A couple of weeks ago the Husbeast surprised me with a very special gift: Horseback riding!
I don’t think I’ve ever really grown out of the “crazy horse girl” phase. She’s just deep down inside, rocking in the corner and whispering about ponies.
Our trail guide’s horse’s name was Badger, and he was a small but sturdy little Buckskin horse that was happy to lead the way across the mountains of Sedona.
I wanted a little reminder of the trip, something better than saddle-sores. So I designed this adorable little Buckskin pony, Badger!
A little horsey knowledge for you: Buckskin is what a horse is called when it has a pale coat, a dark mane and tail, and dark socks on its legs. It’s the horse that Lorne Green rode in Bonanza. (Does it make me old that I knew that off-hand?)
Let’s get crafty!
Badger the Buckskin Pony Crochet Pattern
Supplies:
Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Maize and Charcoal Heather
Red Heart Soft in Charcoal
Scraps of black yarn
E/3.5mm hook
12mm safety eyes
Scissors
Tapestry needle
Polyester stuffing/Polyfil
Stuffing stick/chopstick/pencil
Skill level:
Advanced Beginner
Finished Dimensions:
Approximately 10 inches long, 5 inches wide and 5 inches tall*
*Size may vary slightly with yarn size, hook size, and amount of stuffing used.
Abbreviations:
Ch: chain
Sl st: slip stitch
Sc: single crochet
Inc: Increase, 2 Sc in the same Sc
Dec: Decrease or sc2tog (it will make your project look cleaner if you do an “invisible” decrease)
Notes before Starting:
*This pattern is written in U.S. terms.
*This project is worked in rounds.
*Your total stitch count will be in parentheses at the end of every row. This will help you to keep count of your stitches and make sure the finished product looks right. Chains and Slip Stitches do not count as stitches.
*I recommend crocheting over your yarn tails where available to make less work of weaving in ends when finishing off your work.
Arms/front legs (make 2)
Start with Red Heart Soft yarn in Charcoal
Round 1: Magic Circle 6 (6)
Round 2: Inc in each Sc around (12)
Round 3: (Sc, Inc) repeat around (18)
Rounds 4-5: (2 rounds) Sc in each Sc around (18)
Round 6: (Sc, Dec) repeat around (12)
Change yarn to Caron Simply Soft in Charcoal Heather
Rounds 7-10: Sc in each Sc around (12) (4 rounds)
Change yarn to Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Maize
Rounds 11-22: (15 rounds) Sc (12) Finish Off, leaving a tail to sew the legs to the body. Stuff the hooves firmly and the legs a little less firmly.
Legs/back legs (make 2)
Start with Red Heart Soft yarn in Charcoal
Round 1: Magic Circle 6 (6)
Round 2: Increase in each Sc around (12)
Round 3: (Sc, Inc) repeat around (18)
Rounds 4: (Sc 5, inc) repeat around (21)
Rounds 5-6: (2 rounds) Sc in each Sc around (21)
Round 7: (Sc 5, dec) repeat around (18)
Round 8: (Sc, dec) repeat around (12)
Change yarn to Caron Simply Soft in Charcoal Heather
Rounds 9-16: (8 rounds) Sc in each Sc around (12)
Change yarn to Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Maize
Rounds 17-22: (6 rounds) Sc in each Sc around (12) Finish Off, leaving a tail to sew the legs to the body. Stuff the hooves firmly and the legs a little less firmly.
Body
Using Caron Simply Soft yarn in Autumn Maize
Round 1: Magic Circle 6 (6)
Round 2: Inc in each Sc around (12)
Round 3: Sc in each Sc around (12)
Round 4: (Sc, inc) repeat around (18)
Round 5: (Sc 2, inc) repeat around (24)
Round 6: (Sc 3, inc) repeat around (30)
Round 7: (Sc 4, inc) repeat around (36)
Rounds 8-14: (7 rounds) Sc in each Sc around (36)
Round 15: (Sc 5, inc) repeat around (42)
Round 16: (Sc 6, inc) repeat around (48)
Round 17-20: (4 rounds) Sc in each Sc around (48)
Round 21: (Sc 6, dec) repeat around (42)
Round 22: (Sc 5, dec) repeat around (36)
Round 23: (Sc 4, dec) repeat around (30)
Round 24: (Sc 3, dec) repeat around (24)
Stuff the body firmly but don’t overstuff it. If it’s too full the legs won’t sit right.
Round 25: (Sc 2, dec) repeat around (18)
Round 26: (Sc, dec) repeat around (12)
Round 27: Dec (6)
Finish off and weave in all ends.
