Making it affordable

Have you ever wondered how some people can afford to have so many nice high dollar horses on their show table?

I used to tell myself, "Oh, she must be rich."

Now I know better. If you are sufficiently motivated, there are all sorts of ways to make the hobby more affordable.

None of these lovely Eberl ladies belong to me. They are only here for prepping.

This is one way that I can afford to "buy" expensive finishwork. You would be surprised at the number of painters who will trade quality prepwork for paint. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved and is just one of the ways I've been able to assemble a champagne showstring on a beer budget.

Would anyone be interested in a post about prepping?

RMR miscellaneous show pictures

How many pictures did I take at last weekend's Rocky Mountain Rendezvous live show? I lost count somewhere around three hundred... Even for me, that is too many! I have grown weary of editing them all so this will be the last batch.

This is my good friend Teresa Buzzell judging the tough OF China and Resin Arabian class.

Yay! My Amankhar resin gets a NAN card!
A very nice China Ravenhill.
Moving over to the custom ring, look at this beautiful customized Stone weanling by Sheila Anderson Bishop. So cute!
Sandy Lyle's customized Cigar. This upper level dressage horse was resculpted by Sarah Isherwood and painted by Deb Loveless.
Another one of Sandy's lovely customs.
Two Buxton customs on the callback table. The palomino Flash was created by Cindy Evans. The grey PAM is a Judy Rene Pope piece.
The rest of the custom callback table. I think the look on Karen Gerhardt's face is familiar to everyone who's ever judged a live show--How I am supposed to pick just one?!!This is the one she eventually chose. He is a Breyer Alboroza that was painted by Sheila Anderson Bishop.
Yashka Hallein's table--her China collection is to do for!
Jennifer Scott always brings an in progress piece to work on during the show.
This mustang mare is designed to be a companion piece for Jenn's Sencillo resin.
She has a lovely feminine face. I can't wait to see this one when she's finished!
Sheila Anderson Bishop judged the Stone divisions with a little help from her dog, Tex. I love the fact that he had his dog bed right under the show table!
Tex is such a good dog. He is calm and quiet and never ever lets Sheila out of his sight.
I must have taken a dozen pictures of him over the course of the day, but I think this is my favorite. Poor Tex, he looks so bored!
And that's that. No more show pictures for a while--I promise!!

Mystery saddle

Taking a break from RMR pictures today to share some photos that were sent to me by a reader.Brenda writes: I bought this saddle at an auction. I thought it might be Native American, but now not too sure. Can anyone help me to identify what kind of saddle this is, how old, and if it has value? Think I can take it to the Antique Road Show???
I don't know the answer to any of her questions, but perhaps someone here might.
Please post your thoughts and theories in the comments section!

RMR performance postscript

As we finished up the Performance division at the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous live show, Sandy Lyles told Teresa and that she was adding a bonus class to the division. "Just set up something silly, " she said. "Something you've always wanted to set up but haven't had the opportunity."

Yeah right.

After four solid hours of speed tacking all I could think of was a table full of dead horses and dolls. Fortunately, Teresa had a better idea. We combined her props and documentation...
with my horse and doll and came up with one pretty nifty set up.
Hey Sandy! I think we both deserve another NAN card!!

RMR Stone decorators

I spent the first half of the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous live show racing--racing to get my performance horses tacked up, racing to find the right props, racing to get my resin halter horses on and off the table... Then, almost simultaneously, both those divisions ended, and just like that, I had nothing but time.

Teresa was busy with judging, so I got drafted to shuttle some of her OF horses to and from the show tables. One of those was this pretty blue Flick.

I don't generally spend a lot of time on the OF side of a show hall, but this particular class caught my eye.
I am really, really not a decorator person. I like the horses in my own collection to look like real horses.
And yet, I have to admit there is something appealing about gold...
and blue and green horses!
I always intrigued by horses that have documentation.
You know I love things with stories!
This is the purple horse that goes with story.
Gotta run. I have a puppy rescue person coming to do a home inspection this evening. Intellectually I know that she would have to be crazy not to recommend me, but still... I feel compelled to go mop the kitchen floor. Ugh. I think adopting a child would be easier!

