Hold the NAN cards

Last Sunday there was a model horse show in Grand Junction, Colorado. I did not attend, but other people did. In fact, the turnout was the biggest in the history of this particular show. Pictures from the hall showed a distinct lack of masks and social distancing. 

You might think that this is an outlier, that most people would know better than to attend a model horse show during a pandemic. Sadly, that is not the case. In the last three months, there have been numerous shows in numerous states, with more planned in Oregon, Illinois, Minnesota and Texas. I don't know how to stop it, but I do know this: These shows should not be NAMHSA (North American Model Horse Show Association) sanctioned. 

My friend, Erin Corbett agrees. Earlier today, she wrote a proposal asking the NAMHSA board to stop sending NAN cards to shows. I hope everyone involved in the showing part of the model horse hobby will take the time to read this. If you agree - and you should - please reach out to your NAMHSA rep and ask her to support this motion. 

A Proposal for the NAMHSA Board

by Erin Corbett

I would like to see the board formally consider putting an indefinite hiatus on awarding NAMHSA qualifying status. In a nationwide pandemic, gatherings are not safe, and continuing to approve shows gives tacit approval of gatherings by NAMHSA. One of the challenges we all face right now is how to tell when things are safe enough to resume normal activities, given the extreme disparities in how local municipalities are addressing the virus. Using the guidelines being followed by many healthcare organizations to determine resuming normal operations seems prudent. I propose NAMHSA begin approving shows again when the following criteria are met:

• When there are no states in the United States that ban gatherings of over 10 people AND,
• When there are no states in the United States that mandate wearing of masks outside one’s home AND,
• When there are no states in the United States with mandatory quarantine periods after travel to any other part of the United States
• OR
• When there is a vaccine available reliably nationwide

The above data points are available daily online, and I recommend the board evaluates them every thirty days to determine if it’s safe to resume the approval of shows.

Riding Mozelle

Last December, my barn friend, Teresa, pulled two saddlebred mares out of a kill pen and brought them to Kenlyn. This one is Molly...

and this is Mozelle.

There's been a lot of rehab - especially with Molly - but both mares are thriving now. Recently, Teresa has started saddling Mozelle and taking her for walks. Mozelle has been extremely well behaved, but without knowing her history, Teresa's been a little hesitant to climb aboard. I guess I'm braver or stupider because I volunteered to do the honors. Today was Ride Mozelle day.

Based on her overall demeanor, I didn't expect fireworks, but you can never be too careful. Teresa held her while I mounted.

She was fine. 

Then she took me on a little pony ride. 

Mozelle was still fine. 

Next we decided to take off the training wheels. 

Mozelle was still fine. 

"Good girl, Mozelle." 

That was really fun. Next time I hope Teresa rides her, too!

Why I'm not showing this weekend

A few years ago, Teresa and I drove up and over the mountains to attend a show in Grand Junction, Colorado.

We met up with Fabian and Kiersten for dinner and had the best time walking around downtown Grand Junction.

The next morning, we got up bright and early and headed over to the show hall.

Formal Attire was the Champion of a small but tough performance division, just besting his brother owned by Teresa.

Hoka Hey was also a big winner in the halter division. It was a really fun day.

After the show, we had another group dinner, and the next day, Teresa and I drove back over the mountains. There were eagles. It was fabulous.

The entire weekend was a perfect mix of gorgeous scenery, great companionship and plastic ponies. It was the best of the Before Times.

I would love to do that again, and I suppose I could. There is, in fact, a model horse show in Grand Junction this weekend.

It's not the first show that's taken place since the pandemic started. There have been plenty of others in Colorado, Wyoming, California, Utah, Texas and Kansas. To the best of my knowledge, no one has been infected with the corona virus at any of these shows. That's good, but it doesn't mean it's safe. Because really, it's not safe.

Yesterday the United States recorded its four millionth case of Covid-19. The CDC predicts there will be thirty thousand new Covid related deaths between now and August 15. Colorado is doing better than some states, but we still had over six hundred new cases yesterday alone.

I understand that we can't hide in our houses indefinitely. People need to earn a living, and some risks are unavoidable. But let's be honest, no one needs to go to a model horse show. Plastic ponies aren't worth dying for.

