great. 

What are the bad sides of a large collection?

Storage space can be under a rock, or more like under a plastic tub lid. This is what it is for most, but for me, only for my Schleichs. Model horses also take up the shelf space which otherwise could serve for other things, like books, tools and just everything. The shelves even hold the plastic tubs where my Schleichs are... And even worse, I have to keep most tubs piled on the floor because there is no shelf space!

Also, rescuing that army in the case of an emergency could be painfully impossible. And what if you had to move and take them all with you? I have never traveled with these, let alone seriously packed anything for a trip! 

Listing them all up is easy, if I do that slowly over time as the collection grows. But if I had to do a new list for every scale? No way! I mostly focus on traditionals only, anyway, so I just keep listing them. I lost my track of my Schleichs already years ago, as many newer ones were bought just for customising and the ones to be kept as OFs were not worth naming, let alone "registering". 

So, that's the... collection comparison. Or collecting habit comparison. More stuff to come, in case I don't sink back into my "what if I make someone angry with this text?" pit. 

Do your effort

Last summer (So this article was written about a year before publishing...) Anne Field posted a good blogtext in her blog. I interpreted it so that it is about learning experiences, practice, effort and doing your own work in general. I thought the article was so good that it should be saved somehow, to be easy to find later, so I linked it to my blog and commented on the subject(s) while chatting with an American friend, LittleYoungOne, in Discord.

Not So Black, a draft stallion from 2020.

Here comes my comment speech: 

What I got out of that post was how Anne emphasized that you can't trick when you want to do something well. Tutorials, instructions and answered questions from others will help, but the only thing which truly helps you learn is making the thing you are working on.

Practicing to cut slots (for noseband hangers) in split crownpieces before doing the same for actual split crownpieces.

...it worked!

 

One can read books about riding and know how to do that in theory, but the same person can't do anything for real after first reading and then randomly getting on a saddle. Books are books, real life riding is riding. Same goes for customizing, painting, resculpting, even writing, and tackmaking.

Also being afraid of fail is not an excuse. You will fail a lot during your practice sessions, get a ton of ugly stages and so on. What's the key to solve those? Continue to create. The ugly stages and fails are not going anywhere - they can only teach you to improve and eventually push through them and finish your work.

In 2016, I asked and got taught how to braid. It may be the only "textile craft" I can enjoy, which shows in the number of ropes I've braided serially since then.

And then about competitions and chasing prizes: If one participates in a show or competition, they should be totally okay with the possibility that they will not win. Everyone can't win, but most do good stuff to try with. The idea should never be winning, but participating, trying your best and figuring out what you can do, learn more. Compete against your previous works, if something has to be competed against.

What works for me, is thinking that "if I do this for my friend, it has to be the best I can do". This is how my bridles and halters are in the stage they are in at the moment. I started making tongue buckles to bridles, developed the bit hooks and bothered to figure out nosebands because I made a bridle for Kave in 2017. Basically I could say that I wanted to impress my friend with... skill? What?

My first proper bridle where I didn't use sliding buckles. That was when I learned how precious tongue buckles are in the hobby! And I was afraid of their "complexity" for so long... As an old work, this bridle is more or less ugly, but I'm also happy that it has a good home at Kave's.

In 2021 my Swedish hobby friend, Decors, asked if I could do tack to donate for a Swedish liveshow, Vattenshow, whose co-hostess she is. Of course I said that yes, I can make a few halters. Among the batch to be donated, I also wanted to make pieces for both of the hostesses. For Decors I made also a bridle and some bits to go with it. The difference between my oldest proper bridle and this is like between night and day.

The bridle from June 2021, which moved to Sweden.

What else can I say? I have wanted to write about this stuff for ages! But blogging is hard. While it can be hard to believe, I am not a writer, after all. (I do blog stuff or story/world texts almost daily, and draw very very seldom these days... But yep, I am not a writer.) I am a visual artist, a drawer. I also can do painting if I bother to. Watercolors are nice. So are makeup sponge tools when you use them on graphite - which is the only use I have ever had for them. 

A travel set of watercolors and tank brushes (brushes which have soft, hollow barrel) pair very well together.

"What else"... Uh oh. I figured out that this is actually a good spot to mumble about my art life even further. I've drawn my entire life, and cannot remember the time I first scribbled something which should look like an animal or whatever the topic was (I remember drawing a carrot in kindergarten). I never drew with the idea that I "could become an artist". I just drew because it was a natural part of my life. It IS a natural part of my life. 

