Show Report: Rose City Live 2018

Earlier this month I attended one of my favorite show, Rose City Live. I’m totally spoiled to have a show like this every year just 15 minutes from home. Showholder Vicky Harms always does a great job putting on a fun, well organized show.

This year I judged performance and then showed halter in the afternoon. Performance was relatively small, so between classes I entertained myself by helping call classes for other judges, hawking Erin’s sale horses, and oogling other people’s entries.

I just finished a new horse- Maggie Bennett’s micro mini cob, Rockwell. I painted him as a surprise gift for Maggie, but he was done just in time for the show so I had to bring him!

I was delighted when Microsoft Clippy took first in breed and second in workmanship. I was chuffed to be able to send along two ribbons and two NAN cards when I mailed him to his new home :)

My micros had a stellar day overall. Thumbelina was AR Reserve Champion Draft/Pony/Other and Dirt Nap took first in AR Mix Breed Draft.

The biggest surprise of the day was Hovito being pinned AR Reserve Champion Stock Breed, AR Reserve Champion Pattern/Other Workmanship, and then Overall Reserve Champion Resin!

I have never, ever had a horse get a rosette in breed and workmanship at the same show, let alone go on to earn an overall! By the time this championship was pinned I had started packing up my table, and for a long time I didn’t even notice what happened. It didn’t even occur to me that I might have won- I just knew I needed to go pick up my horse later. When I did finally look I was absolutely speechless!

It was a stupendous ending to a wonderful show!

Region 1 Championship Show 2017

My most recent live show was the long awaited Region 1 Championship Show in Kennewick, Washington. Our NAMHSA rep- who is also an avid show holder- has been fundraising for several years to get this show off the ground. I’m really glad I made the trek out to attend.

This show was open to model horses who had won a NAN card at a Region 1 show in the last five years. It was different from a standard show in that we had to put the horse on the table with their NAN card (so that the stewards could confirm eligibility) but the winners did not earn new NAN cards.

The halter divisions had a good turn out with many lovely horses from all around the region. I was very chuffed to earn a few “cookies” of my own, as well as a number of Top Fives.

Hovito won Top 5 in breed

Mr. L. B. Scuttlebutt won Top 5 in breed

August P. Hattington surprised me by winning Champion of the carriage breeds class.

Tater Bug won Top 5 in breed

I was delighted when Jump the Shark won Reserve Champion in his breed class. He is one of my favorites but judges don’t usually agree :)

Mr. L. B. Scuttlebutt won Reserve Champion in workmanship

Tater Bug surprised me by winning Reserve Champion in a very large custom dilutes class.

I also showed in performance, but unfortunately I was one of the only entrants. Performance has been having very low turnout in our region in the last few years, which is really sad. It’s much more fun to show (and judge!) when you have full classes. Unfortunately, in most of  the champ show classes I was only showing against myself.

That said, it was fun to get RoboClop out again- especially now that he is actually done and has his pinto spots. The low turnout also sparked some good conversation about how we can hopefully encourage more people to show performance and hopefully revive it.

PHF Richard Squared in English Trail with my cute new welcome kitty props.

RoboClop in Stock Work

Hopefully the Region 1 Championship Show will become an annual or semi-annual occurrence :)

BreyerWest 2017!

Last year’s return of a BreyerWest was a huge success, and I’m so glad Breyer decided to do it again this year! For those of us on the west coast who can’t make it to the big event in Kentucky every year, it’s really great to have our own awesome Breyer weekend in March!

This year I showed at BreyerWest live on Friday and then was the show steward for the Youth Novice show on Saturday (I wasn’t able to attend BW on Sunday as I had to leave for a work trip).

I had been prepping wildly for the performance division at BreyerWest all spring- I really need to start earlier for next year- and it was a blast to see it all come together. I showed my new horse, RoboClop, as well as my seasoned campaigner Nightfox.

I was particularly excited to show RoboClop for two reasons. Firstly because he is made with a interchangeable mane and tail, which was a really fun challenge to make. Secondly, because the incredibly talented mini tack maker Anna Helt of Dreamflite Designs had made me a goooorgeous western saddle set. I can make passable tack, but Anna’s work is in a whole other galaxy. It’s beautiful, precise, detailed… and fantastically easy to use!

Thank you Anna!

I didn’t have any entries in the Other Performance division, which gave me tie to prepare my entries and chatter away with other showers. My first entry was RoboClop in stock work. I am exceedingly pleased with this set up. I made the fancy gaming bridle and tie down to match Anna’s saddle and saddle pad. The rider is a new variation on my custom riders which better shows the action of a roping scene. In fact, this is the first time ever that I’ve done a roping entry with the horse and calf actually running. I’m also chuffed because at the last minute I realized my existing bell boots didn’t fit ‘Clops, so the one’s he’s wearing here are actually blue tape.

The next class was Western Games. I did a musical stalls set up with RoboClop and used two prop horses to complete the scene. I also adapted my judge’s booth (which I usually use for dressage) to work here, with a ring steward in control of the music for the game.

In the Western Patternwork class, RoboClop did Western Dressage and placed first! Here he’s wearing the pleasure bridle I made to match Anna’s saddle.

RoboClop placed third in Western Trail with a lope-overs set up. The tiki heads are actually pencil toppers that I acquired a while ago at a thrift store and have been using as props every since.

RoboClop placed second in Western Pleasure…

…and third in Other Western with an English vs. Western demo set up.

To my surprise and delight, RoboClop was named Champion Western!