Head
Using Caron Simply Soft yarn in Autumn Maize
Round 1: Magic Circle 6 (6)
Round 2: Inc in each Sc around (12)
Round 3: (Sc, inc) repeat around (18)
Round 4: (Sc 2, inc) repeat around (24)
Round 5: Sc in each Sc around (24)
Round 6: (Sc 3, inc) repeat around (30)
Rounds 7-8: (2 rounds) Sc in each Sc around (30)
Round 9: (Sc 8, dec) repeat around (27)
Round 10: Sc in each Sc around (27)
Round 11: (Sc 8, inc) repeat around (30)
Round 12: Sc in each Sc around (30)
Round 13: (Sc 4, inc) repeat around (36)
Round 14-18: (5 rounds) Sc in each Sc around (36)
Add 12mm safety eyes between Rounds 13 and 14 with 7 stitches in between the eyes. You can see from the photos that when the eyes are pushed all the way in there are 7 stitches in between both eyes.
Optional: Use scraps of black yarn to make 2 short stitches to the sides of the eyes to create eyelashes.
For the nostrils, use scraps of black yarn to make 2 x-shaped stitches over Round 6 with 5 stitches between them. They should line up with the eyes.
Round 19: (Sc 4, dec) repeat around (30)
Round 20: Sc in each Sc around (30)
Round 21: (Sc 3, dec) repeat around (24)
Stuff the head firmly. Shape the head as you stuff, there should be an indent around the muzzle that gives the head better shape.
Round 22: (Sc 2, dec) repeat around (18)
Round 23: (Sc, dec) repeat around (12)
Round 24: Dec (6) Finish Off, leaving a tail about 12 inches long to sew the head to the body.
Now comes more shaping of the face. Using about 6-8 inches of Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Maize, pass yarn between both eyes and pull slightly to indent the eyes and shape the face. Don’t pull too much or you’ll wind up with a goofy-looking pony! Just enough to indent the eyes a bit and give it more shape. Finish off and weave in ends.
Ears (make 2)
Using Caron Simply Soft yarn in Autumn Maize
Front and back of ears (make 4)
Round 1: Magic ring (6)
Round 2: Inc in each Sc around (12)
Round 3: (Sc, inc) repeat around (18) Sl st in last stitch, Finish Off, leaving a short tail
Now you will crochet both sides of the ears together. Using Caron Simply Soft in Charcoal Heather, put the “wrong sides” of the ears together with the tails of the yarn in between them.
Insert your hook under the Sl st and pull the Charcoal Heather through, Ch 1 and Sc in the same Sc.
Sc around (18) and sl st the last stitch. When you’re part of the way around, twist the ends of the ears together and tuck them between the front and back of the ears.
They won’t unravel or get in the way inside the ears. Leave a tail about 6-8 inches long to sew the ears shut.
Pinch the ears together at the bottom and use part of the tail to sew it pinched closed at the base. It will resemble an empty ice cream cone.
Attach the ears to the head between Rounds 21-23 with the remaining tail. Finish Off and weave in all ends.
Assembly
I highly recommend using straight pins to get the arms/front legs and back legs into place before you sew them on permanently.
Sew the arms/front legs and back legs towards the front of the body to help your pony sit up unassisted.
The back legs should be level with the bottom of the body and the front legs should be positioned between them, the tops meeting the shoulders at a slight angle.
Use a table or a large book to help you gauge where all the parts should go, a flat base is important.
Using the extra long tail of yarn you made, attach the head to the top of the body. Pass the tail through the bottom of the head, right where the neck should join the head.
Using short stitches, sew back and forth from the head to the body to create the neck. The head should wobble only very slightly. Make sure your stitches are small and tight to prevent too much wobble. Finish off and weave in all ends.
Tail
Using Caron Simply Soft yarn in Charcoal Heather
Measure out 12 strands of yarn, about 8 inches long each.
Using 2 strands at a time, find the center of the back of the body just above the base, right about where the tail should be, insert your hook and pull through 2 strands part way, about an inch.
This creates a loop. Tuck the ends of the strands into the loop and pull, making the yarn tight.
Repeat this 5 times until you have a tail section 2 columns wide and 3 rows high.
Mane and Forelock
Using Caron Simply Soft yarn in Charcoal Heather
Measure out 54-60 strands of yarn, about 8 inches long. Again, using 2 strands in each space, repeat the latch method to make the Forelock.
Starting from in between the ears, make the Forelock section 3 columns wide and 2 rows long. Continue down past the Ears to make the Mane, keeping the columns as centered as possible.
Once all of the hair has been attached, lay the pony on its side and trim the hair to the desired length. I trimmed the Mane and Forelock to be about 2-3 inches long and left the Tail to be naturally long. You can always add more or less hair and trim it however you like.
Whew, all done!
It takes a bit of effort to get all that hair on there, but it’s totally worth it! All that loose hair is perfect for braiding and weaving flowers and ribbons into it.
What’s more, you can customize the colors of your pony to whatever you want. Be sure to share what your pony looks like and inspire others!
Have an awesome day!
Jessica from 3rd House
The information and photos in this post are the sole copyrighted property of 3rd House from the End and 3rd House Creations. You may not copy and paste or reproduce any part of the information contained herein electronically, verbally, written or otherwise, including translations.
You may make and sell products from our patterns but we ask that you please link back to this post.
See who’s getting crafty on Facebook and Instagram with 3rd House Creations. Be sure to tag your creations #3rdHouseCreations so we can see what’s hot off your hook!