10 Creative Halloween Costumes for Horses
- Hailey Hak
- Oct 12, 2018
- 5 min read
Every year I seem to spend hours just trying to come up with halloween costumes that can be both easy to make and functional for a mounted rider. This year I decided to compile a list of Ideas complete with sketches and descriptions. So far my horses have dressed up as Marilyn Monroe, Superman, a Frappuccino and Latte, and this year i'll be stepping up my game with not one but two different costumes.
These Ideas can be used from schooling or fun shows to events such as the devon pony hunt teams or the Great Charity Challenge. If you use one of my ideas send me a picture so I can add it to this post and see my ideas in action!
First we have a fall staple, a pumpkin. You can use paint or marker for the pumpkin's shading or sew on yarn for a more 3-D look on an orange body sleazy. If you are comfortable plaiting you can use green yarn or bands but if not you could paint the mane or use clip ins. You can chose to put a saddle on but can also just stick with bareback if you are comfortable with this. The rider can wear a farmers outfit or maybe another pumpkin and call themselves a pumpkin patch. Below is a quick sketch I put together for reference feel free to use but please give credit where credit is due.
This costume should definitely only be used on a really quiet and broke horse for obvious reasons. I got the idea for grapes from a human costume where you simply tape balloons to a shirt. If you are brave enough to try balloons i'd recommend using safety pins to attach the balloons to the horse because the metal will help eliminate static electricity. For those of us who's horses would kill us if we but this on them, you can also sew two circles together, stuff them, and then attach them to the full body sleazy shown as below. The reason I left the abdomen empty is to allow for a rider or saddle but if you are not mounted I see no reason as to why you couldn't fill it in. Theres a little leaf where the forelock would be and that could be made out of any material. Once again, don't risk your own and your horse's safety. There are plenty of other costumes you could.
Ok so i've actually done this one way back when with one of my dogs. I was a ref, my golden was a wide retriever, my labradoodle was a cheerleader, and my golden doodle was the football. I cant find the pictures but i'll keep looking and if I come across them i'll make sure to share them. This one is really simple all you need is a brown sheet or body sleazy and some white paint or electrical tape or if you have a bay you could just use horse paint. You could dress up as anything related to football and if your really dedicated you could borrow or purchase a helmet to wear for the event.
This one was a little difficult to sketch. The tutu looking thing is meant to be the lions mane but I had difficulty depicting the texture but hang with me. The lion costume could be used with a costume from the wizard of oz, a lion tamer costume, or safari outfit. The lion's mane could be made out of tule fabric and elastic like a tutu or if your going for a more realistic look false fur. On a Chestnut no sleazy would be needed but a full body would be perfect for others.
I've never seen a watermelon costume before but I think it would be pretty cute. The drawing has a few too many 'seeds' and I didn't do lines on the rind but these details would be minor changes to the sketch. Starting with a pink body sleazy or sheet, you could either sew black buttons on or opt to use a marker. The rind could be created with any type of fabric and could be glued, stitched, or even velcroed to the pink fabric.
This Dino costume is at the top of my list to try. Using a full body sleazy or neck sleazy and sheet, triangles could be attached where the main and tail would be. I'd personally want to sew individual triangle 'pillows' but you could get creative with wire and paper, cardboard, or even stiff felt. I'm not to sure what the rider could be in this situation. Maybe a cave man or woman? Nonetheless any horse would look adorable in this costume.
This next costume is a little more complicated than the rest... the pineapple. With a yellow sleazy as your base you could then create a pineapple pattern with yarn, pipe-cleaners, possibly even a marker. For the green pineapple stem you could use green foam or felt and attach it to the sleazy. The rider could dress in too many ways to list. If you have the time and patience to pull this off I promise it will be worth it.
An obvious halloween icon, the spider. This is another costume only to be done with a horse that will be comfortable with it. The limbs can be created by fabric or pool noodles. Attach them to the horse as desired and you have yourself a costume.
When I was at the Village Club, someone ordered a bumble bee costume off amazon but I haven't been able to find it since. I didn't draw wings but they would be an easy add on if you wanted. The antennas could be fashioned from pipe-cleaners and styrofoam spheres. Any fabric can be used for the stripes and this same fabric can be used to sew the stinger. The rider could dress up as a flower or another bee.
Last but not least we have a dog. If you have already looked at horse costumes online you have probably seen the poodle costume with the rider in a poodle skirt. I put my own twist on this costume by using a sleazy and switching up the tail. If you look closely you will see the textured look of the body sleazy. This is meant to mimic the texture of a dogs coat. You can achieve this look if wanted with splatter paint, false fur, felt, and more. The tail is a choice for you to make. The colors and ears can be modified to fit whatever type of dog you want and maybe you could make your dog a matching horse costume.
Have fun with these and have a Happy Halloween.
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