BreyerFest 2017 Store Specials

I know I posted some preview pictures of this year's BreyerFest store specials, but I thought it might be nice to take some time to get to know the horses (and dog) behind those models!

First up, we have Repeat the Beat - a Tennessee Walking horse that was formerly a part of the high-stepping breed circuit, but now turned jumper! Pete, as he is known by his family, competes in Jumpers, Handy Hunters, and even Three-Day Eventing. Standing at only 15.1 hands and sporting a flashy black roan sabino coloring, Pete proves that you should never judge a horse by their breed.

Pete's portrait model on the Bluegrass Bandit mold. 

Pete's original owners on the Spotted Saddle Horse circuit believed that the then Two-Year-Old World Champion, and so sold him to Lisa Murray shortly after so that he could have a lovely home being trail ridden with her daughter, Jeren. He never took to trail riding, either, always extremely tense under saddle on the trails.

After one day of some friends of the Murrays' riding Pete over fences on the trails, Lisa and Jeren noticed how calm and focused the gelding seemed to be and it was decided that Pete would begin his career in over fence work.

A photo from Pete's time on the UK Eventing team.
Photo by Rachel Norton.

Next on our list are the "dynamic duo" themselves. No, I don't mean Batman and Robin- I'm talking about Dally and Spanky!

As a two-year-old, Spanky the Miniature Horse was rescued by Francesca and Steve of Rother Horsemanship. Apparently the little gelding was a handful to start with, as all ponies are, but developed into a quick favorite throughout the barn. 

Eventually, Spanky was taught a multitude of tricks, and one day Dally, the Rothers' Jack Russell Terrier, took an interest in those tricks. Hopping atop of Spanky during one of Francesca's training sessions so she could get a better look, Dally has been learning tricks alongside her Miniature Horse friend every since!

Look forward to more Breyerfest Special Run announcements and stick around for the actual event in July!

Good Times and Great Ponies - St. Nazianz

It's no secret that horse show judges are people with their own opinions on what makes a model ribbon-worthy or LSQ (live show quality,) and that's why it's nice to have more than one judge in the ring. My mother and I have gone to several double-judged shows recently, and it's been more than interesting to see how one judge places the class versus the other. Sometimes the placings are the same (which often happens in the individual classes,) and sometimes they're definitely not the same (as we saw in the Section Reserve titles.)

You can have a horse place first with one judge and sixth with the other. Whether that's opinion-based or based on some small flaw or detail that one judge caught and the other didn't, double-judged shows give you the opportunity to basically attend two shows on the same day. Maybe we need to look into double-judging one of our shows...

(I think we could do it. Those Manes & Tails kids are getting really good at their horse judging. ;) )

This show started off just like any other, though - incredibly early and amazingly quiet.

A brief look at the show hall before the commotion began.

Looks like my mom caught me vlogging. Whoops! ^^;;

We brought a rack of consignment ponies and some goodies from the store to sell.

And as the show progressed, so did our placings...

Mr. Myxlptlk - Euro Draft - 1st/4th

Deputy Clyde - British Draft - 2nd/3rd

Blizzard Warning - British Draft - 1st/4th

Soleil - American Draft - 2nd/2nd

Kingsman - Other Mix/Pure Draft - 1st/1st

Icicle Junior - British Pony - 1st/2nd

I don't just mean for me, either. My mom really started racking up the ribbons at this show, too. Her donkeys completely stole the spotlight!

Whiskey Business came home with two seconds.

Perseus came home with two firsts and a section champ!

(She really does love her donkeys.)

As for the rest of my horses...

Sheza Mane-iac - American Pony - 1st/2nd

Before U Go-Go - Paint - 2nd/4th

Lexington - TB - 1st/3rd

...they definitely pulled their weight in the ring...

Black Cat - Spanish - 2nd/4th

Mirror of Erised - Carriage - 1st/3rd

Mischief Managed - Sporthorse - 2nd/3rd

Bleeding Hearts - TB - 2nd/2nd

Choco Chex Mix - Sporthorse - 1st/3rd

...some more than others...

Pocket Full of Sunshine - Spotted Stock Foal - 1st/1st

Peppered Gold - WB - 1st/1st - Section Reserve Champion

Cat Trax - Other Breed Foals - 1st/1st - Section Grand Champion

And last but not least, my big winner of the day. I know it's not an Overall Grand or a Section Grand, but TWO Section Reserve Grands are definitely a big step forward for this guy. 

Careless Whisper - Other Light Breed - 1st/1st - Double Section Reserve Champ

Breed research is one of my favorite things about the model horse hobby. It allows so much freedom; your horse doesn't have to be what the box says it is. And that's the fun part! I love to do a little digging and come up with something unique that fits the horse, though you always have to cross your fingers and hope that your judges will see the documentation you've done and agree with it. 

