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!

About the Bloggers!

I promise I'll find something more interesting to write about in the future (I mean, BreyerFest AND Equilocity are next week, so there's bound to be some stories to tell.), but I figured I'd get a jump-start on this blogging thing with a post about just who we are and what we do. We're not just in the game to be a faceless model horse retailer-slash-hobby blog. Where's the fun in that?

Emma and Alex - Just doing our thing!

Well, this is Emma speaking. Currently I'm a high school graduate (almost college student), and I've been riding horses for around eleven years. Eleven years of Pony Club experience, six years with multiple 4H groups, and I've been collecting those pesky plastic ponies for probably around nine years. Right now, I'm a C1-Certified former USPC member and Manes & Tails Model Horse 4H Club is my go-to group-- teaching kids about the model horse hobby is one priority out of many.

As for my horses (the real ones), there's Alex:

My (four-legged) partner in crime.

Thirteen-one-and-one-half hands tall, part Welsh Pony, part American Saddlebred - all Alex. He's been the light of my life for a whole decade, and we've made an incredible team. I couldn't ask for a better pony, no matter how short he is.

Then there's Jenna:

I've been told I need to smile more over fences.

My taller "luxury" model, this Donnerkeil Trakehner baby has her share of problems, but I love her anyway. Despite her asthma (which we've more or less managed to conquer), she has an extreme willingness to work and a personality to die for. We've gone everywhere from five minutes down the road to the Kentucky Horse Park together, and Jenna seems to love her job.

Now, a little bit from my mom's side of things.

She really loves donkeys.

My mom has always loved horses, even when she was a kid. But until I started riding, she never really had the chance to be around them as much as she liked. A few years after we bought Alex, she bought her own horse-- Lilly.

Lilly is blind as a bat, but she can still find her way home.

Though we've both had our horses for years, the model horse showing deal didn't start until I attended my first show once upon a time back when our area had a NAN-Qualifying show called "Equifest". The horse that my mother claimed was my "ugliest" took a second and got one of those little green cards that are now so often sought after by collectors. I thought it was an amazingly weird experience, and just like that, I was hooked.

We started doing shows in our hometown in 2009 and have progressed since then, adding more and more classes, two separate age divisions, and even having a "Triple Crown" for our kids. Manes & Tails Model Horse 4H Club didn't start until earlier this year, but we had decided it was time kids in our area learned to show their models properly without missing out on the real horse aspect behind the scenes. 

One of my favorite pieces - a Windstone Editions Hippocampus

Model horses have taken us just as many places as the real ones have: Kentucky for BreyerFest (every year since 2010), Wisconsin, Lower Michigan, and even Florida. Now that we're retailers for Breyer and my own custom horses, we hope that this trend continues.

Both of us hope that you enjoy the blog and everything that's to come. We're excited to share with you all that we that's model horse related, including BreyerFest and Equilocity next week, upcoming customs, performance scenes, prop making projects, repairs, model horse show pictures, new horse releases, and more!

Stay tuned. Our next stop is Lexington, Kentucky!

~Emma