Great Styles and Tips For Horse Show Fashions

I got the new Hobby Horse 2008 Collection catalog the other day and had time to look through it this weekend. Not only is it full of great winning style show clothes, but the pages are loaded with information on this years styles and great tips for choosing your show costume along with great winning tips.

Tips like: "Consider where you're showing, what color are the walls or background or the arenas in which you most often compete? Plan attractive visual contrast between your wardrobe, your horse, and the background so the judge can easily find you."

There's even a color wheel in the middle of the catalog to show you what colors and combinations look best on your horse's color.

Besides all the great clothes, this catalog is one I'll keep just for all the great information packed in it. If you don't get a copy log in to http://www.hobbyhorseinc.com for the info there or request a catalog. I guarantee you'll love it!

Why I Love To Collect Western Items

If you've been reading my blog, you probably can tell that I really like Western style. I'm always picking up some little (or big) Western item for my home. Several years ago I started a collection of tiny Western Boots. The picture to the right is the very first boot that I found and couldn't resist. That started it all. This boot is probably a toothpick holder and is about 3" tall. It's rather retro in style, I think. I now have about 20 different little boots made from all sorts of materials, from metal to carved wood, resin and china. Some have been gifts and some I've found on vacations or just special shopping trips with friends.

I think the hunt for things in a collection is probably the most fun part of collecting to me. It's probably wise to collect valuable items as an investment, but I tend to attach too much sentimental value to the items that I collect to ever think about parting with them.

Another Western collection that I have is Christmas Tree Ornaments. That started with a cute cowgirl and stick horse bought at a craft show for my daughter when she was about 3 or 4. She's 30 now, so I've had some time to add to that collection, too. I now have enough ornaments to decorate one whole tree western style. These ornaments range from Cowboy Snowmen and Santa's to horse figures that match every horse we have or have had, to Rocking Horses and rusty stars. I'm thinking of starting a sub-collection of Cowboy Snowmen since I seem to keep finding such cute ones that I can't resist!

As I said earlier, I think the best part of collecting is the hunt for items or receiving new ones as gifts from someone who took the time to notice that you like a particular type of item.

If you like Western items check out http://www.rusticbarnwesterncollectibles.com or for lots of ornaments and one section just for Western Ornaments check out http://www.thecollectibleornamentshoppe.com.

Happy Collecting!

"High End" Boots

For those of you who like things that are unique and "high end" fashion, I heard about these great anniversary boots by Lucchese. Thought I'd share about them just for the fun of it!

For their 125th anniversary, Lucchese has made a Limited Edition boot to commemorate this occasion. They are crafted from American Belly Alligator, the boot sports matador construction with covered side seams, hand-laced scallops, and fully hand-tooled and hand-painted quarters. The torero-style pull straps are overlaid in alligator, with Lucchese's premier Grimini linings used on the inside. Only 125 of these boots will be made and they are priced at $12,500.00. Every pair is packaged in a matching numbered , hand tooled leather boot box.

You can see these incredible boots at http://www.lucchese.com/.

What is a Cowgirl?

What is a "cowgirl" really? I like to call myself a cowgirl because I like to dress in western clothes, I own a horse and ride, and I'd much rather wear my cowboy boots than don a pair of heels and tight skirt. Somehow, though, when I look back at some of the women in history that we call cowgirls, I don't think I hold a candle to them.

Women of the west that we call cowgirls never looked like the ruby lipped, long-legged, fringe-skirted damsels in distress portrayed in movies, TV and old posters. Many of them dressed like men, drank and swore like men, chewed tobacco and were just as deadly with a gun and clever with a rope as men. There were several who deliberately passed themselves off as men in order to survive in the man's world of the old west.

Calamity Jane was famous for her habit of dressing in men's clothing. Martha Cannary, aka "Calamity Jane" was born in Missouri in 1852 and was an expert horsewoman and sharp shooter at an early age. It is said that she earned the nickname during and Indian campaign in 1873 when she rescued a cavalryman. She also traveled with the famous "Buffalo Bill" Cody and his Wild West Show. Many magazine writers of the late-1870's wrote graphic, puffed up stories for their readers back east about Jane and the Wild West.

Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Moses in 1860. She learned to hunt game at the age of nine to help feed her widowed mother and siblings in Ohio. By the age of 12 she could shoot the head off a running quail. Word spread of her tomboy talents and by 1885 she was part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. For 17 years she was the show's main attraction.

Those were brave women who stepped out of the stiff traditions of their era and lived their lives doing what they liked to do. I'm so glad that today we aren't limited to a certain "code" of proper dress. Cowgirl fashion ranges from frilly, lacy dresses and skirts with boots to button down shirts and comfortable jeans. I love them all, but I'm still happiest in my boots and jeans.

How to Store Your Sterling Silver Jewelry

I really love silver jewelry. There's something really "cowgirl" about silver jewelry from great dangling stirrup or heart earrings to fancy silver belt buckles.
All that great shine does require a little special care and I've found a few tips for taking care of that silver to keep it really shining.


Sterling silver will tarnish if left in the open air and humidity for extended periods of time. Tarnish will first show up as a golden tint and then quickly turn black. This is a normal process, but you can keep tarnish to a minimum if you store your jewelry pieces when not wearing them.


The best way to store your jewelry to keep it from tarnishing is to keep it in an air-tight protective bag made of tarnish proof cloth. Another way to store jewelry pieces is to place it in a plastic zip lock bag made of Mylar (turkey cooking bags) or polyethylene. Be careful as some plastics contain sulfur compounds with will cause it to stain or tarnish more quickly. Don't use polyvinyl plastic bags. Most jewelry comes in tiny zip-lock bags and these work perfectly. Most jewelers store their sterling silver jewelry this way also.


Do not store your sterling silver jewelry directly on wood surfaces. The wood can contain acids that will mar the finish. Oak seems to be the worst for this. Also, don't store the sterling silver with other metals, like pennies on with rubber as these can also cause tarnish and damage.


I would also recommend that you store it so that it isn't rubbing up against other articles to prevent it from getting scratched. The little zip-lock bags placed in a drawer or jewelry box will offer the best protection.


Sterling silver, stored properly, can be worn often and with very little cleaning required, which makes it very easy to care for a lots of fun to wear.


Some of my favorite silver pieces come from Montana Silversmith. For some really great deals on Montana Silversmith jewelry and for more jewelry care and cleaning tips check out what's available at The Cowgirl Boutique (http://www.thecowgirlboutique.com/)..