Some judges spend the majority of classes scanning documents and comparing/contrasting them to the horse... and some don't. That's okay - each of us as judges have different styles, and we need to take this into account. At the end of the day, judging is more subjective than it is objective.

Well, that's all, folks!

I hope you enjoyed this little peak into our most recent show. Don't forget to check out the YouTube video below with the vlog behind all the action. There will be more coming soon!

New Arrivals!

For Christmas this year, I decided I was going to order my mom a Design A Horse from Stone. Originally, I had thought about doing a portrait of her mare, Lilly, that we had to put down last year, but I also wasn't out to break the bank on this one. After deciding that I couldn't design Lilly just yet (I will get there. Some day,) I went with the next best thing: a Palomino.

My mom loves palominos. Personally, so do I. I had been really sneaky the few weeks before I ordered this Christmas pony, going through the DAH color options and asking her what she thought of each color. This is something we do on a regular basis, so she didn't seem to find it suspicious - which was excellent for me. 

Figuring that I wouldn't have this pony in time for Christmas, I drew him on a 4 x 6 piece of Bristol board and gave that to my mother to open instead.

Well, this cute little Christmas pony showed up at our door just a few days before Rainier. In fact, he showed up the exact day that we left for a model horse show. Go figure, right?

His name is Mr. Wonderful (a.k.a. Clarence,) and if anyone understands that reference, good for you. I'm not sure how many people will.

And because it was 50 degrees here in the Upper Peninsula this weekend, I've also got some close-up shots of Rainier for everyone!

Sorry to tease you with this shot in the last blog post preview.
I didn't have these when I wrote the original entry!

Stay tuned for more new ponies and adventures coming soon- we have a Stablemate Club horse on the way along with our most recent order to unbox. There's lots going on in the model horse world right now!

Sleigh Bells Ringing!

Sleigh Rally, one of the many Wisconsin Live Model Horse Shows, is an event that we visit yearly. It's always great to catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and participate in the model horse hobby at the same time. This year's Sleigh Rally featured some amazing additions to the building we always use - an elevator so hobbyists wouldn't have to climb the icy staircase out front and new heaters so nobody ended up freezing. Awesome, right?

The show hall was absolutely full!

Waiting for classes and doing drawing homework
was how I spent most of the day.

One of the neat things about Sleigh Rally is the amazing ribbons they have for Section and Overall Champions. Karen does such an incredible job. I mean, just look at these!

I'm lucky enough to have a Section Reserve from last year.

Sleigh Rally is actually only one part of an event called "A Winter Day in the Park." The model horse show goes on indoors, while outside, skijoring and sleigh rides happen out in the snow-covered field of the park.

With how fast classes were called, we didn't get as many
pictures of the outdoor events as I would've liked...

Like the shows we host up here, Sleigh Rally also features a Youth and Kids division, which has their own special prizes and Silent Auction items. Each class has a critique of its own, and the judge this year was very thorough with her remarks. There were some amazing performance scenes from the Youth.

I was rather impressed by the Harness classes, honestly. You go, guys!

Speaking of Performance scenes, check out what the Open division had to offer:

I wanted to get right up close and personal with this Cavalry set up.
Look at all those details!

Parade tack makes for some of my all-time favorite set ups.

For those of you who are unsure about Breyer taking on the CollectA horses (or Corral Pals, as they're now called,) look at this performance scene. These are all CollectA calves and a customized CollectA Quarter Horse cutter.

This Quarter Horse mold is on our list of Corral Club horses for the year. He makes for an incredible performance horse - just make sure you can find tack to fit!

We had so much fun at this show! Between checking out all the amazing entries and talking to new friends, our day was busy, but definitely worthwhile. I also couldn't believe the amount of people there who were totally new to the hobby.

Some ponies chilling between classes on my mom's side of the table.

And there was also a very special guest- Morgen Kilbourn's personally painted copy of her newest resin, Tetradrachm. Definitely on my "to buy" list, this guy is only available for a limited time, and Morgen has been sending him around on a little show tour. I was beyond delighted to find that Sleigh Rally was one of those shows.

Morgen captures incredible detail in her sculptures AND paint jobs.

What a beautiful boy!

Seeing him was one of the highlights of my day, as was seeing my horses doing well in their classes. This little Stablemate CM filly always wins something no matter where I take her.

So tiny!

That's a wrap on Sleigh Rally! Stay tuned for more model horse show adventures. We'll be hitting up another two shows in the next couple of weeks here, and it's going to be a doozy!