Due to having drawn animals from that young age, I have an odd angle towards those who first grow up and only then decide to start drawing. Good luck with practice... It is a lot of work. I can say I have an advantage here. Though, it does not mean I could be good. I have seen so many beginners being great in what they do. Meanwhile I usually stop thinking good about my own works after each doodle gets a couple of years old or if I can see it all the time. 

Outdated thumb rats, since 2014.

I often wonder what life could be like if I didn't draw or do my model horse stuff myself. Good stuff is pricey! (I guess my art room could also look very different than what it is. Supplies take a lot of space, so do projects and finished works...)

What could life be with aphantasia, as well? I can't imagine the lack of visual imagination; meanwhile I see everything in my mind. One ridiculous brain image I have had was about lemons flying downstairs with mosquito wings - thanks to how my dad tried to describe he had mosquitoes in his room. Don't ask how he managed to call them lemons, I have no idea. But I sure have some oddly rich hyperphantasia. I can see worlds while in the shower, and forget I even exist. 

There was a time I wanted to learn to draw horses as properly as was possible. I became an anatomy freak. Eventually I also learned that realistic and semirealistic drawing styles are my thing, while I also wanted to develop my personal way to stylize "cartoony" equines. The latter went so that the anatomy had to work, but stylizing to some degree had to be possible, too. I have a ton of good memories of those years, but most of the doodles are not worth seeing... Of course. 

Once I also decided to test if I can resculpt a toy horse in the BH-style, which is how I called my cartoony style. Now when I think it, it's strangely absurd and, ummmm... Impressive, in the sense that it really happened. I couldn't do that today. It's the same thing as what happened to my tack: I made a lot of Schleich scale tack at some point, learned to enjoy it, then switched to traditionals and no longer understood why and HOW anyone can enjoy crafting mini scale tack. It was impossible, and still is. 

I never knew my first(?) buckles with moving tongues were in a Schleich scale bridle, and I don't even know the year this is from.

My drawer background was why I got into model horse customizing ages ago. It was the idea that I could really make a model horse, not only buy it. By customizing I was no longer dependent on what factories provided. Buying commissions from others was never an option - because I never knew anything like that even existed!! And well, I still like to do my own stuff, anyway... Not that I could not want to have others' works as well. Collecting others' tack and customs is a nice way to learn something new and see different angles of doing things.

But the bond between you and your own work is something which you can never have with a thing you did not make. It also feels nice to be able to say that "Yea, I did all the stuff in this photo." (Shows don't exist here.)

Since I probably didn't make any sense with most of this text, I will continue to comment on other stuff. It's close to the topic, of course. How can people be so crazy about winning, indeed? I have never been that much into participating in anything. I'm not a prize chaser. Shows (even photo shows) have never been my main motivator to learn to make model horse stuff. Good horses, paintjobs, tack, dolls, performance setups... Nope, never done those with showing in mind. And then the rare time I bother to try my luck in something, it even didn't require crafting on anything but just writing a little - and then I won! That made this little pessimist super happy. I still can't understand that it happened. 

Tripworthy, my Braymere giveaway marwari.

Anyway. I wonder how much and how far could things have developed in the hobby if there were no shows, and especially, if the shows were not about competiting against others... This one has prettier horse, this one has the most blingy set of tack, here's a cool scene, aaand... So. How far can you go? What this logic has taught me about my species, is, that humans have an odd natural tendency to compete and try to win... It has to be natural.

I also want to say one more thing to the practice topic. I have found out that maybe I am unusual in the sense that I am less afraid of trying new techniques and tools when it comes to arts and photography. I struggle to start drawing anything I haven't drawn before (it is annoying, I wish I could draw many different species of animals), but I probably have tested various techniques and tools in more relaxed sense than most people I've talked about this with. I don't understand why it is like this. People are afraid of using a lot of colors, contrast, mixed media... They're afraid of shading with strong hand or exaggerating anatomy and expressions. And some are very afraid of starting their model horse customizer career. 

I brainwashed Kave into painting, taught her about how I layer colors, and her very first (very first!) repaint was this stunning tinker stallion. His name is Abundiantus Fructum. Photo by Kave.

To say it simply, I do my all to kick encourage my buddies to try new things and hopefully make them go crazy and enjoy it. This happened with Kave and went successfully, so I am positive that my other hobby friends can start a model horse artist career too. 

