Laura's BCC entry

They say everything's bigger in Texas, and that might be true, at least in the case of Laura Skillern's BreyerFest Best Customs Contest Performance entry.

Laura writes: I've been working on this idea for several years. I originally started working on it in 2017 and it's taken me that many years to create this piece exactly as I envisioned it in my head.

In addition to making the custom horse (formerly a Rugged Lark), 

the mules (two Marwaris)... 

and the donkey (a Cantering Welsh Pony), 

I customized and dressed the doll,

built the diorama, 

made all the extra creatures from the tarantulas...

to the owl family...

to the dog,

and made all of the tack.

The horse is a portrait of my late mare, Spicy. 

It's taken a lot of years for me to get to a point where I felt comfortable even thinking about her, let alone painting her portrait. Spicy was my first proper reining mare. She was registered with the AQHA as Miss Caliente Kid, a seven year old mare by Torijac Kid out of a daughter of King Of Four Mac. She was a total pocket pony who loved people and attention. She was big, soggy, and gritty, all while being sweet and cuddly, everything you could ever ask for in a foundation type mare.

I bought her after a string of really bad horse luck. It's a long story, but the end result was I'd lost my nerve. I didn't trust new horses. I was a heartbroken wreck, but Spicy came into my life at just the right time. She was patient, sane, and safe. She helped me start to get my feet back under me. 

I only had her for a few months before she colicked. We did surgery. She seemed to recover for a few weeks but ultimately colicked again. She wasn't a good candidate for a second surgery. Under my vet's advice, I said my goodbyes and put her down. 

After all of this, my trainer told me honestly that she didn't know why I didn't quit horses after all I'd been through. I still don't know the answer to that. I'm glad I didn't because I bought Simon the next year. I guess the only way forward for me was through.

My time with her was brief, but I got back into showing with her. I fell in love with reining and ranch horse showing because of her. I jumped again and rode bridleless and became a better rider despite how short our time together was. Completing this portrait was rewarding in and of itself. It's nice to have a small little version of my mare with the matched set of bobby socks.

Congratulations, Laura, on seeing this through to completion. It's a huge project, exceedingly well done with sentimental meaning and tarantulas. Literally, who could ask for anything more?