Posing with Pearl

This week has been busy and also cold, so I haven't spent a lot of time in the saddle. 

I did ride Santana on Wednesday, but the rest of my barn time has consisted of short turnout visits for Pearl.

Pearl lives in a stall, so she really appreciates these.

Snort!

Today was a little less busy, and also a little warmer. Pearl and I enjoyed a nice ride in the ring, after which I snapped a few selfies.

It was at this point that I learned that Pearl's selfie game...

is really, 

really good! 

Awwww. I think she likes me. 

I like her, too.

So lucky to have this big, sweet girl in my life!

Advent update

On the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh days of Christmas, my best friend gave to me...

one tiny tote box,

ten little stickers,

three rail fence,

Kinderstrudel's baby...

and a plastic saddle with attached blanket!

The official one week  advent calendar loot photo. So cute!

Carol goes back to Germany today. Safe travels, my friend. I miss you already!

Easter eggs

My favorite colors - at least in the context of model horse showing - are blue...

and pink.

I admit it: I like winning.

When I am preparing my entries for a show, I always take the judge's preferences into consideration. For example, if I know someone likes outhouses, I will probably build her an outhouse jump. I am considerate that way.

However, I also know that the most important judge is me. Regardless of placings, I really want to like every one of my entries.

To that end, I often add little touches just for myself. Sometimes these are subtle, and I'm pretty sure no one but me notices them. Other times, they're kind of obvious. At Battle of Breeds, Mieka was my Easter egg.

She showed up in no less than four classes.

In some, she was an important part of the set-up.

Other times, she was barely visible. 

Either way, I was happy every time I put her on the table.

Performance showing is hard, and no one wins all the time. Whatever you can do to make it fun is worth doing. Hide those Easter eggs!

Clash of Colors Amateur Artist division

Last Saturday's Clash of Colors live show had ten halter divisions, most of which I missed entirely. That's what happens when you show fourteen models in performance.

Eleven of fourteen on the Callback Table

The only halter classes I paid attention to at all were those in the Amateur Artist ring. 

part of the Amateur Artist grey class

Clash of Colors was the third Colorado show to field an Amateur Artist division this year. This makes me extremely happy, both as an amateur artist...

two Braymere babies

and also as an advocate for painters of all skill levels.

Alex Aarons' 2018 NaMoPaiMo horse

I showed several horses, including my 2018 NaMoPaiMo project, Maeve, who went to the ring with her "I Voted" sticker attached to her halter. Oops! Fortunately, the judge had a good sense of humor!

Here's one... 

two... 

three views of the Amateur Owner Championship Callback tables. So many pretty models! 

The Champion Traditional/Classic rosette went to Fabian Rodriguez's Catalina...

with my 2017 NaMoPaiMo model, Agatha, in Reserve. 

 Fabian's other Catalina won the Champion Mini title...

finishing just ahead of this nice black Stablemate.

Congratulations, Fabian, and thank you to all the showholders who have supported amateur artists this year. It makes me so happy to see these classes flourishing here in Colorado!

Battle of Breeds, part four

For the longest time, I had absolutely no idea what to do for the Other performance class at Battle of Breeds.

Then one day I was looking at the horses on my shelves, and it hit me...

Dead horse performance!

Thanks to Kristian Beverly, my 1:9 scale, 3D printed skeleton has his own nameplate halter, but I'd never considered him a viable performance candidate. Then again, I'd never imagined a breed-based performance show!

Immediately, I went to work building him a 1:9 scale museum display.

I could have stopped there, but that would have been boring. 

Instead, I decided to build a scene reminiscent of a horrific middle school field trip.

There was food. There was touching.

There were drinks.

There was more food and more touching.

There was a dog.

There was even George Morris taking a selfie.

There was all of this, and it was awesome.

Thank you, Renae Keller, for making breed-based performance a reality. This was the most fun I have ever had showing performance. I can not wait to do it again!