I know it’s been quiet…

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Niki

Honestly, this spring’s show season has been more than a little disappointing.  It’s one of the reasons for complete radio silence from this direction.  Add in being busy at that half-way point with *everything* and therefore having nothing finished to show off…and it leads to a lot of nothing important to write.

But I’m going to cover some of the goings on in this post.

First, this year’s show season.  It started so strong with MITS and really fizzled to the middle.  A rash of poor judging and a couple of very frustrating shows were stuck there in the middle.  Thankfully the spring finished out with Bloomsburg which is a show that is always completely full of awesome (seriously, it is not to be missed).  I showed to Champ Western, Champ English, Reserve Champ Other Performance and Overall Champ in OF Performance.  Then had the pleasure of judging an AMAZING round of CM/AR Performance in the afternoon.

There were some other titles in there. I took Grand Champion OF Performance at Sea to Bay (which I feel was a gift, but one that I will take and run with) and a handful of ribbons at Westminster (which I won’t be dwelling on).  Did okay in English at MAR as well.  All-in-all, it was a very up an down spring for me and not an entirely pleasant experience.

There was also a move in there…..again.

And a serious re-organization of the mess that is my NAN card binders.

Since the re-organization I've expanded to four binders plus the box. I'm not sure if that's progress or not...but whatever.

And the biggest news is that one of my grain horses has come to live with me.  Just in time to go to NAN.

PS FC ISH Cadbury (1/30)

Isn’t he just a pretty, pretty boy?

Of course, the last couple of weekends have shown a marked improvement in actually getting things done and less of that “marking time” feeling that I get when I have a ton of projects going and am just chipping away at them little by little.

I finished a foal halter.

And in that same weekend made this mess go from this:

Look ma! Shiny tiny pieces!

To this:

Cadbury will get to wear it at NAN.  As will 2 of my other ISHs that are going (my beach party judge’s model and my CM).

And just this past weekend I finished up a project I’ve been chipping away at since October.  On Saturday I had it this far:

And by Sunday it was all done and shiny.  Ready for NAN in July.

And speaking of the big event.  My entries are mostly in.  I’m just letting them percolate for another week or two in my brain since I’ve got a few that are borderline and I want to give myself time to pull them or swap them out for a different horses before I finalize things.  I’m going to be taking 71 horse sin 145 classes with another 6 horses in 11 classes going as proxy horses.  I will be a very, very busy girl for those three days.

But the stack of NAN cards being sent with my entry certainly is impressive.

But I figure I have pinched pennies, scrimped and saved, and sold everything I could bear to part with in order to afford this thing.  I might as well do it right.

Just two more shows.  A small fun show at a tack shop next weekend and a bigger NAN qualifier (for 13/14) in June.  Then it’s off to NAN.  Still have jumps to make so all my entries for Over Fences can be jumping or trotting near something.  And I still need to make a halter (or halters) for my weanlings to wear in their classes at NAN.  Going to toy some more with some of these English tack projects I’ve got going as well.  I’m not quite as solid on English tack as I am Western and even that’s a little shaky in spots still (need to do a LOT of work on improving my tooling skills).  But going to give some a try and see what happens.

Perhaps this place won’t be quite so quiet in the next few weeks.

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Whirling Through February

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Niki

I need to remember to write here more often.  I just don’t feel like sitting down most days after everything’s done for the day.

One of the biggest new additions is this girl.

I’ve been looking for this girl since the treasure hunt started.  When the horses first came out I was pretty broke and I only liked one of the three…Thunderstorm.  So, I got her and thought I’d just wait and buy the “treasure” I wanted rather than buying two horses I wasn’t interested in and taking the chance.  Sadly, the horse I wanted was the one everyone else wanted.  I had a new job that allowed me to buy new horses without having eat ramen noodles for 3 months to balance out the cost.  It ended up being cheaper to take my chances.

And I struck out.