I know we're all tired of the corona virus, but we can't just wish it away. Please find another way to get your model horse fix. Enter a photo show, set up a Zoom call, schedule a socially distanced outdoor visit with a local hobby friend.

If you really do need to attend that show, for the love of all things plastic, please wear a mask. I love you all, and I really want us to be able to get together again on the other side of this. Until then, stay home, stay safe.

Flynn's nose net

2020 is - among other things - the year of the mask.

It's fitting that my newest ride, Flynn, is also a mask wearer.

His mask is actually a nose net. It's a fine nylon mesh nose cover that Velcros onto the noseband and helps reduce head shaking. These are fairly common in the hunter/jumper world and have been discussed here before, but I've never had such a good close up picture.

Plastic horses don't usually shake their heads, so this probably isn't something that needs to happen small scale. You never know, however. Performance showers love their specialty tack and, you know, this is the year of the mask...

Flynn rider

Between Lucy and Stealth, all my trail riding needs are covered. I could not ask for two better horses to ride down the trail.

They're not arena horses, however, and lately I've really been wanting to ride in the ring. I put the word out, and one thing led to another and then that led to Flynn.

Flynn is a sixteen year old, sixteen plus hand thoroughbred gelding. His owner is currently third trimester pregnant so I'll be filling in until she's ready to get back in the saddle. I am optimistic that this will be a perfect situation for both of us.

I've already ridden Flynn twice. He's a nice, well trained horse with good gaits. 

I am  looking forward to spending the next couple months looking through his adorably floppy ears!

Catty

I was scrolling through Facebook a couple weeks ago, when I spied a photo of a gorgeous assortment of model cats on Sara Bowman's page.

It was love at first sight, so I sent her a message asking where she'd found them.
Since I know you wondering the same thing, here's the scoop. These are Cats of Osamu Moriguchi by Art in the Pocket. They come from Japan and are available from various eBay sellers.
Their size is a little bit on the big side of 1:9 scale spectrum, but they fit in just fine with their larger Breyer, Schleich and Mojo counterparts.
The timing of this purchase was fortuitous, because I just recently purchased one of Nichelle Jones' miniature cat accessories sets.
And since I don't do anything halfway, I'd also put together most of her cat printables.
I made the package of cat litter a little bigger because I have so many cats. Even this is not nearly enough.
The only things I didn't make were the cat food cans. Those were kind of fiddly, plus I already had these big cans in my cat stash.

Here's a look at (most of) the cat stash.

Thank you for the heads up, Sara. These are really nice cats! Thank you also to Nichelle, for supplying these nice cats with food and other essentials.

Culture not costume

When I was a kid, "Indian" costumes were commonplace. You saw them on Halloween, and they were a staple of horse show costume classes. No one - at least no one in the white mainstream culture - thought there was anything wrong with them.

Halloween Costume class, Eaton Canyon Riding Club 1985

Well, when you know better, you do better. This is 2020. Everyone should know better, including model horse hobbyists. In today's guest post, my good friend, Fabian - whose heritage is Lakota Sioux and Spanish - sounds off about something that's been bothering him for a long time. Thank you, Fabian, for sharing your viewpoint and wisdom. 

My Culture Is Not A Costume

by Fabian Rodriguez

Amazing performance showers and show holders alike, may I please have your attention. Let's talk about costume classes. When I hear costume, I think Halloween theme and something fun. What I don't think of, however,  is my culture. My culture is not a costume. Let’s move in the right direction and call this class what it is: Regalia!

photo courtesy of Thomas Yellow-Horse

The photo below is a costume, and I as a performance judge see this as oppression and racism.

Charlotte Casiraghi at the 2012 Paris Masters International Jumping Competition
Photo credit Getty Images

In this next photo, I see a story of hard work in creating traditional regalia for a significant purpose.

photo courtesy of Thomas Yellow-Horse

So please. When announcing your next classes that pertain to Middle Eastern, Asian, indigenous peoples culture let’s start using the correct term to identify the class.

Horse regalia at the Denver Art Museum

Let’s celebrate and explore from the back of a model horse how to accurately represent another nation's customs and traditions.

Christie Richardson's Regalia entry at the Jennifer Show 2019

“Performance showers! Please set up your regalia class!”