Field of awesome

I know I sound like a broken record with the "Anne Field is awesome" thing, but really, she is. She is awesome and organized and scary efficient. If you don't believe me, here's the proof: Just four days after the conclusion of her very successful Field of Dolls Online Show, I already have my prizes in hand.

And these prizes are amazing. This grouping is - I think - door prizes, plus maybe some championship prizes.

Since miniatures are hard to photograph in a group setting, here's a better look at some of the items. I think all of these except the dice were donated by Hannah Clark. They're all fabulous, but I am especially charmed by the keys, solo cups, balloon dog and mittens!

Here are my individual class prizes.

The minis were awarded in the regular performance classes. The cocktails are the equivalent of a blue first place ribbon. Pink drinks are second, dice are third, cake is fourth, succulents are fifth and books are sixth.

The ribbons represent placings in the Specialty/Scene division. 

As the Overall Champion shower, I also received a Horsiemama Haversack from Lynn Isenbarger, a fancy lavender rosette and a gift certificate for a custom doll.

This was an awesome show, and Anne Field is an awesome show holder. Thank you, Anne, for everything!

The perfect date

Except for a little bit of pain at the injection site, I feel just fine today. That's a good thing because today is April 25...

and I had a date with the perfect date.

The weather was also perfect, so Mary Jo and I rode out past the 6th Avenue Extension bridge.

We splashed through the Psylk's crossing and rode back along the top for a little bit.

Then we dropped down into the riverbed.

The riverbed is more like a lake bed right now.

So much water!

This was a perfect ride...

And April 25 truly is the perfect date!

Field of Dolls results

Yesterday I drove down to Colorado Springs to get my second Covid vaccination. 

I was feeling pretty good about things right up until I wasn't. The last twenty four hours have mostly been spent in bed with the dogs.

I did rouse myself to watch the results show for the Field of Dolls' Online Show. This was supposed to be a live stream, but recent changes to Facebook turned it into a video chat room.

Everyone got to see me in my miserable, frozen glory before I figured out how to kill the camera. Ugh.

Fortunately, it was worth it. I had a really good show and won the Overall Champion Shower title. That's two in a row for me, so instead of showing in Anne's fall show, I will be judging. I'd also like to hold some kind of performance showing clinic between now and then. I don't know what that will look like, so if you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments section.

And with that, I'm back to bed. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Throwback Thursday

Long before Braymere Custom Saddlery was even a twinkle in my eye, Linda Spiesschaert's Kitchen Table Stables was setting the standard for hobby tack.

Linda Spiesschaert in May 2015

Like most hobbyists, I was introduced to her work through this 1985 article in Just About Horses. I can not tell you how many hours I spent mooning over these photos and wishing that someday I might own something half that exquisite.

Linda passed away earlier this year, and her daughter has been tasked with dispersing her collection. It's a big job, and to make things easier, a lot of the goods have been sold via estate sales. Ruth Sheridan kindly offered to pick up a few items for me. I really wanted an Arabian costume, but those were gone, so instead, she scored me a big bag labeled "Tack Patterns." 

The bag arrived in Colorado today. Here's what it contained.

This 1982 issue of Nutshell News was chockfull of vintage hobby goodness.

There were articles about model stables, model carriages, remaking and...

tack. 

Oh, what a treat it is to see full color photos from this era!

Other publications included this 1995 booklet on tack making by Lillian Ryan-Shupe.

Most of the instructions are extremely basic by today's standards, but there are some fun projects in there.

These tack making flyers are undated and unattributed, but kind of remind me of extremely early Rio Rondo instruction booklets.

The rest of the bag was made up of Linda's actual patterns.

Most of the pages were for doll clothes, rather than tack.

However, there were a pieces with saddle patterns.

The decades old tracing paper is extremely fragile. I'm glad they're all safely tucked into page protectors.

I absolutely love this neat overlay of pattern pieces. What a great look into Linda's artistic process!

The envelopes contained more English saddle pattern pieces.

This one actually includes most of an unassembled classic scale saddle.

This tiny saddleseat girth with its perfectly shaped handmade buckles is the only finished piece of tack in the bag. It's not an Arabian costume, but I will treasure it anyway.

Thank you again, Ruth, for sending these things my way. I am so happy to own them and look forward to giving everything a more in depth look when I have more time.

Sweet Onion SheNANigans

Two of the photo shows in which I'm currently entered are being judged this week. The Field of Dolls show is hosted on SmugMug, so we won't know the results until Anne announces them on Saturday.

The other show - Candyland Photo Show - is being held on PonyBytes.

One of my favorite things about PonyBytes is that entrants get to see the results in real time. I've been logging onto the site several times a day to see how my horses are doing. So far, so good!

Here's a show I entered recently where my horses didn't fare so well, at least not in the standard performance classes.

I'm not complaining. The competition was tough, and sometimes the judge just likes other people's entries better. Congratulations, Danielle!

I did do really well in the fun classes, and Rune was the Overall Resin Champion.

Here's my loot.

Thank you for a fun show, Shana Bobbitt! Now excuse me while I go refresh PonyBytes!

Mountain trail obstacle at Bolender Horse Park

In 2018, Logan Shortridge wrote a guest post about the National Mountain Trail Championships, which are held each fall at the Oregon Horse Center in Eugene, Oregon. Today she's back with pictures of some of the obstacles at Mark Bolender's Bolender Horse Park in Silver Creek, Washington, where she is working as an intern. Thank you, Logan. I can't wait to see where you go next!

Mountain Trail Obstacles at Bolender Horse Park

by Logan Shortridge

A while ago I wrote a guest post showing off the mountain trail obstacles at Oregon Horse Center. Today I am writing a follow up to inspire my performance showing friends to be more creative with their trail entries. Model horse trail classes are often dominated by standing or walking models and basic arena obstacles such as poles and gates, but with mountain trail courses like those at Bolender Horse Park, we can use do so much more!

Want to show your Northern Tempest? Mountain trail! Itching to use O'Leary's Irish Diamond in a set up? Mountain trail!

Mountain trail goes so far beyond a typical arena trail class. From haunch turns on the swinging bridge to dismounting your horse onto a rock in the middle of a pond. If you can think it, it can be done.  

Horses are expected to walk, trot, and "cantalope" through the course, back up, go up and down hills, stop on a dime, and make it look effortless. 

And for my prop making friends? If you've ever wanted a fountain in your trail set up, there are three on course! 

Bridges, angled balance beams, rock mazes, and so much more! 

Want to try to build a cake box? 

A Texas two-step? How about the pinwheel? This is your opportunity to go crazy.  

If you needed inspiration to build something new, or use your favorite model in performance I hope this post could help! And if you want pictures of any of the obstacles to build let me know and I will happily take more pictures of the course!