One thing I have wondered a lot is a stupid habit I have. Sometimes I find a way to do something, then go "nope, it's too much of work" or "that part will be weak" and it basically prevents me from trying it. Then when I finally give it a go, I probably get surprised and realise how much more sense everything makes when there is one more step in the process. It can both make the product better and also make me value my own work more than before. My halters are often better when they have paddings in the nosebands, and I always like my dolls better when I bother to paint shadings to their bodies. 

I also have learned that my brain needs challenges, and even works to stress about. One example of this could be one of my dolls, who is based on a character I designed in 2011. That doll had to turn out perfectly enough. It went almost so, but he's no way ideal... Of course. Finishing complex projects feels good afterwards. Another example of this could be my thumb rat cages. Sometimes I assemble them from a million of different pieces just because I enjoy the process. Weird. 

Enjoyable.

Do your effort.

How I make a traditional scale halter

Years ago, I wrote and posted a halter tutorial into my oldest blog, The Tuherrus. Unfortunately that tutorial is no longer current, let alone useable. I give you a new one. In this I simply show you how I make an average warmblood halter in the style and progress I have at the moment. It can, and actually will, change over time.  

1. noseband, 2. chin piece, 3. cheekpiece, 4. connector, 5. throatlatch, 6. buckle piece, and 7. crownstrap.

Materials:
- 3 mm wide satin ribbon and 3 mm wide leather lace
- metal wire in thicknesses 0.4 mm, 0.7 mm, 0.8 mm and/or 0.9 mm (0.4 mm + one of the rest)
- a tube of contact glue which is suitable for stretchy/bendy materials (NO HOT GLUE GUN)
- roughly 9 mm wide strip of thin leather for paddings (optional)

Tools:
- a cutting mat with centimetre grit
- a craft knife
- two pairs of needlenose pliers (preferably small)
- large and small sidecutters
- round jewellery pliers
- a tool to spread glue with
- thin working gloves
- a filter mask + safety glasses (goggles)

Also a mechanical pencil with straight metal tip in size 0.3 mm or 0.5 mm, no lead inside.

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START WITH METAL PARTS

I make all my metal parts myself, and yes, I use all the thicknesses I listed in the wire part. You can survive by using only 0.4 mm wire and one of the thicker ones listed. I use 0.8 mm because it's what the gold color was available as, while silver is easier to find in various thicknesses. I prefer the 0.9 mm for the front rings and rope ring, then 0.7 mm for the hind rings, hooks and some buckles as the other two could be too thin and too thick for these. After making so many halters for so long, I really don't recommend using only one thickness of wire.

Making and cutting metal parts is when I usually wear gloves and safety glasses.

So, when I make all parts from the very beginning, I start with metal parts. Jumprings are the simplest to make, and to these I use two kinds of round jewellery pliers. The longer ones have wider roots, which I use for the front rings and rope ring. The narrower pliers serve for the hind rings. 

Round pliers with thicker roots.

Round pliers with narrower roots.

I use needlenose pliers to flatten the seam side a little, so that it has width just enough for a 3 mm lace/ribbon.  I don't try to turn it into a D-ring.

Flattening the seam side for a 3 mm ribbon.

Hind rings on the left, front rings on the right.

Next I make a buckle in the shape of figure eight. For this I use the narrower round pliers, and bend the wire in the spot between midline and root. After the first loop, I turn the wire and bend the other loop similarly, but also so that the wire ends will not reach each other; it now should have some kind of middle bar. 

The buckle will need some flattening: 

I flatten the figure eight's middle bar and hope it's enough for a roughly 3 mm wide to go around. I can also tweak the wire ends so that they're apart enough from each other. 

Then I determine which is the smaller loop, and place the eight into the needlenose's wide part so that I see about half of the bigger loop. I bend it upwards with another pair of pliers (this is why you need to hoard these). Now the buckle has a noticeable keeper loop!

I can also make square buckles, which do or don't have a keeper in them. The ones with keeper are surprisingly difficult to make nicely, let alone serially, so I don't even try to show how that works. But the square buckles whose keeper is separate (leather loop or D-ring) are very simple to make once you know how to. It is doable with the usual needlenose pliers everyone has, but I got actual square pliers with marked sizes for this. It clearly is not the most common kind of tool because people confuse it to the needlenoses, which it definitely is not. Needlenoses are not square; you can make some type of D-ring with it, which probably gives a bit of perspective. With the actual square pliers I can bend the "ring" in one go, though the ring also requires some careful trimming before it can be put into use. But that is normal.

I need some thin parts, so I take the 0.4 mm wire and do a tiny loop. This time it has to be as small as possible - this will go into the buckle.  I use small sidecutters to clip some of the loop off so it can sit more snugly once in place. 

