Missa's Equine Design

• 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!

My old 4-H club had their fall fun show last weekend, and I went to help my Mom (who is currently the Cloverbud advisor) and to say hi to everyone I know. While I was there, I met some people that happened to own a Clydesdale, and they had brought him with them for the fun show. I have always loved draft horses, but have never had the chance to be around them (I secretly dream of owning one someday; however, I don't have the space or the money to feed one!). When they found out I liked Drafts, they offered to let me ride him around. He's 9 years old and used to be a stud, but is very level headed. His owners said that he is 17.3hh tall; however, I was able to climb up without any help (not even a mounting block... I was proud of myself, because I haven't gotten on a big horse for a while). The ride was amazing; so much power, and such a huge stride! They informed me that he used to jump; it was difficult to resist the urge to find a jump and try him out!

Other than my exciting ride on a Clydesdale that I would LOVE to own (by the way, I guess he is for sale), nothing much other than college has been happening. I have been trying to finish a wallet to list, but somehow a school assignment keeps getting in the way! Same with any other form of promotion; I have been trying to keep up with Entrecard, but have kind of let my Twitter and Facebook accounts get behind. Other than that, all I really have time to do is update items in my store and wait for the end of this quarter! Before I go, I just want to say a quick thanks to my customers; I have made a few more sales, and I appreciate your time and feedback!

I just wanted to make a post dedicated to fall, and how much I love this time of the year! There is just something in the air; it makes me feel festive, maybe because there are so many festivals going on this time of year. The evening are cool, and the rolling hills in these parts will soon be completely covered in golden, orange, and red leaves. I love it when I catch a whiff of woodsmoke on the air... it makes me think of camping and horseback riding in the fall, and of all of the fun, lighthearted, and exciting things I could be doing! As soon as the leaves start turning really beautifully, I will takes some more pics with my camera to share with you. For now though, here are some end of summer shots to get you started!

Our puppy, Blazer, with a fence insulator. This happens to be her favorite toy!

One of our horses, Dusty, enjoying the sunlight.

I finally got to use my airbrush for the first time yesterday, and it turned out to be very fun. Difficult, but fun. I only experimented with two colors due to time constraints (I was supposed to be doing chores....), so my squiggly lines and drawings are only red and black. I attempted two horse heads and a random tractor, but other than that I was just making lines and experimenting with air pressure/paint spray. My fiance also played with the brush, so some of the squiggly lines and colors are from him as well! I ordered a book that should be coming soon, so maybe my next experiments will be a little more organized.

I have some very exciting news (at least it is to me)! I have been invited to exhibit my work in the Art 101 Gallery in Ashland, Ohio. This is news completely unexpected, but definitely welcome! The Art 101 Gallery is located on West Main Street in Ashland, Ohio, and features work from local artists. Some of the types of work exhibited are sculpture, photography, paintings, and drawings, among other beautiful art forms. Feel free to check out their website, you can view some very beautiful and interesting art on the "Artists" page. Thanks again Art 101 for the invite!

I am a very impatient person by nature. When I think of something I want, or when I dream up a goal, I want it done instantly. No waiting, no worrying, no guessing about how it will turn out. However, life is not set up for impatient people; something always comes up, or the money is not currently available, etc. So I dedicate this post to all of the impatient people out there like me, who have goals and dreams that constantly elude them or frustrate them. Here are all of my goals that I am impatiently waiting to finish, and what is holding me back from each (feel free to comment with your own currently unreachable goals).


"Waiting" by Melissa Smedley

Goal #1: Training My Horse to Jump
I love jumping horses; I almost majored in English riding and training in college, before it got too expensive. I spent my high school years in 4-H, where I had plenty of time to train and show my old horse, Pete. However, I now live in the real world, and finding time (and room) to train between college and work is almost impossible. Even with this being the case, I have decided to train one of our horses, Sierra, to jump. I'm not sure why I made this a goal, with my time constraints, but I miss jumping so much that I have to have it in my life somewhere. So currently I lunge her and trot her back and forth over a small crossrail in our yard (this being the only area I have to ride), finding as much satisfaction as possible in this small goal. I am happy, but still chomping at the bit for more room, time, and bigger fences!

Goal #2: Creating My Business
This goal is by far the most enjoyable and most annoying. I want things to happen NOW. This is not possible, but it doesn't prevent me from checking my website and store 1000 times a day! It is very difficult starting something like this, and it is hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I don't always have enough money to buy more supplies. Other things are more important, like tires on my car. So I try to be patient; meanwhile I plot how to squeeze out some extra cash for more leather and paint!

Goal #3: My College Degree
This is my most confusing goal. I want college to end as soon as possible, but yet I'm not sure what I will do when it is over. I am majoring in Communication Studies and minoring in Art; beyond that I have no clue what I want to do! I'm antsy to get through it, yet unsure about what will happen after. Yikes!

Whew! That feels better. I have successfully ranted and raved about my impatience and the fact that I feel like I am standing still; maybe now I can move on to something more constructive, like my homework. If you too are an impatient person, please feel free to tell your story in the comments! (Note: You might have to click on the title of this blog entry to get to the comments page.)