Don’t get me wrong, she’s pretty.  And I’ve added her to the show string for the time being because she’s not as bad as I first thought.  She’s sort of grown on me.  That said, she’s still for sale.  :)  I don’t love her quite that much.  And so my search continued.  It seemed like every one that came up in my price range went right before I inquired or had some sort of flaw that I wasn’t willing to compromise about.  And when one would come up for trade I’d again just miss it or not have the horse the person wanted in trade.

It was so frustrating!

And then a couple weeks ago someone posted that they weren’t happy with their girl.  I offered to trade them for anything off my sales list and they actually found some items they were interested in!  And I finally got my shiny rainbowy girl.

Overall though, January was a good month.  I purchased an unfinished saddle from Kirsteen Haley and finished it into this.

I also added some other beauties to my collection on the horse front.  The boy above came to live with me early in January.  He’s a horse I’ve been searching for since I started Performance showing.  Of course an OF would be better, but until one of those rare creatures comes around, the CM is awesome enough.  I’m just thrilled to have one.

I also got my first Design-A-Horse from Stone.

A Few. Christmas. Gifts.

And I picked this girl up for a super price on MH$P.

Then, at the end of the month I took a trip down to Ocala Florida for MITS.  And it was amazing.  The best show I have been to in years. I didn’t intend to make it a yearly event…but the more I ruminate on the experience…the more I want to.

And I did quite well.  If I do say so myself.

Just before leaving for the show I had bid on a CM decorator on eBay.  While I was down there I found out that I’d won the auction.  This guy arrived shortly afterward.

And my newest acquisition is this girl.  I ordered her from Sue Sudekum down at Breyerfest this past summer and she’s been ready since December, but I was still making payments on her.  And just this month I finally paid her off and she got to come live with me where she belongs.

And just this past week in the mail I got these two girls in the mail.  They’re the first two installments of the Breyer Blossoms series.

January and February

However, my biggest news of all is that I’m moving (yes, again).  Tomorrow in fact.  So, wish me luck. Everything’s packed and ready to go.  Just doing up some dishes and laundry.  The parents arrive tomorrow morning to help.

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New Western Saddle

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Niki

Still requires a breast collar and saddle pad but the saddle and bridle are finished and ready to roll.  This was created from a set of carved pieces from Kirsteen Haley so the pattern and the carving/tooling are hers, I did all the dying, cutting out, finishing, and construction.  The pics are missing a few enhancements I’ve added after I took them, such as a keeper on the strap girth connector and faux screw heads on the reins.

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Interesting Couple of Weeks

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Niki

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks. Coming off of the state show there was no time for a breather. 11/5 and 11/6 brought me back-to-back shows, in opposite directions from one another.

First, The Happy Valley Fun Show. I took a modest show string and walked away with Best of English (Enchantment), Best of Western (The Sound of Drums), Best of Paint/Appaloosa (Conch Shell) and Best of Thoroughbred/Standardbred/Warmblood (Halicarnassus).

I followed it up with Anchors Aweigh, where I did extremely well and came away with the following.

The Sound of Drums
– Western Performance Championship
– Best of Western Performance

Amarillo Sky
– Stone Pony/TWH/ASB Champion
– Stone Overall Reserve Grand Champion

But Why’s the Rum Gone
– Breyer Sport Champion
– Breyer Overall Reserve Grand Champion
– Breyer Workmanship Solid Non-Dilute Champion

Fiona
– Stone Foals Weanling Champion
– Stone Foals Overall Grand Champion

Indura Luin
– Stone FC Foals/Pebbles Champion

Objects in Space
– Breyer Trad Foals Light/Spanish Champion

Queen Arachnia
– Other Performance Champion

Serenity
– Breyer Workmanship Composite Reserve Champion

Silver Illusion
– English Performance Champion

It was such a relief to do well after such a disappointing showing at Intermediaire.

