Halloween Horse

I haven’t dressed up for Halloween in years. Until now. Yesterday Ransom and I participated in my barn’s costume parade as “paintballers,” despite the fact that I’ve never actually played paintball. I had plenty of opportunities to at camp, but I had no desire to share in the glory of displaying one’s welts. Still, how could I resist the clever play on spots?

First up was a trip to the fabric store to make camouflage leg wraps for Ransom. Being the penny pincher I am, I pulled out the old sewing machine and made them myself. I sewed a lot when I was a kid, but it’s been a while since the days of making blankets for my model horses.

The clear vinyl mask was a bit trickier. I had a brand new package of black bias tape for the edging – except it was my grandmother’s and about 50 years old. It practically disintegrated as I worked with it.

The son of a friend of mine happened to have gear I could borrow (a stroke of luck – somehow I don’t think a watergun or chemistry goggles would have had quite the same effect!). Ransom flinched at first as I applied the sticky paint, but took it like a gentleman.

We faced worthy competition as we paraded around the arena together with a gothic sorceress, princess ballerina, rodeo queen gone bad, hula dancer, horse fly, Charles impersonator, and dark angel. Ransom observed the pink tutu and jiggling halo with curious interest. In the end we prevailed, taking home the award for “Most Creative” costume.