Entry for the Southern Legacy Stables summer 2015 costume contest.

In addition to my complete fandom geekiness, I’ve got it for science, too, and have my entire life. There’s never been a time I didn’t want to be a scientist of some sort, and though I eventually decided on marine biology (which, alas, did not work out), I went through the same paleontology/dinosaur-loving phase every kid did. I just never grew out of it.

How do you combine those two things for the costume class at your last horse show? Well, this movie called Jurassic World just came out…

I’m always a little ashamed when I buy clothing for a costume rather than making it (or even repurposing it out of my own closet), and this doubly so because this isn’t even something I’d wear again. I hate pants and don’t ever wear them unless I’m on a horse, and the blue polo shirt just isn’t my style. The pants, shirt, and vest all came from Goodwill, but Crikey the Generic Therapod Plushie is directly off my shelf!

Tolkien’s costume, at least, did take quite a bit more work. I sized down my old “horse blanket” pattern, and cut a sheet from a green…sheet. The undersized stegosaurus plates along the spine of the costume are triangles cut from craft foam and attached with orange duct tape. Duct tape also forms the stripes on the sides. In the mounted photos, my trainer is leading not because I cannot ride, but because it was the end of the day, everyone (including the pony) was tired and fussy, and my hands were full of Crikey.

The barn’s new owner said this was possibly her favourite out of the costumes I’ve done, and while I was complimented, I also died a little inside, because omg, the work that went into things like Princess Luna and the Pegasus Guard! And the duct-tape sheet with the plushie on top is your favourite? ^^’

Sadly, this is likely the last costume I’ll be doing at Dixie/Southern Legacy for some time, if ever. Next month, I’m moving to Missouri, and have no idea what the equestrian scene is like out there, let alone whether or not costume classes are a thing. On the up side, there’s a local steampunk festival, so I’m looking all kinds of forward to that?