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! 

2017 Web Special - Rainier

I'm a big fan of drafters; I'm also a big fan of pintos and roans. So when it was announced that Breyer's first web special of the year was a blue roan pinto drafter, my jaw just about dropped! 

Look at this hunk! <3

Breyer has definitely outdone themselves with this one, and congratulations to those lucky enough to be drawn for him... which includes my mother. He's not a sales piece at this time, and because the both of us are splitting the cost, his show name is "Joint Custody."

Because we really love humorous horse names, and this was just too good of an opportunity. Here's a list of some of the other names we came up with but didn't decide to use:

• Collaboration
• Double Vision
• Two-Steppin'
• Joint Effort
• ...and their were others that I cannot for the life of me remember.

(I asked my mother, too. She wasn't much help.)

After getting lucky enough to be chosen for one of these boys, it takes Breyer a week if not longer to ship to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, so I have been anxiously awaiting his arrival for quite some time now. And here he is! 

The video below is of me unboxing our Rainier, which I did promptly as soon as I got back from class just the other day. Enjoy, and look for more YouTube videos from Paint Pony Studios in the future!

Unboxing - Bourbon

Once you're old enough that you stop making Christmas lists, a lot of your friends and relatives just end up sending you money for Christmas. I'm sure some of you out there have been experiencing this for years, or maybe that time's just now starting for you. Either way, it opens up a lot of exciting opportunities.

So, to preface this whole thing, I'd like to thank my grandparents for helping fund my Christmas present for this year- a beautiful rolling resin by the name of Bourbon.

Picture from Seunta LLC

I had been watching the Seunta (pronounced "shane-ta" for anyone who's curious) website for quite some time after they had announced their 2016 Holiday Sale because I have been wanting one of these bad boys for a while. But being a broke college student (art student, no less, which means I have even less money,) I could never afford to splurge on a resin, especially for myself.

Fortunately for me, after Christmas came around, I had enough money to buy myself one! I'll leave how he'll be painted a surprise for now until I start working on him and showing you all pictures.

I guess I can give you a hint - it'll be one of my "specialties." (*cough* Pinto *cough*)

First off, Bourbon arrived in a box inside of a box, which is always fun. I'm pretty much in love with Seunta's logo, to be honest. It's absolutely lovely.

Opening up the box left me confronted by one of my worst packing enemies... foam peanuts! Don't get me wrong, they're great packing material, buuuut they stick to anyone and everything in their path. 

I don't have any pictures of before Bourbon was unwrapped, but he came absolutely mummified. Most often, to protect resins, you will wrap their heads, tails, legs, and sometimes even their entire bodies in tissue paper. Bourbon came with only his head, neck, and tail wrapped, but it did it's job well. No cracks or breaks!

And isn't he something?

There's so much personality in this resin - I cannot wait to get started on him! I'll be sure to update you all on his progress as he's being worked on, so stick around and stay tuned; this rolling boy needs to be prepped, primed, and painted for NaMoPaiMo!