Missa's Equine Design

I have been working on and designing some canvas and cotton duck bags with leather accents to add a more affordable line of bags to my handmade store. These bags will have a rugged style, and will be made of durable materials, so they can last for years and hold up to some pretty intense conditions. I have made a few of these for testing, and am currently testing one of the styles myself. I am usually pretty rough on the bags I carry with me; I throw everything I need in them (which usually gets pretty heavy), and I also put them to the test in some outdoor/rougher conditions. They go through college classes with me, they are thrown in the truck to ride along when I go on horse rides or to pick up hay, and they also go fishing with me or to horse shows as well. Needless to say, and bag I carry is put through a lot!

I have included pictures of the bag I am testing now, which is done in a camo cotton duck fabric and lined with a light colored, soft fabric to make things easy to find. Most of my bags will be done in shades of plain tan, beige, and brown, with occasional rustic colors or camo thrown in, depending on what is most popular. I will be making messengers and totes (like the one pictured) to start with, in two sizes - large, like the one pictured, or small, for those that like a more compact bag. The bag pictured has 3 quick access pockets on the front, along with a zippered pocket. The large interior pocket also has a velcro pocket inside.

Please let me know what you think of this bag, and any suggestions you have for colors, designs, etc. that you think would be popular. These bags will be coming out in my handmade accessories store soon, so keep checking back!

I figured that since the new year has been here for a while already, I should probably discuss my plans for the upcoming year, including my new line of leather accessories. I have redesigned the look for my business, adding a logo, new packaging, and new business cards. Here's a few new things to check out:

1. New, unique apparel such as t-shirts, hoodies, aprons, hats, and more. Many of these designs are perfect for horse lovers, outdoor enthusiasts, mule lovers, or adventurous spirits. All of these designs are created by me and make great gifts. I will continue to add new designs, so if there is anything particular that you would like to see, just let me know!

2. New line of leather accessories, featuring original hand tooled designs with a fresh, updated look. Along with various tones of brown dyes, I am adding some vibrant new colors to the line for an updated look to classic leather tooling. Here are a couple of examples:


I will continue to add new items to the line as I get them finished, so keep checking out my leather shop! My goal is to increase my inventory significantly, and I also hope to add some soft leather bags and moccasins to my inventory in the future as well.

I have always loved doing arena work and training in an arena, probably because I haven't had much access to many nice arenas. My riding education was mostly learned on trail rides; not many of the people I knew were into showing, so I was pretty much on my own with that. However, there are many horses out there who are solely trained for show, such as dressage horses, jumpers, hunters, and Western show horses. All they ever see is an arena, and although this is the preferred way of training to many, I think that a few trail rides can considerably help horses and riders alike. Here are some of the pros to adding a few trail rides to you and your horse's training agenda:

1. Horses can easily get burnt out on too much training, and may get bored or uninterested with too much arena work without any diversions. Getting a horse outside of the arena, no matter what discipline, will give him something else to process and see, which may help keep his mind fresher for training.

2. Getting a horse outside of the arena will help him gain more skills and versatility. A horse can see more strange things in one trail ride than an entire season of shows, and the nature of the trail continuously introduces new things as you ride. One trail ride can hold any or all of the following experiences (I have personally seen every one of these): creeks, ditches, hills, logs to navigate, swimming holes (if safe), ponds (if safe), rain, snow, the crinkling of plastic lunch bags while riding, removing and donning coats, flies, bees, bridges, roads, cars, four wheelers, hunters (strange beings dressed in orange), dogs, tents, being tied while taking a break, outhouses, other horses and mules, rock climbers, hikers, signs, bikes, hats, dead horses (yes, this happened, and the person that left it on the trail was never found), deer, squirrels, turkey nests, caves, waterfalls, lakes, waves, beaches, sand (very fun to roll in), mud, rocks, fields, and probably many more things that I have forgotten. The point is, trail rides give many experiences.

3. Trail rides can help a rider to better develop their seat. One great way to test your balance and skills is to navigate a good trail. Going up and down hills, jumping ditches, and adapting to all the other types of terrain on a trail can help you develop a seat outside of the arena, which can help make you a better all around rider. Also, trails are fun!

4. Finally, trail riding can help build a horse's (and rider's) endurance and conditioning. Climbing steep hills and navigating terrain will help get your horse into better shape and build more muscle, especially when mixed with sprinting or arena work.

Now remember, all of this is just my opinion; however, I have seen many young horses mature very quickly through being exposed to everything that can be seen on trails, and I believe that trail riding is important for a horse's and rider's training and development. Of course, the best reason to go on a trail ride is simply to have fun!

Winter is here in my area, and that means some extra care for our horses! Below I've listed some things that I have discovered can cause problems in the winter, so you might want to keep an eye out if you are in these situations!



1. Foot Care- keep an eye on your horse's feet, whether they have shoes or go barefoot. Here are some tips and reasons why:

• Barefoot Horses: Ohio winters in my area can go from deep mud to frozen solid in one night, leaving the ground in the pasture uneven and difficult to walk on. Keep your horse's feet trimmed during this time, because long toes or heels can break off more easily on frozen, uneven ground.
• Shod Horses: check your horses feet very frequently if they don't use pads with their shoes, because snow can very easily ball up inside shoes and it may not pop out by itself.

2. Ice Balls - This term may sound funny, but horses that are pastured 24/7 will get balls of ice stuck to their feathers (long hair on their ankles) very quickly. You might want to consider using a pair of scissors to trim these off so that they don't get too uncomfortable for your horse.

3. Blanket or Not? - Most of us think that adding a nice, warm blanket to our fuzzy horses will keep them even warmer - however, this is not always the case. If you horse has it's full, natural winter coat, smashing it down with a blanket can actually work against them and make them colder. The hairs in their coat stand up when they get cold and keep a layer of heat close to their bodies, even under ice and snow.

