I brought my knowledge of fabrics and design to the horse industry after 9-11-01. My apartment was destroyed and my consulting job gone. I stayed upstate with my son and daughter-in-law and they have horses and asked me to sew (the beginning...).

My first project was in the winter, making a dressage quarter sheet for my son's and his wife's horses in an unheated indoor arena. I had not even stood next to a horse in 30 years. Learning how to get close enough to measure was an adventure. (My son's horse is 18+ hands, young, and unpredictable.) I found that horses like my energy. (I meditated for 20 years as a Buddhist monk - another story) and they quickly felt comfortable around me so, standing close enough to measure was quickly over come. The quarter sheets were a great success! As the word spread there were grand-prix level owners and instructors adding to the finer the design points of the sheets. However, it was my choice of fabrics that really won my clients over.

Then, I graduated to blankets. I noticed that no one had wool and I wanted to know why. People said nobody made wool blankets any more and they were hard to take care of. I love wool, so I set out to show horse owners how practical wool is, how good it is for the horse and how resilient it could be. (See about the wool), especially if I pre-shrunk the wool so it could be put in the washing machine. In the middle of the night, I had a dream on how to custom fit each animal. I had learned in a short time that every 84" horse in the barn had a different top line and every 84" blanket on the market was a standard size. Everyone I spoke to complained about rubs plus the horses were weighted down with blankets in the below zero winter on the Hudson River. Here my mountain climbing experience came into play and all the high altitude climbing gear I had made while we lived in CA and traveled to Yosemite on weekends.

From making these clothes, I learned a great deal about insulation, breathable fabric, wicking and keeping the clothes light weight but very warm. I applied that knowledge to winter horse blankets. The excess weight was causing some of the rubs making the majority of the problems in the fit of the blankets. Not every business suit is the same size... alterations are a common place. Not every horse has the same back, girth, shoulder, or hip either. The length of the blanket is only a small part of the fit.