Jose

Suddenly I have too many things to blog about. There's still a lot more to say about Springamathing.

photo by Heather Roell

And you know? I never actually got to the end of BreyerWest either.

photo by Sandra Gibson

Looking forward, there's exciting news on the Models in the Mountains front...

and donations for the Jennifer Show continue to delight and amaze.

photo by Rachel Fail

And just look what happened today!

With such an embarrassment of riches, it's hard to know what to blog about... So let's talk about Jose.

Tiffany sent Jose to Colorado so that he could hang with me at Springamathing.

This is the second time he's visited Colorado, but until today, I've never managed to look past his cheesy poncho-ed exterior... 

Wow! There's a really nice doll underneath the mustache! 

I might even be able to put this guy to work. 

Watch out, MEPSA. Jose is in the house!

Springamapeople

There was a time when I would regularly come home from a live show without taking a single people picture. No more! 

Alison Martin, Collyn Richmond, Marissa Bodenhausen & Kiersten Schmieding

Now I will literally chase people down to take their photo.

Collyn & Allison

Ha ha. Gotcha, Collyn.

 Collyn skipped her high school graduation to attend Springamathing...

Alison & Collyn

and we were glad she did. 

Dana D'Ippolito, Marissa & Collyn

Don't roll your eyes, Dana! We were all glad Collyn chose us! 

Dana, Marissa & Collyn

This is the father and son team of Bernard Rocha and Fabian Rodriguez... 

and the mother and son team of Sklyar and Heather Roell.

Some of the other Springamathing attendees included Dayle Steinke...

and Teresa Buzzell.

The Clinky Show attendees included Yashka Hallein, Heather Malone...

Yashka & Heather

and Marilyn Jensen.

Heather & Marilyn

Speaking of Marilyn, she brought the most wonderful china collection. This is Fabian with her custom glazed Knut.

The Colorado hobby group is pretty small, so it's always nice to see new faces in the show hall. I was especially happy to meet Hilary Schwafel, who has painted several horses for me. 

It was also nice to meet Shelly Nelson, who judged the performance classes. 

The quality of this next photo is terrible, but I kind of love it anyway. I was so worried that our first post-Jim Springamathing would be quiet and sad, and there were some moments like that. Mostly, however, this was a fun show. This picture reflects that.

Dana

Thanks to everyone who posed for my camera on Saturday. I love you guys!

Springamathing Western performance

The first class of the Western Performance division at last Saturday's Springamathing live show was Western Games. I had three ambitious, multi-doll entries for this one, and I was worried about changing all that tack and setting everything up in a timely manner. Fortunately, all that practicing really paid off. Everything went together smoothly and easily, and my efforts were rewarded with first...

and second place.

Lady Liberty's Donut Race entry didn't make the cut (this show only placed to third), but I was pleased with it, nonetheless.

The cattle classes were next. I knew these were likely to be zero or one entry classes, so I put Schutzengel on the table for both Cutting...

and Other Stockwork.

As the only entry, she won Cutting but had to settle for second in Other Stockwork behind Fabian's sorting entry.

Onto Western Trail! This was another good class for me, with Schutzengel winning first...

and Lady Liberty placing third.

Fabian's Knightly Cadence won the Western Pleasure class,

with sweet little Schutzengel in second...

and Lady Liberty in third.

The last class of the day was Other Western. Schutzengel won this with her Western Dressage set-up.

She went on to win the Western Performance Championship...

and the Overall Performance Championship. Teresa Buzzell's Gem Twist was Reserve. Hurray! 

Thanks so much to show holder, Heather Roell and judge, Michele Nelson. I had a great time showing performance at this year's Springamathing. I hope I won't have to wait another two years before I get to do that again!

Springamathing English performance

The English Performance division at Springamathing started with three over fences classes.

Three times I sent Liam out... 

and three times he placed second... 

photo by Kiersten Schmieding

behind Teresa Buzzell's Gem Twist.

Of course, they weren't the only horses in those classes. Fabian's Knightly Cadence made an appearance...

as did this cute mini. 

Teresa's reign of terror didn't end with the jumping. She won the saddleseat class with her Stone Saddlebred. My Lady Liberty was second and Shutzengel was third. 

The tide began to turn in English Pleasure. 

Schutzengel won this one... 

and also English Trail. 

Liam added a fourth red ribbon to his division totals... 

and Lady just missed the cut. 

Onto Other English! This time it was Schutzengel who didn't place. 

Lady was third,  

Liam was second... 

and Teresa's Gem was victorious.

Schutzengel won the Dressage class... 

giving her three blues and one yellow for the division. That was good enough for Reserve Champion honors.

Top prize went to Teresa's Gem.

Western is next!