Now, I take this thin "hook loop" and place it so that the open slot is facing out of the buckle's bent part, and press it shut carefully. Now the buckle has a tongue.

Then I take the longer round pliers and 0.7 mm or 0.8 mm wire to make throatlatch hooks. First I make a loop which I then bend backwards to even it out...

...and then I use the pliers' square part to bend a corner there. This is where I clip it - I repeat this a few times, and will have several "hooks" in equal length! (I like to make things in batches also because the loop sizes can vary. When I have a bunch, I can just pick the most matchy ones as a pair.) I use another round pliers' square part to pinch and then snap off the sharp point of each hook. 

My pliers actually have a worn out/dyed part in them which is where I bend the loops. It's about 1/3 of the plier jaws' length.

The rope ring needs a small part, so I make a random tiny ring from the 0.4 mm wire. Then I use the flat needlenose pliers to flatten the seam, so now it is a D-ring. I bend the round ring open, put the tiny D in it and close it again. 

LEATHER AND RIBBON

For leathers and ribbons, alias strap material, I use anything which is thin enough and preferably could also be smooth. Some leathers may be softer and less stiff than satin ribbon, and will also be "trainable to shape" over time. I will have and/or cut 3 mm wide strips of the choosed material. To cut leather for this, I use a craft knife and a lot of handpower (because I use my blades even when they're dull, to spare them). 

To start, I cut three 6 cm long pieces and two 4 cm long pieces from satin ribbon. (Note: some horses will need shorter or longer halter parts, so sometimes the 6 cm becomes 5.5 cm and 4 cm becomes 4.5 cm.)

Then I cut one 3 cm long piece, one 3.5 cm long piece and one 10 cm long piece from leather lace. (I of course forgot the latter from the photo... sigh.)

Front rings, hind rings, rope ring, figure eight buckle, throatlatch hooks.

I spread the pieces and metal parts on the cutting mat into places I know are for each part. I could also write or otherwise mark where goes what. 

 

ASSEMBLY

Alias gluing. I do not give recommendations on glues, because these vary, are not sold in every store or country, go out of sale when I start to like them, and so on. So use anything which comes in a tube and which says suitable for leather or is universal and hopefully will dry flexible. Currently I use Bison Tix, which always comes with a plastic spreading tool. This is a contact glue and will be first spread to both surfaces. Then you have to let it set a bit before splatting the surfaces together.  

Since glues don't always show well in photos, I have colored the glue areas with turquoise. Red dots mark where each metal piece goes, in case showing this is needed.

I start with the buckle piece. I fold 1 cm of it and cut a slot in the folded part. I make it rather long, because it will be needed. 

Then I take one of the 6 cm strips and cut its ends sharp, into an angle. This is the throatlatch. 

Now I take my buckle and put it into place. 

I also put the hooks into the throatlatch, into its middle part. Another thing I do is to put the rope ring into its leather piece (connector). 

Once these are fine, I add glue to them. Throatlatches are often annoying to hold so I start by adding 2 cm worth of glue into each end.  Then I let it set.

The red dots show where the hooks will sit later.

The connector strap, where ropering is, is short but will not need any air, so I spread a blob of glue so that the tab will be about 5 mm long. 

Next the buckle piece. I hold the buckle from its tongue so that everything should remain well in place and not move while I put glue where I want it. I try not to put any into the metal parts, and the midway of the slot should also remain untouched. This is because it should be where the buckle moves. 

Now I let all these set.

Once set, I fold the glued parts together.  For throatlatch, I first move the hooks from the middle to the ends, so that they're about in the middle of each glue part. Then I hold from the hook and carefully bend the tabs shut, so that each tab should be roughly 1 cm long. 

For buckle I make sure the folded tab is about 1 cm long. 

Now to the next gluings. I take one of the two 6 cm strips and use a homemade tool to bend about 1 cm tab. This tool I use to be able to add glue into parts where there is a loop that is glueless, so the metal parts can move freely. With it I don't need to waste time with the actual rings, which is when I could also mess them with glue. 

I first put glue on the tab, then press it shut and rip open - partially by pulling the ring tool. This is why I try to add rather much glue, so it sure will spread and be absorbed evenly. I do this for both ends of this strap. Next I take its pair and add glue similarly, but only into one end. This is the lower half of a noseband. 

I take the throatlatch and add glue into it almost for the whole length. A tool is good to have handy, otherwise I can't pick it from the mat as my glue tube likes to puke at this step. Let set. 

