Best Laid Plans

Before I post a full show report for Tornado Alley Goes Hog Wild, I'd like to post a little bit about the happenings leading up to these shows.

Originally, this was a double-show being hosted by Jacklyn Catena and Jessica Sneeringer as part of Jacklyn's "OkieMo" show series.  Jacklyn was planning on having a show in Oklahoma City nearly every month, many of them specialty shows.  But Tornado Alley/Hog Wild was going to be a full show with OF and CM/AR Halter and OF/CM/AR Performance.

Shortly before I learned about the OkieMo shows, I had seen a listing for Lemmonade Live, a show taking place in Magnolia, TX on April 26th.  Google maps told me it was about 7 hours away from Little Rock, which I figured was doable.  I marked it down on my 2014 Shows calendar.  Probably a couple weeks later, after being accepted in the OkieMo Facebook group, Jacklyn made the announcement that Tornado Alley/Hog Wild would be held.. the same weekend.  I replied that I wished I could make it, but I already had planned on going to Lemmonade Live that weekend.  Jacklyn left me several replies about how I'd be much better off coming to Tornado Alley/Hog Wild since a) Oklahoma City was only 5-5.5 hours away from me and b) it was a double-judged/double-show rather than a single show so I'd have double the chance at NAN cards.  As I hadn't paid an entry fee for Lemmonade Live yet, I decided to change my plans and attend Tornado Alley/Hog Wild instead.  When entries for the double-show opened, I paid in full.

Tornado Alley/Hog Wild wasn't until the end of April though.  In the meantime, there were two other OkieMo shows, one of which I planned on attending (the other was a Mini Halter only specialty show, so I was going to skip that one).  28 Days After Christmas was originally scheduled to take place in mid-February.  Again, I paid in full as soon as entries opened (they were limited and first-come-first-serve).  Shortly before 28 Days Later was supposed to take place, Jacklyn and Jessica both announced that they were withdrawing their NAMHSA membership status for all of the OkieMo shows.  By now, Lemmonade Live was sold out.  (Jacklyn eventually completely cancelled all of the OkieMo shows and then deleted the Facebook groups as well.)

Understandably, I was disappointed.  While model horse shows are fun in and of themselves, if I'm going to take time and money to travel to a model horse show, I'd like it to be a NAN-qualifier so I have a chance at earning some of those coveted pink, green, and yellow cards.  My entry fees were refunded for all of the OkieMo shows promptly, and the option to still attend them just for fun (and for free) was still on the table.  My disappointment didn't last long though, because Lyn Norbury stepped up to host both shows shortly after.  She announced this on February 10th, and announced that instead of being in Oklahoma City, the shows would be held in Owasso, OK.  Again, I paid my entry fee for the double-show early (February 11th), and sat back and waited.

On February 19th, Lyn announced that she had secured a showhall in Owasso, OK.  The show hall was in a Best Western hotel, and entrants could also get a special room rate of $74 per night.  On March 13th, Lyn announced that she had changed the show location, and the shows would now be held in at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center by Marriott in Tulsa, OK, where entrants could get a special room rate of $89 per night.

On March 26th, in the midst of a heated NAMHSA Database System debate, Lyn announced that she would be changing the format of the show from an EMCAT/tag show to a card show.  At this point, I was very frustrated with all of the changes, and not being a fan of card shows at all, especially not for such a large, DOUBLE show, I asked Lyn what her refund policy was.  (Meanwhile, Lemmonade Live had also moved to a bigger show hall across the street from its original location, and was open for more entries again.  I was thinking it might be a good idea to switch my plans and go to Texas instead of Oklahoma.)  Lyn said she would not be able to give me a refund until possibly after the show when she could see if she had made a profit or not, and even then, no refund would be guaranteed.  Because I didn't want to waste my $65 entry fee, and because Sheila Bishop made a generous offer to let me travel and stay with her for the show, I decided I'd still go after all.  After a few back-and-forth emails between Lyn and myself, we agreed to disagree about some of the issues and changes, and Lyn even asked for my input for some additional Performance classes which she added to the official class list on March 29th.

