Emmalia's BCC entry

I was part of the three-judge panel that selected the winners of the 2022 BreyerFest Best Customs Contest.

Before we chose the winners, we had to choose the finalists, using the photos they had submitted. That was hard. There were so many beautiful entries, and also, so many entries that were probably beautiful but were not photographed well. I can not tell you how many times one of said, "This probably looks better in person, but it's impossible to know with these pictures."

Of course, the Best Customs Contest is not a photo show. But also, you can't judge what you can't see. I can not overstate how importance of clear, well-lit, in-focus photos.

Emmalia Sebusch got that memo.

Take a look at these gorgeous photos of her 2026 Excellence in Performance entry.

This is how you make it on to the table in Kentucky!

Emmalia writes: Skijoring is one of the oldest and most thrilling winter sports. The horse pulls a skier with a tug rope attached to the saddle. Skijoring is a Norwegian word that means “ski driving”, which was originally a mode of transport in Scandinavia, and it later evolved into a competitive winter sport across Western America. Hosts of the events will create the ski jumps out of snow, and also outline the pathway for safety with colored spray paint. A typical course can feature red posts that are called gates, and ski jumps while the horse takes off and the skier attempts to hit every gate, every ski jump, and also stick the landing. The fastest time wins! My diorama depicts a skier taking off of a jump while being pulled along by her teammate.

Emmalia's model started out as a Breyer Nazruddin. Here's a pictorial overview of his creation.

Congratulations, Emmalia. Your horse turned out great and these are perfection. Good luck at BreyerFest!

Jennifer's BCC entry

There are a lot of Jennifers in the model horse hobby, and more than a few of us make tack. This includes Jennifer Arsuaga, who shares these photos of her 2026 BreyerFest Best Customs Contest Excellence in Tacking Making entry.

Jennifer writes: I was inspired by the colors of the designs for this year's Breyerfest theme and made my own pattern for the blanket. 

Everything is hand made - embroidered blanket, 

over two hundred tassels,

braiding...

and cowrie shells.

I'm not sure how long it took me, other than a long time. I worked on it whenever I had time for the past year.

Congratulations, Jennifer. All the time and work really paid off. It's a beautiful costume. Good luck at BreyerFest!

Brenna's BCC entry

They say good things come in small packages, but in the case of  Brenna Rantala's 2026 BreyerFest Best Customs Contest Excellence in Finish Work entry, the more accurate statement would be: Impossibly exquisite things come in teeny-tiny packages.

This is not a traditional scale Wixom, my friends. It is, in fact, a Mini Whinny.

Brenna writes: Painting micros is currently what is bringing me the most joy in this hobby, and I wanted this year's contest entry to reflect that. 

I have been thinking about customizing a micro Wixom with as much detail as I could manage for a while now, and after playing around with my micro dappling technique over the last couple years -including the last two NaMoPaiMo's - it finally felt like it might be the right time.

Brenna's 2026 NaMoPaiMo horse 

She is painted mostly in oils, and I've tried to add some additional depth and details that aren't included in the sculpt, particularly around the face.

I'm really pleased with how she turned out... but I would have loved one more month to really finesse her tiny details!

Congratulations, Brenna. And I can honestly say I don't think you needed another month. This piece is phenomenal as is. I literally have never seen a little rubber horse look so good. Amazing work and good luck at BreyerFest.

Joanna's BCC entry

 Today's first featured BreyerFest Best Custom Contest is Joanna Bechtel Chronister's Kito.

She writes: This is Kito. He is a Pseudomelanysm Bruchelli Zebra. I entered him in the Most Extreme Custom division.

His name means Jewel in Swahili.

He’s based off of a real zebra in Kruger National Park.

I’ve been fascinated by pseudonysm in zebras since I saw him.

Kito started as an Idocus. I removed his mane, tail, head, neck and ears. Then I resculpted all that plus  part of his head.

Congratulations, Joanna. I, too, have a picture of this zebra in my reference files, so I love seeing him realized in model form. He is every bit as neat as I'd imagined. Good work and good luck at BreyerFest!

Barn party

Every year since 2022, barn buddy, Linda, has organized a barn party in June.

The first year was just food and dress up.

literally, the only thing Olive would wear

Since then, things have gotten a little more exciting.

We still have food, of course.

Everyone loves food.

But now we have obstacles, too.

Tulio and Kat

A whole arena full!

This year's obstacles included a Bozo the Clown punching bag,

Princess and Ris

a cowboy curtain,

Guaranteed and Diana

a rattley drag bag,

Sage and Jennifer

some hula hoops,

Pebble

Angelo's inflatable kangaroo...

Dango

and zebra,

Domino and Ruth

ground poles,

Rhaena and Nicky

a tarp,

Breezy and Giselle

an umbrella,

Humvee and Greg

a walk through...

Gambler and Linda

and, of course, the giant blow up unicorn.

Everyone takes turns going through the course with their horses.

Guaranteed, Kalypso, Halston and Sage with Diana, Julie, Anthony and Seth

It's a little bit chaotic...

Spanky and Issica

and a whole lot of fun.

Summer and one of her students

Sadly, this will be the last party with this particular unicorn.

There was an incident, which did not involve either Sage or me...

actually innocent

and the party ended with a burial.

Goodbye, friend. You served us well.

Despite - or perhaps, because of - everything, that was a truly epic barn party.

Gambler, Linda and Diana

I can't wait to do it again.

Sage, too.

All we need is another unicorn!