The American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association Logo
Shop ASHBA
Login

You are now entering the old ASHBA website which will allow you to access your data using your original username and password.

We are transitioning to the new website, so be aware that some functions may not work on the old site and will redirect you to the new site. It is important you setup your new username and password on our new site HERE.

Otherwise click here to continue to the old ASHBA website

Saddlebred Strong Spotlight: Covid Creativity Brings New Saddlebred Souvenirs from Saddlethreads!

In the spring of 2020, when the world and our industry were first navigating, understanding, and adapting to the adversity created by the pandemic, we began sharing "Saddlebred Strong" stories, ideas, and community initiatives. One of the individuals that jumped in to serve and assist on the Joint Leadership Council Covid resource efforts was also using her Saddlebred Strong creativity in her own equine industry endeavors. Karly Morgan of Saddlethreads and Red Horse Media has taken a unique and one of a kind approach to engaging the show horse community and assuring that the legacy of show ring stars survives for generations to come! Learn more about the Saddlebred Strong Story behind the Saddlethreads' CH Sprinkles plushie! 

When COVID really started to take hold back in April, I wanted to use Saddlethreads to do something to lift people’s spirits. Something fun, lighthearted, and most importantly, something free - I wanted to start a game or a contest that everyone could enjoy. 

As a lifelong basketball fan, I came up with the idea to do a sort of “bracket challenge” for Saddlebreds, and I started making a list of some of the greatest Saddlebreds of all time. I started with about 40 names, and worked it down to 8 horses who I thought would make for a fun and interesting bracket. 

I thought it might be fun, but I never expected the reception it received - thousands of votes poured in, and friendly debates ensued in the comments. Everyone seemed to have fun with it, and really understood that all these Saddlebreds were great, and we were never trying to determine “the greatest” in any serious manner - just having a fun vote-off for favorites! The voting battle between CH The Daily Lottery and CH Skywatch was especially exciting - it came right down to midnight, and only 1 vote pushed “Dan” over the top! 

Toward the end of the Saddlebred bracket, I thought that we should have some sort of culmination for the end of the bracket, and I began discussing the idea of making stuffed animals with our team. We knew that if we were going to make the stuffed animals, we wanted them to be really high quality - not just a little stuffed toy, but something really nice, exciting to own, more like a collector’s item. We were able to work with a fantastic company that specializes in stuffed animals, they agreed to make them, and I posted a “rough draft” of what they might look like - and everybody loved them!   

It was so exciting to see CH Sprinkles win the bracket. Eleanor and I have been friends since we were junior exhibitors, and I knew Sprinkles personally during her lifetime. The CH Sprinkles Breyer model was such an exciting, uplifting, happy thing for the Saddlebred community, I hoped that these stuffed animals could do the same for us during COVID.  

The Saddlebred bracket was so popular, I got a lot of requests for a Morgan horse bracket, as well. I was happy to create a Morgan bracket because I love Morgan horses, but I don’t know much about their history, so I was happy to receive the help of the Morgan Grand National & World Championship Horse Show! They selected the list for me, and once again, voting took off. 

I had never met Dragonsmeade Icon’s owners before the bracket challenge, but as soon as it became clear that he was going to win I reached out to them - they were so excited! They are just fantastic people, so kind, and their loss of this grand horse was so tragic. It was apparent to me from the start that they had a deep love for him. Icon had such a unique charisma, he captured a lot of hearts during his lifetime. 

I think the bracket challenge was a really uplifting, fun, and unifying game to play during a very dark time. There were horse people of multiple breeds commenting, voting, asking questions and learning about our breed, as well as long-time Saddlebred and Morgan experts giving great histories of the horses involved. It’s truly an honor to be able to pay tribute to two great show horses who are no longer with us - CH Sprinkles and Dragonsmeade Icon. 

These plushies are single edition, which means we are only making them once, and they are only being made to order. If you would like to own CH Sprinkles, Dragonsmeade Icon, or both, you absolutely must place your order before November 30 - once orders close, they will be gone forever! They are luxury quality, over 12” tall, with a plush removable blanket - pictures simply don’t do them justice, they are beautiful in person! 

Order yours at www.saddlethreads.shop