Meows and Minis 2012 - Performance

My son Paul and I attended the wonderful Meows and Minis benefit show this past weekend. What is Meows and Minis? From the show website,

"Meows and Minis Live is a fund-raiser. We will hold an auction and raffle on the day of the show to benefit Cat Guardians, our local no-kill cat shelter. Since 1989, Cat Guardians has found homes for hundreds of cats. Many of the cats at the shelter are permanent residents due to medical conditions or unsuitable personalities, and these are given loving care by the volunteers. The shelter is not-for-profit and operates on donations. The profits from the auction and raffle will all be donated 100% to the shelter. Last year we raised many $ for the shelter, which took care of many vet bills! To learn more about this wonderful shelter, please go to www.catguardians.org."

The totals are in, and this year Meows and Minis raised OVER THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS for the cats!!!  Congratulations to my dear friend and Meows and Minis host, Chris Wallbruch!  The shelter will be able to house more cats, and many cats will have much better lives, all thanks to Chris and her hard work putting together this benefit! 

The competition is fierce at Meows and Minis. I spent much of the day marveling over the wonderful, tiny performance entries, and I'm going to share some of them with you here. 

We will start with D'Arry Jone Frank's wonderful harness entry. Look at the little Jack Russell Terrier carrying the tiny glove!  D'Arry created the beautiful paint from Breyer's new "Breeds of the World" stock horse resin. 

Next up is Carrie Sloan Meyer's beautiful chariot scene. 

I don't recall the owners of these next two costume entries, but I certainly enjoyed seeing them. 

Here is another gorgeous "Breeds of the World" stock horse, this one customized by Tiffany Purdy. 

This is Jennifer Lambert's mule "Good Golly Miss Molly" in parade.

Here we have D'Arry's pinto again. As you see, I couldn't get enough of him! This time he is competing in the showmanship class.

I loved this draft harness entry.

This is yet another "Breeds of the World" stock horse, that has been transformed by D'Arry and presented as a beautifully turned-out sidesaddle entry. The doll was sculpted by D'Arry too!

This is just a simple bareback entry, but I thought it was extra special with this exquisite horse and elegant bridle. 

I worked with Clydesdales and learned to drive during my college years, so I always get excited about seeing them in harness. Here are a few views of a fantastic Budweiser entry.

My son and I both got a kick out of this little mule doing his farm chores.

Finally we have a chubby-wubby pony that shows up at Meows and Minis in the performance division every year. He always has brand new scenes and set-ups. I don't know if his owner shows his elsewhere throughout the year. What I do know is that she certainly is creative! The description card explained that the carrot was needed to encourage this little guy to jump!  Does anyone know what brand/company he is made by?  I wouldn't mind adding one of these fellows to my personal collection. 

In an upcoming post I'll share my photos from the halter divisions of this show.