Once set, I take the noseband parts and two big rings. I put one ring into a tab and bend it shut, then repeat. The one strip with only one glued end gets attached to one of these rings too. 

I take the throatlatch and bend the middle part folded. From this, I continue folding the rest. When I reach the ends, I hold it folded with one hand and then twist the end so that the folded edge could be parallel to the flat tab in it (the twofolding covers some if it - and this is why I cut them into the angle!). Once I have folded and twisted the whole thing, I drape it around my finger and hold like this for a while. It should help the glue dry into a curved shape. 

Now I take the 4 cm satin pieces. I use the gluing tool to keep them bent while I add glue to them, press the tab shut and then rip open. Let set. 

Now when the throatlatch is done, I add glue to the connector. I mark the midline and leave it glueless, because I don't want the throatlatch to get stuck in it. Let set. 

Once set, I take the two smaller rings, put them into the satin strips and press tabs shut. Cheekpieces are half done. 

For connector, I first bend the loop only partially shut, so that it keeps its shape. Then I put the throatlatch through it - and make sure the folded edge is facing towards the ring - and then press the rest shut. I test if the throatlatch slides okay in it. 

Now I move back into the noseband, and use the ring tool method to add glue into the lower half's remaining end. 

Then I take the buckle piece and the 10 cm leather strip (which I didn't photograph...). I add glue to the buckle piece almost for its entire length (only avoiding the split part), and put 2 cm worth of glue into the long strip. 

Once those are set, it's time to put the connector ring together with noseband. I put the strip through the connector's rope ring...

...through the other ring in the other half, measure where the glue area is and press it shut. Most people (beginners?) seem to glue everything by keeping the halter upside-down, but I do the hard way. It can get on my nerve, but it works. 

Finished noseband with throatlatch and connector!

Also the buckle piece and crownstrap go into their cheekpieces. I make sure the flattened seam sides in rings go into these. 

Once those are fine, I add glue into the cheekpieces. This is an easy part because the whole area will be covered in glue. 

While they set, I trim the sharp ends off from the throatlatch hooks and bend them. I bend them outwards. So if your connector's seam is up, the throatlatch hooks should face down. 

I also trim the buckle's tongue. Many leave it this long for some reason, but it is incredibly clumsy to use and no way realistic. I clip it with sidecutters so that the tongue is against the buckle edge, cutters being in touch with it. I also trim this, but it's not possible to photograph logically. 

Now the cheekpieces should be set, so I put them into place. I put the halter so that I know which of the bigger rings is left side's and which right's, then roll them so that I can see the flattened seam sides. I put the buckled cheekpiece into the left ring, and the long strap cheek into right. 

Next I trim the crownstrap with a knife. I cut the edges off and maybe a bit from the sharp end. 

Now I position the mess of a halter so that I can see which part is where and did it go right. I put the right side's throatlatch hook into the crownstrap's ring and press it shut with needlenose pliers. 

Then I take a needle. I hold the crownstrap against my cutting mat and put a mark one centimetre away until it's at the fifth. So, five needle marks. 

I take my 0.3 mm mechanical pencil (I could also use a 0.5 mm pencil, but it broke.) and punch through those marks on a piece of thin and soft leather. I place the pencil on, straight, and press it down by holding the barrel with both hands. This has to be done carefully, and it should cause a little crunching sound when it goes through.

I also punch holes between each of these centimetres.

The halter is dun!  Here it is all finished and put on a horse: 

What about padding, then? It is totally optional. I add paddings preferably before gluing the chin piece and cheeks into the front rings, so the padding is easier to handle. For this you only need a strip of thin leather which is about three times of your noseband's width (mostly a bit less than 1 cm). And of course, you need glue. 

Draw a line in the middle of the strip. (I use a ballpoint pen.)

Add glue to one half. 

Fold the glued area so that the edge is at the midline. 

Repeat gluing and folding to the other side. 

Now put glue to the seam side, and to the underside of your halter's noseband. 

Splat the padding and noseband together and try to make sure it goes on evenly. 

I like to drape the piece around my finger so it could dry better into the curved shape. 

Trim the padding's ends with scissors or a craft knife. Done!

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So this was the basic stable halter tutorial which I have wanted to redo for a long time. Hope people get some use out of it.

Feel free to point out any parts which were difficult to understand. English is not my first language and I quite think there aren't even names for many parts in a piece of tack and its construction process, since normal people don't need to know such things. That is why I may cook up some names by myself. Also the steps don't always go exactly like in this tutorial... But it is basically the most common way I do these.