On Sunday, April 20th, less than a week from the show, Lyn sent out an email to (most of) the entrants to let us know that she had changed the class list.  The email stated that a "tentative" expanded class list would be put into use for all of the OF and CM/AR Traditional/Classic scale Halter classes (originally the classes were Stock, Sport, Light, etc but now they would actually be Quarter Horse, Paint, Appaloosa, Arabian, Part Arabian, Morgan, etc).  While it was a much better class list, it was another change, and very last minute at that.  I redid my class list and included quite a few more Halter horses to show.

Sheila and I left Arkansas on Friday, April 25th and arrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma in time for dinner.  We went to bed really unsure of how the show would unfold the next day, especially since there was still only one judge listed for the Performance division.  Being performance junkies and the Performance division being our main reason for attending the show, we were nervous about what it would mean to not have a second Performance judge on showday.  Luckily, a volunteer judge was found the next morning during the hour and a half set up time before the show.  There was also a last minute change to the judge's roster for the CM/AR Halter division - Tracy Rogalla, the original judge, was a no-show (she apparently forgot about the show?), but luckily Jessica Sneeringer stepped up to judge in her place.

By the time the show started, I thought there wouldn't be any more last minute changes.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  Breyers and Stones were separated for the OF Traditional/Classic Halter division, and as the first Stone class was called, it was announced that instead of using the expanded class list for the Stones that was used for the Breyers, the original non-expanded class list would be used.  Because of class limits, this meant that I couldn't show about half of the Stone horses I brought unless I wanted to pay an extra $2 per horse.  If I had known that the Stone classes wouldn't be following the expanded class list, it wouldn't have been as frustrating - I just wouldn't have wasted the time and space to pack and bring them, and wouldn't have wasted the index cards and printer ink for them.

Although the show started promptly at 8:30am, we didn't finish until almost 10pm.  The whole day felt rushed and unorganized, but after earning three Reserve Championships and a stack of NAN cards, plus getting to hang out with Sheila, the weekend wasn't a total waste.

Pennyroyal won two Other Performance Reserve Champs

Full show report soon!

(and the tl;dr version : The show had many changes leading up to it - and on the day of - that added up to a lot of frustration for me, but in the end I had a good time and it was worth going.)

Quiet on the Blogfront

I've been pretty quiet here on my blog because I either haven't had too much that I felt was worthy of a blog post - or at least, if I did have something worthy, I didn't have the time (or energy) to post it!

I went to a double-show in Tulsa, Oklahoma this weekend and got back home at around 3am this morning, so I've been spending most of the day resting and recovering.  But hopefully soon, I will have a show report written up to post and share.  In the meantime, I'm starting to upload photos from the show to a Facebook album which you can find here.

Anyway, I'm going to make it a goal (among other things) to actually update this blog more frequently, even if it's just tiny little posts to check in here and there.

Midwinter's Night Ball - Show Day #2

Finally, the last installment of my show report for A Midwinter's Night Ball!  Once again, my apologies that it's taken me so long to do a simple show report blog post.  Life has just been crazy!

So, when we left off, I was rejoicing in my very modest Performance winnings, and the OF Halter winnings that had so far made the show worth attending.  To be honest, there was a part of me that considered skipping the second day of the show altogether.  My collection doesn't include many customs or resins, so my halter line up for Day 2 was pretty small.  After a not-so-stellar day of CM/AR Performance, I was wondering if there was any point in even trying my hand at OF Performance.  The thought of a leisurely ride home early was sort of tempting... but in the end, I figured I shouldn't give up and instead I decided to do what I came there to do - SHOW.

I did decide to take a more leisurely approach to the day however.  Although the show hall opened at 8am and classes started at 9am, Rob dropped me off closer to 9:30am after we enjoyed breakfast together in the hotel.  I was figuring that things would be slow moving as they had been the previous morning, but when we got there, all three Performance Harness classes were already in full swing, so I jumped right into getting my first entry of the day, Class #4 Showmanship, ready.

Arrietty, my DAH seal bay "English Pleasure" Palouse won 2nd Place (out of 5 entries) in Showmanship!

When I came back to find a shiny red ribbon and a pretty pink NAN card next to my horse, it was definitely a good start to the day!

The rest of the Other Performance subdivision was pretty good for me as well.

Kiss Me Kate filled in for Arrietty in the Other Performance - Competitive class since I didn't feel up to the tack changes that would have been required.  She scored 1st Place (out of 3 entries) - not bad!