Of course, there’s little rest during the fall show season. This past weekend landed me at the Ride for Pride show. Didn’t do quite as well overall, but with fewer classes/divisions, I still did respectably. Don’t Panic was the Performance Reserve Champion and had an excellent showing. Fleshed out the NAN card collections on a handful of horses but sadly, did not qualify anyone new.

I did, however, pick up this girl at the show. Her name is Satin Doll and she’s still on time payments but will be worth every penny, IMO.

Arriving home, I found a box with these two items.

This is one of my great eBay finds. A pristine Meadowbrook and harness (not pictured) plus an Argyle Farms Harness (shown on Heart of Gold). The harness needs a lot of work because nothing at all is skived therefore the buckles were all sticking out and lumpy looking.

The photo is after doing round one of work on the pieces the mare is wearing. I want to finish the bridle and get it fitted, then I plan to soak the whole thing in water and put it on her to mold to her as it dries (wrapping her in cellophane first, of course). Then perhaps some additional skiving on some trouble spots, if the water doesn’t cure them.

I plan to try my newfound tackmaking skills on making my own harness this winter. But in the meantime, I hane a small show on Sat to use it at and I want to have it as a secondary/backup harness.

I’m also tempted to see what I can do with the original Breyer harness to dress it up then I think it will be for sale.

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Where there’s Smoke…

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Niki

…there’s someone being silly.  So, I know she’s not the most amazing performance horse ever.  But she does look cute in the sunflower saddle.  Which is good since the saddle is designed to go on a horse that will be painted to a similar shade of gray.  And yes, there’s no saddle pad.  I iz lazy and the saddle pads are in a box… somewhere.  I’m actually tempted to take her to one of the shows I have this weekend because it’s a fun show and then I can save my better horses for the NAN qualifier on Sunday instead.

 

Eh, none of the pics are great.  It’s too dark and again… I iz lazy and don’t feel like digging out the camera.

Also landing today was my rainbow.  I was so hoping for a clear rainbow one.  :(

Momentarily she’s staying.  I have a friend who is getting her second one and if she gets a clear rainbow (which she already has) we’ll do a trade.  If she doesn’t, I will either have her up for sale or open trades with anyone.  Either way, she won’t be staying here.

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Deconstructing October

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Niki

October has been a wild ride.  The month started off slow but compressed toward the end and ended up being an incredible rush of everything at once.

The month started with the final completion of my newest tack creation.

Only 7 days after finishing the saddle it received a trial by fire at a show and did reasonably well, although not quite as nicely as I’d hoped.  However, that particular show in general was somewhat disappointing so I’m going to skip going into the whole issue here.  I’ve hashed over it more than enough already.

Coming out of that show I finally got to try a new method of removing leather stains from a horse.  I’d used it with dye stains from fabric with success, but never leather dye.  Although I didn’t see how they’d be substantially different.  However, one of my horses came out of the aforementioned show with some significant stains in the girth area.

Thankfully he came out beautifully and his belly is now snowy white once again.

The last two weeks have been devoted to wrangling the State 4-H Model Horse Show into shape.  The show went off reasonably well, despite still working on things like the seating chart and show tags at 11PM the night before.

I even had time to complete a saddle to donate as a door prize, although the bridle isn’t quite finished.  Pictures on the way since I took them with my Mom’s camera and haven’t gotten copies from her yet.  It’s simple, but really quite nice, trimmed all in green.

Started tonight with some inspiration for another saddle.  Theme for this one is fire.

Lots of orange and red.  I gave the remainder of the gold from the sunflower saddle to my doll maker for the doll to go with that saddle, but I may have her measure some of it out and send it back so I have some yellow for a third layer of color.  Or maybe just use the yellow leather stain from the sunflower set.

Not sure if I’ll use both colors of the glitter or just the red and find paint or stain to take place of the orange.  I’ve got awhile before we’re at that step anyway.  I’ve got to translate the sketch into an actual tooling pattern first and decide on things like skirt shapes and sizes.  But it’s a strong start.  Thanks to Pat for helping to spark the inspiration.

