Entry for the Dixie Stables winter 2009 costume contest. I cheated a bit on this, one too – I already owned the puffy white dress (another Goodwill find), though I accented the sleeves and bodice with red and green ribbons. The bonnet was machine-stitched from a pair of circles, threaded with elastic, and decorated with the same ribbons. The red cloak visible in a few of the pictures is in fact a homemade costume piece, but I’m not the one responsible for it – it was made for me probably fifteen years ago by a friend’s mum.

The theme was originally going to be “The Half-Assed Pseudo-Victorian Night Before Christmas,” and I’d brought along a number of accessories to that end – a teddy bear, a blanket, a stocking, and a plate of Play-Doh gingerbread men. When I walked into the barn and saw how a friend was prepping her horse for the party’s cart rides, though, we realized we had to put the two together and we ended up with this instead:

This particular horse is In My Father’s Eyes (also known as ‘Joey’), and he’s yet another American Saddlebred. I can’t remember his age right offhand, but he’s fairly young still – seven, eight or so.