Arrietty won a 3rd Place (out of 5 entries) for Other Performance - Non-Competitive & Scene.

The next Performance subdivision was Costume, and again I sat out since I don't have any costumes.  I also decided to skip the Western subdivision since I really don't have the right tack to be competitive, especially not in Texas!  But that was ok really, since it meant I could take my time and focus on getting Arrietty in the tack I wanted her in for the English subdivision (I had to do a bridle change after realizing that the one she wore for Other Performance didn't have long enough reins for the doll to hold them properly).  I took lots of time to adjust the rider doll juuuuuust (hopefully) right as well, which I think paid off in the end!  I also had time to wander around and admire everyone else's entries, which I love to do.

The Western subdivision ended right before lunch, but since I wasn't showing during it, I had actually already eaten by the time everyone else took their break.  So, while everyone else ate, I set up my English entries in the Performance ring - there were markers for the first four classes, so I set up everything I could minus the horse from all but the first class.  Then I could sit back and relax - so I thought!  Lunch ended, and the English judging began at a quick pace.

Arrietty won 2nd Place (out of 6 entries) in English Games - off to a good start!

I decided to "cheat" a bit and left my Huntseat rider on for my Cross Country entry.  As fast as the judge wanted the classes to be moving, I knew that taking her off for Cross Country and then having to put her back on for the next class and spend a bunch of time *hopefully* getting her sitting and adjusted properly again just wasn't worth it.  So the rider stayed on, even if she wasn't dressed for a proper Cross Country set up, and I still won 1st Place (out of 3 entries)!

Arrietty won 2nd Place (out of 5 entries) in the Jumper class - proving that with proper documentation, a trotting horse CAN successfully be shown as a show jumper.

And another 2nd Place (out of 10 entries) in the Hunter class.  I was quite pleased at this point!!

The classes were really flying by (turns out our Performance judge had a plane to catch!) so most of my afternoon involved making sure I had as many performance scenes ready to go as space allowed, and then moving my horse from one entry to the next with minor tack changes in between.  I only had a few horses in the Halter division, so I only had to make a few trips here and there to the other end of the show hall.  But my mind was totally focused on the Performance..

Arrietty only managed a 3rd Place (out of 11 entries) for my simple Arena Trail set up.

She bounced back with a 1st Place (out of 4 entries) for Natural Trail.

Impressively, Arrietty won 1st place (out of 8 entries) in the English Pleasure - Sport Type class!

 It was at this point, that I started doing a little math in my head... It seemed to me that I was doing pretty well by now.. and that in most of the classes, the blues and the NAN cards were going either to Arrietty or to Christie Partee's mare Color Me Pretty.  I wondered how our ribbon counts would add up in the end...

Another 1st Place (out of 7 entries) for Arrietty in Dressage.

And we finished out the division strong, with another 1st Place (out of 3 entries) for Other English.

It was finally the moment of truth.. English division call backs.  Color Me Pretty had already been sitting on the callback table with 5 blue ribbons beside her while the Dressage and Other English classes finished up.  But the last two blue ribbons put us on top for sure, and Arrietty won English Performance Champion!

Five Blues, three Reds, and one Yellow earned Arrietty the OF English Performance Championship!

If that wasn't amazing enough.. the Overall Performance callbacks were next.

Christie Partee's Color Me Pretty was the deserving winner of the OF Performance Grand Championship (she had won Costume Champ, Western Reserve Champ, and English Reserve Champ).

And Arrietty won... OF Performance Reserve Grand Champion!

I was truly amazed at how well I had done in OF Performance - it really was well above my best expectations for the day.  I really felt like I went up against the Big Competition and was able to hold my own, which means a lot to me.  :D


By the time the Performance division was finished, my halter horses had finished their classes as well.  There wasn't much exciting to report there - I only had four entries in the Custom division and six entries in the CM Mini division.  The best I did there was my CM Stablemate Mule to a Zebra won 2nd Place, two of my CM Ponies won some 3rd places, and my CM Mini Morgan that I painted myself won 6th Place in Breed and 6th Place in Workmanship which I thought was pretty spiffy considering I had painted him about 16 years ago when I was just a kid.