And last night while we were relaxing from the model horse show and watching one of the Horsemanship classes I saw this awesome outfit on one of the exhibitors.  The front is basically identical to the back.  I think I have my idea for the doll for my sunflower.  I’m thinking the top (sleeves and above the “belt” on the jacket) will be maroon, the bottom of the jacket and the pants/chaps will be black, and the silver decorations will be the same holographic gold as the decorations on the saddle.  Just need to pass the idea through my doll-maker first, LOL.  I won’t be worked into her order books for a few months anyway so I’m not rushing.  I originally had no idea what I wanted but I just really, really love the jacket from this outfit (would have rather seen a black bottom of over all the red, but the jacket design is so pretty).

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New Rider Joins the Team

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Niki

She just arrived today and she is so adorable.  I have a LOT of work ahead of me to get her to sit right.  I haven’t ever used an in-flight doll before and it’s not the same as the sitting dolls.  I envision a couple of frustrating shows before I get the hang of it.  But she’ll be worth it to turn my amazing pony into something even better!

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Red Rocket puts in an appearance…

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Niki

Came home from work on Friday to find this guy.

I’m not positive he’ll be staying with me for the long run, but since no one seemed interested when I had him up for sale the other week, I’ll show him for awhile and then give it another try.  If he does really way, eh, maybe I’ll show him through NAN and try to sell him at Breyerfest afterward.

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Hmmmm… So, I haven’t posted here in awhile

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Niki

Mostly because I have been crazy busy and haven’t had time.  But there’s been lots of news.  I’ve been to three shows and did amazingly at all three.

The first show was the Trojan Horse Expo.  I judged one of the performance divisions, and therefore did not show performance at all, but it was rather nice, being able to just do halter for a day without having to worry about all the tack and performance junk.  I ended up with two championships for the day.  On in the Breyer Sport Breed division with Halicarnassus (Glossy Salinero) and another in the Breyer Other Breed division with Dexiterity (O’Leary’s Irish Diamond, fleabitten variation).

My next project was to get started with the pleasure saddle I’m making for my Rose Reiner (who is still quite nekkid, sadly).  I had started one awhile back that was supposed to be inspired by Vulcan Calligraphy from Star Trek. Sadly the swirling designs just did not lend themselves well to tooling nor did they bend well around the edges of the saddle skirts.  It has been scrapped for something brighter and easier to create.  It translates better visually as well.

I think the new sunflower design is lovely and I couldn’t resist the addition of the lines of holographic glitter in sunflower gold added the bling that it needed to really sparkle.

Just a couple of weekends ago I attended a Foal show.  Despite being a small show, there were a great many very lovely horses and wonderful showers in attendance.  I did well, taking Champion OF Collectability, Overall OF Champion and Reserve Champion Performance under one of the judges with Mocha Kiss (PS Baby Intrepid) and she then ended up taking the Overall Grand Champion of the show.  I also did well with my CM Northlight Draft Foal by Nan Wagner.  She took Reserve Champion CM Halter, Champion OF Workmanship, and Overall CM Champion under one of the judges.

Sadly, I did not get pictures that day.  I just wasn’t paying enough attention.

Last weekend was the Muncy Minis Show where I did not do quite as well as at the foal show in regards to championships, my herd of minis did spectacularly overall, especially the OF Breyers.  I qualified over a dozen new horses and got additional cards for another 20 horses, some of them also took collectability cards to flesh out their qualifications.  At the end of the day I ended up with a champion and three reserves.

Kaylee’s Wish took champion OF Breyer Collectability and Appropos of Nothing took a reserve under her.  I also took reserve champion OF Breyer foal with A Simple Wish and reserve champion OF Stone Halter went to Silver Illusion, although I did not get a photo of his win.

