Hand Me Downs

With a new horse usually comes the need to purchase a bunch of new things.

However, with a baby horse, new things might not fit for very long and require another purchase of new things within a short time period.

I am trying really hard to not buy new things for Stitch just for the sake of buying new things for the new horse. The kid still has a lot of growing to do.

It looks like the WOW saddle I had for Cisco is going to work for Stitch. I suspect that they will be of a similar shape - round and wide. I might need a 24" girth for him when I start him this fall, but I'll probably try to borrow one for a month or check out the local consignment options. Next year my multitude of 26" gitths should fit with no issues.

Bridles won't be a concern. Phantom's PS of Sweden bridle looks like it will fit him just fine. Again, I have many more in storage to choose from if need be. No idea what bit he'll choose, but a quick glance in his mouth makes me think that he doesn't have the fat tongue issue that my last two had. Fingers crossed that he's a bit more straightforward about what goes into his mouth.

Then there's blankets. Sigh.

As much as I want to spend all the money and buy Stitch a complete wardrobe, this is the one place that I've made a conscious decision to be frugal. I did buy him a new 69" 100g turnout for a really good price in the spring which he wore a couple of times in cold, wet weather. I also bought the same blanket in a 72" for a really good price for next year. I find the 100g blankets to be the most versatile and use them as a shell over a liner all the time.

But I have not been able to bring myself to spend any more money on blankets for him, including flysheets that will only be worn for two months this year. If I know what size he'll be next summer maybe I'd bite, but I already have a bunch of 75's ready for him when they fit. 

But the bugs have been bad. So I got crafty.

Phantom's Rambo Protector didn't really make it through last summer, which was probably it's 7th or 8th. The mesh on top of the tail flap and the butt above it had basically disintegrated. However, the rest of the blanket was still in pretty good condition, especially considering it's age.

I don't know what the mesh is made of, but it feels like tail hairs were woven together.

That blanket is a 75. Stitch fits about a 69. So I figured I could cut a few inches off the tail end of it, rebind it, add a tail flap, and Stitch could wear it for this summer.

So I did. And you know what? I'm pretty happy with the result.

I ended up moving the leg strap attachments up higher before he wore it.

I admit his butt sticks out just a wee bit. But I didn't really have much of an  option on how much to cut off to get rid of the damaged material. To compensate, the tail flap that I added is a bit wider at the bottom. It's only stitched across the top so that he is able to lift his tail up to poop. I'm hoping it doesn't get tugged off by a pasturemate.

The best part of giving this blanket a new life was the cost. I salvaged the binding from the piece that I cut off and the textilene that the tail flap is made of came from my fabric stash of to-be-completed projects I'll probably never start. I paid a whole $5 for the binding on the tail flap and that was the only thing that I didn't have on hand.

It's not super pretty, but it's more than functional. It just needs to last for two short months and then I can give it the funeral it deserves.