I also sadly didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked as the day went on.  I was tired and rushing through Performance entries, and often the only chance I had to take pictures was of my own entries to document my placings.  But anyway, all the photos I took from the show can be seen on my Facebook album here.

So, I'd say my first time showing at a Big Texas Show was a success.  Plus, it was a lot of fun, and that's what really matters!  I'm definitely looking forward to coming back to A Midwinter's Night Ball next year!

Midwinter's Night Ball - Show Day #1

Sorry for the delay in updating this blog again and getting on with my Midwinter's Night Ball show report.  I'm currently taking three classes this semester in college, one of which is an 8 week (aka, intensive) course online, and the amount of schoolwork I have right now is sort of kicking my butt.  But anyway, let's continue with this show report, shall we?

When we left off, Rob and I were retiring for the evening on the Friday night before the big show.  The next morning was an early one.  Rob drove me to the show hall by 7am so I could have more time to fret and worry set up before my classes started.  The original plan was that he'd just drop me off and then go back to the hotel room to sleep some more, but because of my anxiety level, he stayed at least an hour or so to keep me company.  He's a good sport.

Since it was a two day show, the divisions were spread out so that the Original Finish Halter classes were all on Saturday with the CM/AR Performance classes, and the Original Finish Performance classes were on Sunday with the CM/AR Halter classes.  This also meant that Saturday was going to be very hectic for me, since I had a lot of OF models to show in Halter and had two horses that I was entering in a majority of the CM/AR Performance classes.

Knowing how tough my competition was in Performance, I was actually really happy that Epiphany earned a third place ribbon in my first class of the day, Showmanship.

Epiphany in a Hunter In Hand showmanship entry.

Epiphany also won another third place in Other Performance - Scene/Non-competitive.  No NAN cards for this division, but I was pretty happy considering what we were up against.

Fine/Pleasure Harness entry owned by LoGeana Anderson.

Showmanship entry owned by Christie Partee.

Other Performance (Competitive) entry owned by Val Tudor.

Other Performance (Scene/Non-Competitive) entry owned by Charlotte Martin.

I sat out the next Performance division, the Costume classes, since I don't own any costumes yet.  It was one of my favorite divisions to ooh and ahh over all the pretty horses and tack though.

Next up was the Western division.  Western is not really my strong point.  I'm not and have never been a Western rider, and to be honest, most of what I do know about Western events, I've learned from model horse shows.  I don't have many Western tack items, so I'm sort of limited in which classes I can participate in until I save up and invest in some new tack.  I also don't have any Western rider dolls yet - although hopefully soon I will, since I won a free Western doll by Lyn Norbury in a raffle at Hog Wild Live last year (I just still haven't decided on a style/design to ask for yet).

That didn't stop me from entering Ruby Slippers in Western Games and Reining (with a "Freestyle Bridleless Reining" entry.. since I don't have a bridle appropriate for a regular reining class).  However, she didn't place in the ribbons at all.  We were in Texas after all, and Western riding there is a big deal, both in the real horse and the model horse worlds.

Ruby Slippers in Western Games.

Ruby Slippers doing some Freestyle Bridleless Reining... you can't blame me for trying.  :P

The great thing about attending a show like this is that I learned a lot about what IS competitive, was able to take a lot of pictures of winning entries (including close-ups of properly fitted tack, riders, and other details), and learned about some new events that I might research more in the future to try for my own entries one day.  I also learned that maybe it would be a better idea to skip Western Performance showing in Texas until I have better tack.  ;)

The last Performance division of the day was English - my favorite!  I am an English girl at heart and have ridden real horses in hunter, jumper, dressage, cross country, and sidesaddle.  I've never been very interested in showing real horses though, so again, I've learned a lot about specific types of classes and levels through research done for model horse showing.  Despite my passion for English Performance, I'm still not what I would consider at a super competitive level, since I'm in need of better tack and props than I currently have.  Most of my tack is what could probably be considered vintage at this point, and while I've slowly been adding to my tack and prop collection (including making what I can), I still have a ways to go.  I'd call my current assortment of tack and props Live Show Quality, but not Top Live Show Quality.  I was able to buy my first LSQ huntseat rider doll recently though from Anne Field, and I was excited to try her out at Midwinter's for the first time.  I also put a lot of work into my documentation and some new props I made, but despite my efforts, unfortunately my results in the CM/AR Performance division were only lackluster.  Epiphany was out of the ribbons for our first class, English Games, then won 6th in Hunter, 6th in English Arena Trail, 4th in English Natural Trail, and 5th in English Pleasure (Sport Type).  Ruby Slippers was only in two classes - Cross Country where she placed 2nd and managed to earn her first NAN card in English (there were only two entries in the class.. but still.. she got her NAN card and that made me happy darnit), and Jumper where she placed 4th.

