Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Custom Bonnet from DIY Horse Ownership!

A couple weeks ago, Olivia from DIY Horse Ownership migrated her blog and hosted a contest to entice everyone to follow over to the new platform. Obviously that was a no-brainer bc I can't get enough of Nilla haha, but we were also lucky enough to win a prize in said contest!!

classy navy with white trim and WHALES
I chose a custom bonnet from the menu of prize options and told Olivia that we like blues, especially navy.

fits the mare's petite face!!
I also noted that Isabel's head is slightly tricky to fit. Her ears are more or less standard horse size, but her skull is quite narrow, and her refined face is not very long from from poll to nose. Unfortunately tho, I was out of town when Olivia was working on it and couldn't provide very specific measurements.

thrilled mare is thrilled haha
Didn't matter, tho. She guestimated how much to shorten the bonnet and how to size the ears, and it turned out perfectly!

and obviously i get a sick kick out of covering her pretty little face with loads of random colors and textures
The bonnet fits exactly where I like it to sit (which I'm learning is maybe a bit of personal preference). It comes down below the browband and the swoopy bit is nicely between her eyes - but her eyes still have plenty of clearance.

Plus there's plenty of material to sit securely under the crownpiece, and I can thread the throatlatch through a hole in the knit just in case Isabel were to try shaking it off a la Taylor Swift.

whales are on the move!
She hasn't tried taking if off tho - and has actually seemed quite happy and comfortable wearing the bonnet. Which is useful bc we have some very persistent and violent bugs in our woods - especially by the streams. And while I try to stay vigilant with the fly whisk, the bonnet just adds that extra degree of protection!

in heaven among the high grass - bug free!
And since we basically exclusively trail ride these days, it's nice to know we've got all the necessary gear haha!

alllllllmost matchy matchy. almost.
Now I just need interchangeable hackamore pieces so we can match our look to whatever bonnet the mare might be wearing lol. Olivia, any thoughts on taking a stab at making a blue hackamore noseband?!? :D

36 comments:

  1. I love it. It's useful and whimsical all at the same time.

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    1. Ha exactly! Two of my favorite things :)

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  2. I think you need a whale saddle pad to match :)

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  3. Oooh interchangable hackamore noses!! YES! And it's so nice to have a bonnet that truly fits, I feel you on the hard-to-size horse head issue!

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    1. yea seriously. isabel is not a fan of the non-fitting bonnets either, le sigh. so picky, that one!

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  4. Cute whales FTW :)

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  5. Replies
    1. i don't often dress the mare up in 'cute' stuff but this somehow just works lol

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  6. oh man corner stable tack has colored beta hackamore pieces you HAVE to do it.

    i really love the whales. adorable <3. im bonneting up because all the head shaking makes me want to put a bullet in my face. are the flies worse this year than ever??/ i dont remember having this many bug issues.

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    1. so buggy omg. they're not too too terrible at our farm, just in the woods by the streams. but at the other farm we lesson at they are downright vicious. also yea i'm totes looking into the hackamore pieces but somehow suspect i could rig something up myself just as easily

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  7. She did such a good job on it! A+ for print choice.

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  8. Aww, Isabel looks adorable in her bonnet!!

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    1. haha i love that she tolerates me dressing her up now

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  9. It's so cute! I love that fabric pattern!

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  10. Oh my goodness. I would be mesmerized by whales while riding.

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    1. her ears are already fun to stare at anyway bc they're always off pricked at something or other

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  11. The whole time I just kept thinking "Silly whales what are you doing in the sea of grass?" Because the whales are too cute and apparently I personify the bonnet

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  12. Wow she was absolutely spot on with her guesstimate!! It looks like it fits like a dream and is so cute, I also like the comment saying you need a whale saddle blanket haha

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  13. Aww that is so darn cute! Great job Olivia!

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  14. I just got back from vacation and I'm catching up on blogs. I love how the bonnet matches the saddle pad too! I can't do leatherwork, but I would suggest either dying the hackamore blue or order a blue hackamore noseband. They're only 20$: http://www.hought.com/end.s.hackamore2nb.html#anchor404975

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