Laura's BCC entry

Nobody has won the BreyerFest Best Customs Contest more often than Laura Skillern. 

Nobody.

You'd think this would make her complacent, but no. Year in and year out, she just keeps pushing, making something new, something interesting, something memorable.

This year, she turned a big lick Tennessee Walking Horse into a leaping Appaloosa.

As one does.

The Making of Noon Moon

by Laura Skillern

This is Noon Moon, my 2025 BreyerFest Best Customs Contest entry in the Most Extreme division.

When I was in high school, I borrowed a book of Bev Doolittle’s paintings from the art room and kinda sorta forgot to give it back. I still have it, and I still pull it down sporadically to admire her work.

It was in the same condition when I "borrowed" it

A decade later, a genetic study was published showing the semi-leopard looking horse paintings on the cave walls of Pech Merle were depictions of real wild horses and not fantasy. My first thought was “Bev was right.” Not only were these paintings close to real life horse colors, they were even set against a background of dark spots perfectly matching their coat color. 

The idea of spotted horses as the ideal camouflage for a snowy landscape has lived rent-free in my head ever since. This year, I finally got a chance to bring this image to life.

Since I was entering the extreme division, I wanted to start with the least likely body I could find. I told this to my friend Sommer, and she pulled out her body box for me to rummage through. When she pulled out a chalky era Midnight Sun with a broken ear and a vague smell of cigarette smoke, I knew he was exactly what I was searching for. 

To make this custom an even bigger challenge, I decided to cut out his sides and mash them back together to make my custom. There was no practical reason to do this. I just thought it would be really funny.

It turns out, yes, I was right, and this was objectively hilarious. 

My final result is a model who’s the opposite of the original model. He’s an Appaloosa instead of a Tennessee Walking Horse. 

He’s a loud semi-leopard instead of solid black. 

He’s sproinging instead of gaiting. 

And he’s even barefoot instead of wearing stacks. 

In honor of his opposite nature, I gave him an opposite name. Instead of Midnight Sun, he’s Noon Moon. Which is also very silly to say out loud, and I will not apologize for it. 

Noon Moon is also in part inspired by an Appaloosa gymkhana horse I used to know. 

He helped me regain my confidence at a time in my life when I was close to quitting riding for good. I was able to get back into the saddle and confront my fears thanks to him.

Congratulations, Laura. Regardless of actual results, Noon Moon is another winner. Good luck in Kentucky!