Ruby Slippers in a Preliminary Cross Country set up.  I modified a Breyer tiger trap jump for this one.

Epiphany winning 6th place for a Handy Hunter entry.

4th Place in Natural Trail.  I made the base, yay.

Epiphany in Training Level Dressage.  The fence and marker (which is mostly hidden behind her leg) were made by me.

I admit, even though I was expecting the competition to be tough and to get my butt kicked, my Performance results on Saturday were a bit of a downer.  The saving grace of the day though was that I actually did pretty well in Halter.

I mostly showed Stone models, Design-A-Horses in particular, which, much to my delight, had their own division!  I was pretty impressed with the number of Halter divisions in general, with separate ones for Breyers that were Runs of 500+, One-of-a-Kinds/Test Runs, Runs of 61-500, and Very Limited Runs of 60 or Less; and separate ones for Stones that were Runs of 61+, One-of-a-Kinds/Test Runs, Very Limited Runs of 60 or Less, and DAHs.  There were also separate divisions for Breyer Minis (Little Bits, Stablemates, and Micro Minis) and for Stone Minis (Pebbles and Chips).  This was also my first show that was double-judged for Breed and Collectability/Workmanship, which I thought was pretty awesome (and now I wish all of the shows I plan to go to were like this).

My non-DAH Peter Stones, most of which I've picked up second hand in the last year, did pretty well.

Sense of Pride won 1st Place Breed and 4th Place Collectability in the OF Stone (Runs of 61+) European Warmblood class.

Silver Belle won 1st Place Breed and 3rd Place Collectability in the OF Stone (Runs of 61+) Other Sport/Spanish class, and then won Sport/Spanish Breed Halter Reserve Champion.

Strawberry Wine won 1st Place Breed and 1st Place Collectability in the OF Stone (Runs of 61+) Quarter Horse Mares class.

Penelope won 1st Place Breed in the OF Stone (Runs of 61+)  Other Pony Breeds class and then won Pony Breed Halter Reserve Champion.

All of my Design-A-Horses did well too and all won ribbons, with the exception of four of my Design-A-Chips.  The DAH division had unlimited entries, and I took full advantage of that, especially for the DAH Sport Breeds class since most of the DAHs in my collection are Palouses and I show most of them as some sort of sportbreed or warmblood.  I think it would have been better if I hadn't entered so many though, since the class didn't get split as I was hoping it would, and the placings seemed a bit more random and each of my horses in the class only won a ribbon for either Breed or Collectability, not one for each like most of my other horses in other classes.  Still though, I was VERY happy with all of my winnings in the DAH division.
Here are some highlights (I won't bore you with pictures of ALL of my horses' winnings.. plus I didn't get pictures of all of them).

Amaleki won 2nd Place Collectability and 5th Place Breed in the DAH Arabians class.

Foxy Lady (a OOAK FCM Palouse) won 1st Place Collectability and 2nd Place Breed in the DAH Morgans/Other Light Breeds class.

Norther Native won 1st Place Breed and 2nd Place Collectability in the DAH Morgans/Other Light Breeds class.

Chick A Dee (a OOAK FCM Palouse) won 1st Place Collectability and 3rd Place Breed in the DAH Gaited Breeds class.

Firefly won 1st Place Breed in the DAH Sport Breeds class.

Anjolie won 2nd Place Collectability in the DAH Sport Breeds class.

Willoughby (designed by Sara Kucharski of PawPrints Saddlery) won 2nd Place Breed and 2nd Place Collectability in the DAH Stock Breeds (Solid) class.

Gold Charmer won 1st Place Collectability and 2nd Place Breed in the DAH American/Mixed Breeds Pony class.