4. Water - One of the most important things you can do for your horse is to provide plenty of ice free water. Water helps regulate the body temperature, so it is very important for your horse not to get dehydrated in the winter.

5. Roughage - Although grain is helpful in providing heat to horses in the winter, don't forget the utter importance of lots of roughage (hay or grass). Horses are natural grazers, and roughage is much more important to their diet, and healthier for their digestive system, then grain.

Along with my blog posts about my business, I have decided to add posts that feature some basic horse tips such as care, riding, and more. Horses have been one of my greatest passions and hobbies since before I started riding, and I have learned a few basic ideas and tips over the years that could be helpful, useful, or maybe just interesting. Not all of my ideas or tips are the only correct way of doing things; one thing I love about horses is that you can NEVER stop learning and that their are usually multiple right answers to any horse question!

You can find these tips under the category "Horse Tips", and the subcategory will be listed after ("Horse Tips - Care). I will try to include some interesting pictures, or maybe even a video, with each post. The tips will be about things such as basic care, basic training or problem solving, horse health, conditioning, trail riding, camping, and anything else that I find interesting. Feel free to comment on any of the tips and add your own ideas; however, please refrain from putting anyone down because horses are a constant learning experience. If you disagree with something, just offer your opinion nicely, and maybe everyone can learn some new ways of thinking! Also, please use caution when trying any ideas with horses, as each situation is different and no one else can be held responsible for what goes wrong if you are trying tips from this blog.

• There is A LOT to know about making saddles before you can ever think about making one.
• There are terms for different amounts of tooling on a Western Saddle:
• Full Tool: fork, cantle, skirt, jockey, and fender are all tooled.
• 7/8 Breed: fork, cantle, skirt, and fender are tooled.
• 3/4 Breed: fork, cantle and skirt are tooled, fender and jockey are partially tooled.
• 5/8 Breed: fork, cantle, and fender are tooled.
• 1/2 Breed: fork, cantle, and skirt are tooled.
• 1/4 Breed: fork, cantle, and part of skirting are tooled.
• Border: Only the border of each part is tooled.
• I am looking into more detail on tree types; here are some of the more usual ones, though:
• Full Quarter: 7" Gullet
  
• Regular Quarter: 6.75" Gullet
  
• Semi Quarter: 6.5" Gullet
  
• Arabian: Shorter bars and skirts, bars more curved, set wider
  
• Gaited: bars narrower, have more flare at shoulders to allow movement, skirt shorter, gullet higher
  
• Mule: shorter, flatter bars, shorter skirts, usually double rigged
• Some saddle tree types (still have more to look up here as well):
• Wade Tree: slick fork, sits close to horse, horn built for dallying, bars have more surface area, deep seat, higher cantle, double rigging, stirrups hung directly under saddle
• Flex Tree: solid fork and cantle, bars are made from a flexible material such as rubber
• Treeless: soft substance instead of bars
• Some Tree Materials:
• Fiberglass: wood tree covered with fiberglass
• Rawhide: wood tree covered with rawhide, better if sewn and not stapled
• Ralide: a cheaper, plastic formed tree

I am going to continue to try to learn as much about saddles and tack as possible; I have a leather braiding book coming in the mail (it's a start on tack!), and my next goal is to start learning more about fitting saddles. Also, I am going to practice my tooling and leather techniques on smaller items, like wallets, while I build my experience and gather the tools that I am going to need eventually to make a saddle. I will try to post pics of my work, as well as of the new dog that we just adopted from the dog pound! (Her name is diesel)

..... like patience. I REALLY want to move forward with my business, and my hands are itching to get ahold of more leather items so that I can work on my designs. However, life has decided differently for me for now, and college must take precedence. I am hoping to get a little Christmas money that I can put toward more projects, so I can fianlly expand my line of items and build some inventory. But it must wait for now.

In the mean time, to keep from going crazy, I have been concentrating on my art and photography, as well as branding my business with certain colors and a certain look. I think my colors are going to be a lime green with dark brown, accented by white or black, depending on the situation. My overall look, of course, is a Western/wild feel, as my art and designs are inspired by the spirit and toughness of horses. As far as my art and my photography go, I have discovered a new site to sell my photos and art prints through. It is called ImageKind.com, and they sell my work in many different sizes and on different types of paper. If you want to check out my page, here is the link: http://missasequinedesign.imagekind.com/

Along with the FineArt photos and my WesternArt prints for sale, I have listed on that site some examples of my other photography under the album called "Portraits". I'm thinking about trying to work with a photographer once I graduate, so I can pay my student loans (yay) and hopefully get this business going better. This album is my sort of portfolio, for now, even though I have much practice to bring my photography to a professional level!

Well, that is about all that I have going on at the moment, but before I say goodbye, I am going to leave you with some fall pictures, as promised!

I have created my first survey!! If you are interested in taking this survey on handmade leather goods, just click the link to the right (below my bio). If you complete the survey, you get a code for 20% off any order in my store, so there are some incentives!

I created this survey to figure out how interested people are in handmade leather goods, as well as what types of goods they would like to see in my shop. I think the feedback will be very interesting; I am going to try to base my product lines on the ideas I receive in the survey. As soon as I can come up with the funds, I will be adding many more products to my store; however, it might be a little while before I can get the money (with college going on everything is a little tight!). Keep checking back, and remember, your input is really appreciated! Thank you to everyone who participates!

When the survey is finished and I have all of the data, I'll let you know what I've learned. A maximum of 100 people can take the survey, if I can find that many people, so that is what the data will be based on. I guess we'll see if the experiment is worth it or not!