Next up was the English division, which included Nightfox’s debut- in the Jumper/XC/Eventing class.

RoboClop also showed in this class. I wish I’d had time to get his splint boots on (putting two horses in the first English class with a full tack change was not a great plan…) but without them he placed fourth. This picture does show off his switched-out braided mane and tail for English!

Next up was Other English/English Games. RoboClop stepped in as a prop horse for Nightfox’s toilet paper pairs set up.

In English trail, Nightfox placed first with my trail diorama. Alas I only got a cruddy picture:

RoboClop’s final class was Hunter Over Fences. He looks mighty smart as a hunter!

Nightfox was also in Hunter Over Fences but I was getting tired, and the quality and quantity of my photos was decreasing rapidly. I seem to have also missed his entry in Huntseat Pleasure. Nightfox’s last class was Dressage.

And with that he earned Champion English!

For the overall callbacks, RoboClop was named Reserve Overall Champion! Overall Grand went to Sandy Lyles-Sanderson’s beautiful CM Wyatt, Frankly Scarlett.

Wheeeeee! What a fun day. A huge thank you to Erin Corbett for organizing BreyerWest and to Beth Rappleyea for judging performance!

 

NAN 2016: Day 3

Day three of NAN was the quietest day of showing for me, and thus allowed the greatest amount of time for oogling (and some relaxing, since I was pretty dang tired from two big days of showing!)

Since the third day of NAN is for OF Collectibility and China, I wasn’t showing any of my horses. But I was proxy showing a very nice string of OF Breyers for Erin while she judged.

Erin judging a lovely class of China Arabians

Although I only have customized models, there is a weird little part of me that loves Original Finish models, particularly vintage ones. I don’t want to collect them, but I love to look at them and marvel at the hobby history. So day three of NAN was full of eye candy for me- the OF Collectibility rings showcased some of the rarest, most amazing models in existence.

Kirsten Wellman’s incredibly rare blue Fury. Only a few of these are known to exist.

A pristine example of Breyer’s ill-fated “Touchability” box (owned by Kirsten Wellman).

A stunning table of vintage Breyer decorators.

Pinto Family Arabian Foal on a base made for the Ford Motor Company. Owned by Kirsten Wellman.

I enjoyed showing Erin’s lovely collection, which includes some cool vintage pieces as well as more modern models.

Erin’s “ES Thanks, Baby!” is a rare Proud Arabian Foal made for only a short time in 1959.

ES Sir Chalkington III, Esq. is a beautiful chalky Adios made during the 1970’s oil crisis.

These were the first two of these Premier Club models made, and the only ones mounted on a base. They were given away randomly to a luck Premier Club member.

The only bummer about day three was that the hall was FREEZING. It had been cold the other two days, but this was a whole other level. I’m often the person wearing a sweater when other people are in t-shirts, but in this case I was definitely not the only one!

Those of us who happened to have brought blankets (I had one in the van for napping on the road!) wore them around the show hall all day. In my desperation, I’m also sporting a fleece cape that is usually used to wrap models.

Luckily day three showing wrapped up a little sooner than the other days, so I was able to escape back into the wonderful warmth of the Kentucky sun.

Erin’s show string with the day’s winnings.

We packed up and headed back to the hotel. NAN was over, but Breyerfest was about to begin and there was no time to slow down…

NAN 2016: Day 2

After the excitement of day one, I sort of just… floated… into day 2 of NAN. The Day 2 divisions are OF Performance, CM Halter, and AR Halter. In addition to showing my horses, I was proxy showing Erin’s amazing string while she was judging other classes.

My day was a little quieter since I wasn’t showing performance, but I stayed plenty busy keeping track of the various halter classes. In between, I oogled the entries in the OF Performance division.

Showers setting up their entries in OF Performance

Erin’s incredible grumpy pony winning Champion Other Pure/Mix Pony. ES Sir Kix-a-lot was customized by Emilia Kurila. He was also champion in his workmanship class!

Mackenzie Purdy’s beautiful Catarina winning Champion Lusitano/Andalusian. Customized by Tiffany Purdy.

The indomitable Canterbury Trendsetter by Sarah Minkiewicz-Bruenig, owned by Diana Patterson.

FT Misty Memories owned by Kirstina Fortune

While I know that performance is my strong suit when it comes to model showing, I have less confidence in my customizing and painting. Earning top tens at NAN in breed and workmanship was thus extra special and exciting. The caliber of models at this show is breathtaking.

My first win was also my biggest for the day- Mr. L. B. Scuttlebutt won Reserve Champion UK Pony!

Next, Pollyanna Plaudit took a top ten in Other Stock.

After the CM and AR breed classes were finished, the workmanship divisions started. My wins in workmanship are particularly sweet because all three of them were in classes judged by the esteemed Leslie Kathman. Leslie is an accomplished equine artist and a published expert on horse color genetics. For her to deem my work worthy of a rosette was a huge honor.

Salty Captain took a top ten in the Bay/Black Other Scale class.

My wee foal Hovito won top ten in Other White Spotting Pattern.

And finally, my sweet Pollyanna Plaudit went two for two by winning a top ten rosette in Stock Type Appaloosa. Leslie writes extensively on the intricacies of appaloosa patterns, so this was probably my favorite moment of the day!

And I wasn’t the only one having a great day…

Tiffany wearing all of the rosettes won by Diana in the CM and AR divisions. Diana’s stack of plaques was equally as impressive, but not as wearable!