RMR resin halter

Performance may be my first love as far as live showing goes, but Resin Halter is a close second. Unfortunately for me, those two divisions were running simultaneously at the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous live show. I was so busy with the speed tacking, that I hardly had time to glance at the resin table. If not for the help of Teresa and Karen, all my horses would have certainly missed their classes!

The foal division was first. My babies were second and sixth in the Stock Foal class.

Teresa Fedak's Optimes were first and second in the Arabian class. This is the only picture I took during the entire light breed division!
Teresa Buzzell's The Alchemist won the warmblood class and was later named Reserve Champion Sport Breed.
Champion Sport Breed was Sherre Tuley's Justin Thyme resin.
I think the performance judge was taking a bathroom break during the resin stock horse division because I actually had enough time to take a few pictures! This is Jennifer Scott's slightly customized Rose Reiner.
My own Zips Cocco Chip won the Quarter Horse class. Chip is a Valor body with a Phoenix head. He was customized and painted by Tiffany Purdy. Thanks to Teresa for insisting that I bring him!
Here's another horse by Jennifer Scott. This one is an Eberl Octopussy resin.
This Sundance resin was sculpted and painted by Sheila Anderson Bishop.
Close up of the paintwork. Sheila's horses are always full of wonderful little details that can only be appreciated in person.
Another Sheila horse. This El Embosco resin won the mustang class.
Stock Breed Champion and Reserve.
The pony/draft/other equine division was next. My big and little Purdy horses both found their way to the callback table.
BFF was named Champion. Yay! I won another candy bar!
One side of the Overall Resin and Custom Championship callback table.
Another view.
Two horses painted by Sheila.
And the winners are...
Congrats to Teresa Fedak who owns both those lovelies and big thanks to Brab Spohr for judging. RMR may be a small show but the competition is tough!

RMR performance

As it turned out, Teresa and I were the only people showing performance at the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous live show. This might lead you to believe that we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the classlist. Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, this became an exercise in speed tacking. There were seventeen classes in the division and I competed in all but one of them. In twelve of those classes, I showed two models. Somehow, we managed to finish the division before lunch time. It was tack one, tack the other, put both on the table, take them off the table and start all over. I barely had time to breathe let alone think!

Harness was first and White Trash Girl was the only entrant. Not surprisingly, she won the blue!

I skipped the Arabian/Native American Costume class so Parade was next. I really liked the way Trashy's Street Parade entry turned out...
but judge Sandy Lyles liked Emma's costume just a bit better.

Trashy earned another second place with this Other Performance entry.Emma won the Other Performance class with her Endurance entry.
Two blues were good enough to earn Emma the title of Other Performance Reserve Champion.
Trashy won the Scene class with this school horse set-up and went on to be named Other Performance Champion.The first class in the English Performance division was Eventing/Racing/Steeplechase. Trashy's start box entry looked great and won first place.
Poor Emma was plagued with boot issues. The show hall was cold and nothing wanted to stick. Bits fell out of mouths, reins fell out of hands and the closures on Emma's boots wouldn't stay closed. Oh well. Live and learn. Next year I will bring only buckle boots to RMR.
The next class was Hunter/Jumper, and once again Trashy claimed the top spot.
Emma was third out of three, but don't feel sorry for her.
She came back strong to win three of the next four classes including the Other English...
and English Trail.The division ended with Dressage. Trashy's Intro Level test was third...
And Emma was the class winner.
Trashy and her ribbons on the callback table. It's a pretty nice haul, but not quite nice enough!
Teresa's iApp was the English Reserve Champion...
and Emma was the English Champion.
I was really tired by the time the Western division rolled around, and I all but stopped taking pictures. You can see both my trail entries here. I'm not positive, but I think Emma's pole entry placed second and Trashy's cowboy curtain was third.
Trashy tried, but it just wasn't her day as far as Western performance goes. Fortunately, that one red ribbon was all she needed. She's now qualified to show in all three performance divisions at NAN 2011.
Emma, on the other hand, is a performance machine. This mold looks great under saddle and is so easy to set up in a variety of events. If you're looking for an all around performance contender, you can't go wrong with a Jasmine resin. Emma won another rosette in the Western division and was named Overall Performance Champion.
Although I look a bit dazed and confused in the picture, I was really happy to win a glossy trophy model.
Stay tuned for still more RMR photos!