Venti is the name coined by Maggie Bennet to very specifically refer to 1:20 but it’s becoming a catch-all for things that are Pebbles/Collecta/Little Bits/around that size. It’s important to note that Maggie scales her horses very carefully, other people may not.

It’s mostly academic, but for the curious here are some scale conversions:

If you assume they’re 15hh, Miss Mattie (resized Carol Williams Matriarch) and the BotW are 1:17. If the Collecta is 16hh, he’s 1:18. If the Little Bits Morgan is 15hh, he’s 1:19. If Chino is 15hh, he’s 1:20. I have no idea on the Pebble except to say “bigger”; action horses are too hard to stick.

Scale is weird, though, and horses aren’t always proportionate. Here’s who can share what:

Pebbles, Collectas, Miss Mattie, and the Breeds of the World Quarter Horse can share saddles. Miss Mattie is a little smaller overall since her back is most in scale relative to her overall size, so saddles made on the other models might look a little big on her.

Pebbles and Collectas can share almost anything; it’s best if there’s some adjustability. They can’t share headgear or boots with the others.

Miss Mattie and most Little Bits can probably share headgear as long as it has some adjustability.

Chino can’t share anything with anyone else. He’s just too small.

Hope that helps!

What would collectors want from tack makers re: identification (outside of signatures)?

I have wondered about adding a photo of the specific item to the order with details written on the back, like a casual business card-sized certificate of authenticity. This seems most useful for saddle/bridle sets, especially if they include accessories. That quickly becomes involved on my end since right now I can print bag inserts in bulk and handwrite information on the back, but if it’s something that would be helpful/desirable to collectors it could work for bridles and other larger things.

Tack maker, not performance exhibitor! I make SM/mini scale tack for reference.

I sign saddles and boots but not strap goods or pads. Okay, sometimes pads. Strap goods are just so fiddly! I have occasionally signed on the inside of the crown and I realized recently that I should make a point of this moving forward.

Saddles are sent to customers in chipboard jewelery boxes. I just sold a saddle set and wrote the box contents on the inside of the lid. It was a bit fiddly but it WORKED and I’ll do that again, at least in those 2x3 boxes.

Not Saddles are sent in plastic jewelry bags with a cardstock insert. I have my logo/website on the front of the card with a lot of whitespace to show off the item. The back has date and description, incl which mold it’s made for.

My own records are kept in a database with a lot of info like photos, mold, dye color, buyer, year made (specific dates if I remember), any reference material, and a written description. Sometimes even a note on construction if it was a fiddly thing. In theory I could identify anything made after 2017 this way. I have photos and maybe client name from 2012-2017; before 2012 it’s pretty fuzzy.

I still have some of the early to mid aughts TSC Chips! How I miss those days 😂 The Chips mule is awfully cute, I’d love to have one of them eventually.

Related: I store very small amounts of apoxie sculpt in the same kind of paint pot. It keeps really well!

Early art like this has a soft spot in my heart; my favorite art history classes focused on things like it. And a few hobby artists have made sculptures inspired by cave drawings and carvings like this one! I love those.

I don’t have a photo, but my first large Hagen Renaker was a Man O War purchased at an estate sale. I woke up several hours before the crack of dawn to arrive at the sale four hours early. I missed out on four or five other Hagens at the same sale because I didn’t know you could put a token down to hold your place in line. I was technically there before the person who snatched up the others, but I didn’t realize the token system was a thing until she put hers down! She opted not to buy Man O War because he has a chipped ear. I’ll get him restored some day, but he’s special as is! Other people swept through the sale and grabbed the other HSOs, but I found a small clinky Citation they missed because he was hiding in the kitchen!

Here are some recent examples of my work!

I found the apps and am using Voyager for now - having a mobile option significantly improves the chances that I’ll actually be a participating member!