BreyerWest Open Show

The first day of BreyerWest is all about the Open Show.

I should have been showing performance, but between Europe, NaMoPaiMo and the fact that most of my favorite performance horses are resins, I just couldn't get it done. Instead, I brought a small herd of custom halter horses...

and High Lonesome.

I was seated by three of my favorite hobbyists: Tiffany Purdy, Heather Roell and Stephanie Blaylock. Since I wasn't tacking horses, I had a lot of time to talk and ogle Stephanie's showstring.

For awhile, I was totally engaged. I put my horses on the table,

cheered for my friends... 

and took pictures of Tiffany's performance mule.

As the day went on, my horses continued to do well,

my friends kept winning...

and the performance entries...

not just Tiffany's!...

were great.

Still, I had trouble staying focused. Distractions were everywhere.

Some were of the cute, four legged variety, but most were NaMoPaiMo related. My phone was pinging non-stop, and I couldn't help but feel that my time would be better spent elsewhere.

I took a break and painted stablemates with Angelo.

That helped a little, but not enough. 

I returned to the show in time to take pictures of the Overall Performance Champions...

Overall Performance Reserve Champion, Teresa Buzzell and Overall Performance Champion, Tiffany Purdy

and...

Overall Custom Halter Reserve Champion, owned and customized by Stephanie Blaylock

the Overall Custom Halter Champions... 

Overall Custom Halter Champion, customized by Amanda Brock and owned by Heather Malone

Like all of Erin Corbett's shows, the BreyerWest Open Show was a really well run event with good prizes and great judges. I wish I had enjoyed it more, but I've definitely learned my lesson. Half measures are never satisfying. Assuming there is the same NaMoPaiMo/BreyerWest conflict next year, I will either go all in and show performance or skip the show entirely.