Inroducing Dolly Bottoms

Years ago when I was starting young horses under saddle regularly I had a rider who happily put all the first rides on my youngsters.  Her name was Dolly Bottoms, and she was the only one allowed to ride without a helmet because her head was full of stuffing.  She was a stuffed doll a friend's daughter had outgrown playing with, and I'd put a pair of my jeans on her and stuffed the legs with plastic shopping bags to give her some body.  As the years went by she began to look quite rough.  Then one of the barn cats elected to mark her as barn cat territory in a very aromatic way, and so she retired from service.

Now that I have Huck here and he's needing super thorough restarting under saddle, I've made a new Dolly Bottoms.  This one is very close to a full size human, and I'm eager to see what the horses think of her!  She still will be the only one allowed to ride without a helmet, though.

Dolly Bottoms' components ready for assembly (dog and Kong not included): 

She consists of pool noodles for skeleton, plastic shopping bags for bulk and muscling, jeans, boots, and shirt for body, and a sphere with a smile drawn on it for a head.  Her hair is strips of fabric I quickly added at the last minute, and she's wearing an old pair of holey boots that are no longer waterproof. 

As Dolly stands propped up in the mud room waiting to head outside for work she's startled a couple souls already!  Mahzi the guard dog was a little freaked out that there was someone slouching on the counter, and Dolly surprised Jasi when she came in from feeding horses this evening.  It is a little disconcerting to see out of your peripheral vision a person standing perfectly still in the mud room...