Along the way in there I added these two lovely ladies to my collection.  I’m keeping the buckskin’s name since she came with a NAN qualification, and I think it’s cute.  Therefore, “It’s Raining Men” she shall remain.  The other girl had no NAN cards so I’ve chosen to name her Sansa after a character in a book I’m reading right now.

And so that brings us to today.  Another lazy, long weekend for me so I spent it working on cleaning up unfinished projects.  The glitter on the saddle was actually just added this morning.  I also finally got around to making the disc stands I wanted for my weather girls.

These will give them enough height on that forward reaching rear leg that they won’t tip quite so easily.  At least I hope.  They still need to be baked and then I’ll get to test them out a bit.  I didn’t want anything too distracting so made them the nice dark brown I used for a base on a mini resin a few months back.  Made them varying thicknesses as well so that if one isn’t working for a girl, I can grab one of the others and try that.

I also finally got around to putting in some more work on the halter I started for my Thunderstorm back in April.  I just needs medallions and it’ll be done.

Apologies for the flash washing the colors out a bit.  The colors in the leadrope over her back are dead on (on my screen at least).  Things just got a little pink on the headgear portion itself.

And after finishing the turquoise and sand saddle pad for with my two-tone flower saddle, I started this one based on a design I saw in a tack shop.  It’s not near done and I’ll be modifying the original design with a little silver threading and fancier wear leathers (the original just has plain leathers with rounded edges, I want to give it the full-length show style) tooled with ribbon designs and inlaid with more of the dark pink color.  Probably add in conchos with two-tone pink “horsehair” tassels as well.  It is very much still in-progress though.  If I can get it done for the performance show in a couple of weeks, I will, but I’d rather get the sunflower saddle done first.

As for tomorrow and Monday?  I hope to get the flaps and fenders of the saddle done, perhaps even some of the construction.  I have already finished the pommel (which also has sunflower tooling) on the tree and the horn.  So, I’d say it’s a good 50% of the way there and aside from a little silver on the front part of the flaps, I’m done with most of the silvering.  I have the pieces for the bridle finished as well, just a couple little touches like the curb chain and reins before that’s done.  I have a performance show in a couple of weeks that I’m hoping to have it finished for.  Not sure who I’m going to show it on (since the Reiner is still nekkid as I mentioned before) but I’d love to take it and put it on someone and see how it does.

If the holographic glitter doesn’t play well with the judge, I’ll have to debate if I want to keep it or not.  It’s all on top of silver so if I want to get rid of it I just need to pull up the silver and redo it, which is why I felt I could take the risk with the glitter.  It was inspired by a saddle I saw at a real horse show last fall.  The silver was decorated with holographic crystals which I hadn’t ever seen before.  I originally wanted to just lay single flakes of glitter down to simulate the rhinestones on that saddle, but the glitter was too delicate and light and the glue was drying far too fast.

We’ll see how it plays and then make a few decisions.

Until then… I’ll leave you with a picture of my cat who seems convinced suddenly that the bathroom sink is the best place ever for sleeping.

Posted in Arabian Halter/Costume, In-Progress Tack, New Horses, New Tack, Show Results, Tack and Equipment | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

At Last, an Update!

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Niki

I know updates have been a bit thin on the ground here lately.  Part of this is due to having a very light show season this spring.  I ended up skipping a lot of shows I would normally have gone to.  A lot of the reason was financial.

But the biggest news is that about 3 weeks ago I was handed a very handsome new job offer.  It’s turned into a whirlwind of packing and moving since the new job requires a relocation.

Especially the last couple of weeks, I’ve gotten very little done in the way of anything model horse.  I have so many in-progress projects but they’ve all be packed up now and moved to my new living space.  I won’t even be able to touch any of them again until next week at the earliest.

The good news on that front is that I’ll have a larger work space and should be able to spread out a few of these and really rip into them.

Until then!

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