NAN 2012 Eye Candy

I did not take as many photos as I would have liked at NAN this year, and later I will share why.  I did, however, capture a few real favorites, which I am sharing today. Most of these pieces were new to me. I now realize that I should have also tried to capture some favorites that I had seen before, so I will need to do that next time.  It was fun to identify some of these with much thanks to the NAN photographers who documented the Champions and Reserves on the NAMHSA website. On to the photos...

When I saw this beautiful piece I had to look closer. 

Was he haired? No, but the mane was painted most wonderfully to look like real hair, even up close!  It seems that this horse wowed the judges too. I discovered his photo in the NAN results pages. He took the Grand Championship in CM Workmanship Traditional and Classic Greys.  He is identified as Poetic Justice customized by Sommer Prosser. He is owned by the lucky Betsy Valley. 

I don’t know who painted this horse, or what mold he is (Schleich? Safari?), but the finishwork is wonderfully realistic. Look at all of the colors in the coat!  Can anyone identify the artist or owner?

Here is another dapple grey that is painted in a unique style, falling outside of the manner in which this color us usually depicted. Isn't he soft looking? I would love to know the name of the finishing artist on this piece too. 

This is the very famous Sugar Beet owned and customized by Debra Omel.  Many will know him as the donkey with the incredibly detailed Italian cart. I always wanted to see him unhitched. He is just as cute as I expected. Check the photos on the NAMHSA site to see this donkey taking the Reserve Championship in Harness with his cart.  He also took a top ten in his breed class without it! 

I snapped a couple quick pictures on Tuesday when we stopped by the show hall to pick up our packets. The first is just too fun not to share. Check out these little swimming calves: 

I believe that this prop was made by D’Arry Frank. I have seen some of her other water props involving swimming animals, one with customized stablemate ponies on pony penning day, and another with terriers. D’Arry cuts the little animals in half horizontally before pouring the artificial water around them. 

I fell in love with this Tiffany Purdy custom. Look how tiny she is compared to the traditional horse in the background. Doesn’t she look adorable in her perfect little tack set? 

Steph Michaud paints the most gorgeous, mesmerizing dapples. I was pleased to get a close-up of her work on this Bogucki “Equus Maximus” resin.

I wish I had taken a photo of the whole horse, as the rest of him is just as stunning as the close-up. Visit the Michaud Studios website to see more of him. 

I needed to hurry my forays to the center of the room.  I had the very last table at the far end and it was a long walk to make back and forth as the classes were called. This next photo is a view of the room from my table. Notice how tiny the people look at the far end of the room. 

Next up we have an exquisite Eberl resin painted by Jeannine DeCuir. “Cornelia Marie” took the gold cookie in AR British non-draft class.  I believe this piece took a championship at NAN 2010 too. 

I loved the tail swish on this customized Daffyd resin:

I know this beautiful custom has been around for many years. He may have been painted by Julie Kuiper. 

This piece is one of my all time favorites, and he is aptly named “WOW.” This pony is Morgen Kilbourn’s Flitwick sculptured painted by Carol Huddleston.  He took the silver cookie in his breed class. 

Finally we have one of my favorite examples of finishwork of the day. My photos can’t capture all of the delicious, subtle variations in this Otto sculpture’s coat. I’d love to know who painted this fellow too.