Olive's pony ride

Erin's daughter, Olive, is perhaps the cutest non-Buxton baby ever.

I have "known" Olive via social media since before she was born, but I hadn't met her in person until BreyerWest. She did not disappoint.

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Oregon was witnessing Olive's first real pony ride.

Olive was a little hesitant at first.

She looked at the pony...

and looked at her mom...

And then, before she could say no....

Erin lowered her into the saddle.

"Horsey!" 

They went around...

and around. 

"Wave for the camera, Olive!" 

"Or ride with no hands. Whatever."

By the end, she was really getting into it. 

Good job, Olive! Next stop, the Olympics!

Real horses at BreyerWest

BreyerWest was held in conjunction with the Northwest Horse Fair and Expo, so it's no surprise that my weekend in Oregon was filled with real horse as well as models.

Friday was the Open Show. I was judging, so I barely had time to breathe, let alone visit the arena or stable area. 

Mmy schedule was much less crowded on Saturday. This allowed me to spend some quality time outside watching horses.

I especially enjoyed the Quarter Ponies,

 none of which were Quarter Horse colored.

The star of the group was Smokin' Doubledutch. This tobiano mare has a stellar show record in multiple disciplines, including halter, trail, driving, English and equitation.

She's also a Breyer horse! 

I took lots of pictures of her...

and her harness!

Because, you know, I never miss a chance to add to my reference files!

My favorite pony of the group was the Appaloosa gelding.

I have a serious soft spot for varnish appaloosas, so I took lots of pictures of him, too.

Both sides...

plus detail shots. 

Sunday, I walked through the barn area with fellow hobbyists, Sandra Gibson, Meredith Conrad and Lesli Kathman. 

This was so much fun.

photo by Sandra Gibson

The Canadians...

 loved on the Canadian horses.

I found the Quarter Ponies... 

and spent some time with my Appy friend. 

photo by Sandra Gibson

Meredith almost got eaten by an Icelandic... 

photo by Sandra Gibson

and Lesli took lots of pictures. 

This is no surprise. Lesli literally wrote the book on horse colors, so she is always on the lookout for unusual colors and markings.

Even on tiptoes,

photo by Sandra Gibson

Lesli wasn't tall enough to photograph this Fjord's dorsal stripe. Fortunately, Sandra was there to help out!

The models have have been center stage, but I enjoyed the real horses of BreyerWest nearly as much. This was a wonderful, horse-filled weekend!

Almost Wordless... Thursday?

It's been twenty years since I worked on the big time hunter/jumper circuit. I'm happy with my current life, but part of me will always miss the horse show world. Perhaps that's why I love Susan Parker's Winter Equestrian Festival pictures so much. They remind me of all the good things about that life. Thank you so much to Susan for allowing me to share this second helping of WEF photos. Enjoy!