Painting Party day twenty four

The first day of BreyerWest is all about the Open Show, which is not of particular interest to me. Instead of spending the entire day at the National Western Stock Show Complex, I sent Tiffany off by herself, and I am catching up on a few things at home. One of these is the International Model Horse Painting Party.

I opened up the group's Facebook page, and the first thing I saw was this beautiful piece by Anna Dobrowolska-Oczko.

Anna writes: I did it! I painted this Stromness sculpted by Eva Rossiter. It's a gorgeous sculpture of a warmblood mare, and she was a pleasure to paint. I'm pleased with how her color came out! It seems like I choose a chestnut for my Namopaimo horses almost every other year.

Congratulations, Anna. Stromness is spectacular! 

As fate - and the Facebook algorithm - would have it, the next horse I saw was also created by a Netherlands based hobbyist. This is Leah Peretz' finished Lola. 

Leah writes: I did it! NaMoPaiMo 2023 (old style) is in the books! 

I absolutely adore Lola, sculpted by Josine Vingerling, and I am very pleased with how she came to life. She was painted primarily in airbrushed acrylics, pastels, hand-painted acrylics, and colored pencils.

Congratulations, Leah. I adore her, too.

Keep it going, everyone, or at least everyone who isn't here in Denver! This is a short month, and there's still so much painting to do!

Opening ceremonies

Today was the unofficial first day of BreyerWest.

I should have spent the morning panic cleaning, but instead, Piper and I picked Angelo and her dog, Soot, and we went to the barn.

This was Soot's first time meeting a horse.

It went about the way you would expect.

So much side-eye.

It's okay, Soot. Olive loves you even if you don't love her.

We went back to my house to chill for a little bit, then it was back in the car and on to the airport.

Piper and Soot rode in a big puddle in Angelo's lap.

As ridiculous as it was cute.

The airport was really full, but weirdly, we had no trouble spotting Tiffany. 

Angelo had other plans for the evening, so I took her and Soot home, while Tiffany freshened up a little. Then we got back in the car and met Heather, Christine, Jackie, Stephanie and Heather for dinner at our favorite Pho place.

This was a really fun way to kick off BreyerWest.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Ready and not

Officially, BreyerWest starts tomorrow.

Unofficially, BreyerWest begins whenever the out of town people start arriving in Denver. 

That's already happening.

Or not. So sorry, Shauna. It's going to be so much less sparkly without you here.

Later this afternoon, I'm driving out to the airport to pick up, Tiffany.

I am not ready.

My house is a disaster, the fridge is empty and I still haven't bought my Expo ticket.

The only exception to my general lack of preparation is my swap meet sales pile. 

Earlier this week, Teresa Buzzell, came over, and we spent an entire morning organizing, identifying, pricing and packing.

looking up run info on Identify Your Breyer

It was a long and somewhat emotional day. As much as I want to pare down my collection, it's hard to say goodbye to these models. Some of them have been with me for a long, long time.

Thank you so much, Teresa, for helping me through that. It's going to be so nice to show up at the swap meet on Saturday with everything ready to go.

And now it's back to panic cleaning... and maybe buying that Expo ticket!

Worth it

Every morning, I drive to the barn to spend time with Olive.

Sometimes I ride her.

Sometimes I work her in hand.

Sometimes I turn her out and take pictures.

It doesn't matter how hot or how cold it is, every day I check on her, move her and feed her.

And every day, I'm glad I did.

This morning was really cold. As I sat in my driveway, watching snow fall on my windshield, I asked myself if this was really necessary. "You can miss a day every now and then," I told myself. "This is BreyerWest week. Tiffany arrives tomorrow, your house is a mess, and you have a million things you need to do. Olive doesn't care. When you turn her out, she's just going to stand in the corner and do nothing. This is stupid. Turn off the car and go back in the house."

I almost did it, but in the end, I just couldn't. I drove to the barn, haltered Olive and led her to the paddock. I took the halter off, and she went and stood in the corner.

I knew it.

Then Reece showed up and put his little mare, Saphira, in with Olive. 

Mutual grooming ensued.

I started to feel better about my life choices.

Then Olive decided to roll.

She jumped to her feet and took off.

And then it was ten minutes of pure chaos.

I watched until I was frozen, and she was quiet again. Then I put her put her back in her stall, hugged her around the neck and gave her her supplements.

It was way too cold and I was way too busy to go to the barn this morning, but I'm glad I did. That was totally worth it.