Looking Back... And Forward

It's been too long! Oi, the Crazy Christmas Travels have taken their toll on this blog. It will still be sparse posting until I get back home, but then I will have lots of things to write about!

This time of year, I always think back to the years that came before. This applies to model tack, as well.

These are my first three English saddles. The one in the back was the very first piece of model tack I made (well, the first piece that wasn't made out of rubber bands or string!). I was probably 11 or 12. The middle saddle I made about two years ago. While definitely an improvement on the first, it was not remotely a sales piece. The last one is the most recent saddle I made and sold.

My first saddle is hilarious to look at. The seat and flaps are a single piece of suede, and I clearly had zero idea of what skiving meant. Those little panels are made out of a fleece dog bed! I don't think I had ever seen the underside of a real English saddle before, so I made a guess as to what they looked like.

 

Silly as it may look nowadays, it is a great reminder that we all start somewhere, and we are always learning. It is easy to be critical of the tack made by amateurs, children, and the newbs, but remember that these people are the future of the hobby, and, someday, with encouragement and support, they will learn more skills, and make better tack.

Of course, I always want to be improving. Every time I make something new, it should be better than what came before it. I am very proud of my latest saddle, but I still have a ways to go before I will really feel like this tack is up to snuff with the big names in the hobby.

But I will keep learning, one saddle at a time. ;)

Happy 2015 everyone!