Dun In Style won 1st Place Collectability and 3rd Place Breed in the DAH Longears/Other Pure/Other Part Breeds class.

My little guys swept the DAH Unicorns/Pegasi class.  Falcor won 1st Place, Figment won 2nd Place, and Fantasia won 3rd Place (all Collectability since fantasy equines aren't eligible for Breed Halter).

My big winner for the day was Osh Kosh!  She won 1st Place Collectability in the DAH Foals class, and then went on to win OF Stone DAH Collectability Halter Reserve Champion.

While I much prefer Performance showing to Halter showing and feel a higher level of accomplishment when one of my horses wins at Performance than when they win at Halter, I was still very glad to do so well in the Halter classes on Saturday.  Like I said, it really made up for my disappointment from my Performance placings (or lack thereof lol).

The show day ran pretty late, and I was glad to go back to the hotel, get off my aching feet, and get some much needed rest that evening.  Rob and I decided to skip going out to dinner with everyone else, and actually left when my horses' classes were done even though there were a few other classes (maybe China or Mini classes, I can't remember now) still finishing up.  As much as I would have enjoyed another chance to socialize with people over dinner, I was just exhausted.  It was a good day though, and I'm glad I gave everything my best shot.

Since this post is long enough, I'll end it here for now and continue with my show report for the second day of the show in a separate blog entry.  :)

Also, if you're interested, all of my pictures from the show can be seen in my public Facebook album here.  Enjoy!

Everything's Bigger In Texas...

...Including the model horse shows!  I went to A Midwinter's Night Ball in Georgetown, TX this past weekend, and wow, what a show!  This was my first time at MWB, my first time showing in Texas, and my first BIG horse show (except maybe since going to Breyerfest as a kid).

I knew going into this show (and was warned by friends as well) that this would be a big show and that the competition would be fierce, especially in Performance.  Region 5 is already known for being a tough Performance region, but I think Texas represents the pinnacle of Performance showing.  I've managed to hold my own at the Mid Ark Model Horse Expo every year that I've gone, and each time managed to come home with some sort of Champion or Reserve Champion rosette - but I wasn't kidding myself going into this show, and was fully expecting to get my butt kicked.  Not only have I been out of the hobby for several years until recently, I still consider myself an amateur/budget shower.  I've slowly been investing in nicer tack and props, but much of my set ups is still self-made/modified and/or not top of the line.

I felt like I was rushing the whole way through my show prep - there is just never enough time for me to feel ready and stress-free before a show.  I wound up remaking a lot of my documentation as well as my explanation cards and tried to make them as neat, well-researched, and professional as possible.  I might not have the most expensive tack, but at least I could try to make my documentation top notch!

Rob and I left Little Rock around 6:30am on Friday morning to make the seven hour drive to Georgetown.  He did most of the driving, and I tried to catch up on some of the sleep I had missed from staying up late to pack.  It was an uneventful trip, and we made it safely to the hotel that afternoon.  After resting a bit and reorganizing, we headed to the show hall.

The show hall seemed ENORMOUS and packed with competitors and models.

A view of the show hall from my table in the back corner.

A view of the show hall from the halter showers' end of the room.

I was getting pretty anxious at this point (yay for social anxiety... not).  After picking a table in the Performance showers' area, I got my horses unpacked and my area arranged the way I wanted.  I started browsing some of the other tables and all the lovely horses and intricately-detailed tack and props... and then I started to get very anxious.  But, I had done all I could, and the only thing left to do was show and try to have a good time anyway.

The Palouse Pony Parade was ready to go.  And Rob kept himself occupied.

The rosettes were so lovely!

More lovely rosettes and prizes for the Grand Champs and Reserves.

A girl could dream, right?

Rob and I went out to dinner with a large group of other showers and the hosts/hostesses and judges.  At first I wanted to just go back to the hotel and get dinner on our own, but I decided that going out with the group and hopefully chatting with some of them might help break the ice and calm my social anxiety so that talking to people during the show would be easier.  We wound up sitting at a table with two of the show hosts/hostesses, the MC, and one of the judges.  Everyone was very nice and welcoming, which made me feel a lot better.

It had been a long day, and the next two days were going to be long as well, so Rob and I retired to our hotel after dinner and tried to get as much sleep as possible that night.

I'll post the rest of the show report later!