Happy Easter!

"Poppy"
Extensive Sabino American Paint Pony Filly.
Customized from the Hagen-Renaker Mini Mustang Foal by M. Love.
Finishwork by Karen Beeson.
Owned by C. Olinger of Indiana.
Background display by K. Haymond. 

Performance at Show for the Cure '13

Following a brief hiatus due to my boys being home for spring break, I'm back with more Show for the Cure photos!  Today's photos come from the spectacular performance division.  Many of these entries wee shown by local performance gurus Tiffany Purdy and D'Arry Frank. I'm guessing that I also photographed entries owned by Kim Haymond and Megan Cotte. As always, I wish I knew all of the owners, artists, tack, prop, and doll makers  so I could credit them, and ask for your help in doing so. Please leave comments here with any further information you wish to share. Thank you!

I love the color coordination of the doll, tack, and poles shown with this beautiful roan.

This little jumper was attired in exceptionally nice mini scale tack and a beautifully crafted jump.

Here we have an even smaller entry, also shown with wonderful tack and props!

Tiffany Purdy made a gorgeous new performance horse for herself. That's Tiffany herself, holding a clipboard, to the righthand of the photo, and Chris Wallbruch judging paints in the background. 

This is the same little jumper from above, with yet another stunning obstacle. 

I loved seeing this Stone Saddlebred strutting his stuff in performance. 

D'Arry customized the darling pony and made the doll in this sweet bareback entry. 

I believe this is Tiffany's showmanship entry and look, is the handler a miniature version of Tiffany herself?

This is a very nice Mamluk costume, with beautiful, lustrous gold accents. 

This versatile Arabian looks just as nice in costume class as in showmanship a few photos above. 

Tiffany has recently created this performance horse too. He has the most wonderful presence!

I would love to know who made this inspiring Marwari costume. It is truly a work of art with so many colors, textures, and materials used in its creation! 

This recreation of the vintage painting shown in the following photo was shown by Tiffany Purdy. 

So many attractions and distractions occur at the shows. I'm not sure why I didn't photograph this entry in its entirety, but at least I can share this photo of the beautiful doll and part of the exquisitely made buggy. 

The final photo of the day shows Tiffany Purdy's Team Driving entry.   Those who know Tiffany's work and show string will easily identify it by her signature pink!  Tiffany had just started dismantling this entry when I made it up to the table to take this photo, but I assure you that every element was absolute pink perfection! 

I'm looking forward to sharing photos from the Artist's Resin division in an upcoming post!

Getting to know Sgt. Reckless

I noticed that Breyer released a new model of a horse named "Sgt. Reckless," but I have to admit that I didn't take the time to learn more about her until my husband received the link to her beautiful story in an e-mail. I'm so grateful that someone shared her story with him, and that he shared it with me and our boys. What a smart and brave little horse! I highly recommend this short video telling her story (and I promise that you will be able to watch it tear free).

A month, at the least, has passed since we first saw that video, but Reckless has remained in our hearts. Paul brought his own wallet to the Show for the Cure, and he was proud to bring home the one special model that he had been dreaming of.

CM Glaze and Plastics at SFTC '13

Today we continue with part three of the Show for the Cure photos, starting with the custom glaze division. I was going in the opposite direction all day, but I did manage to photograph some of the spectacular models from this division.

This first piece, a Kristina Lucas Francis "Orson" sculpture is owned by Brenda Metcalf. It is no secret that I adore this horse, in fact, on at least one occasion, I have pinned him with the overall grand when I have judged this division!

The next three beauties were also shown in this division.

It looks like some lucky shower owns this darling matched set of Adalee Velasquez Hude miniature horse sculptures, Toot Sweet and Jellibaby.

All this time, Paul was having a ball with so many of our dear friends who were also at the show. Here he is with Sue Hallwas...

and here he is with our friend and favorite Breyer dealer, Mary Jo Nerly!

This was Paul's first show in several months and I was so proud of him.  Paul managed his show string on his own, and didn't miss a single class (unlike his Mom)!  I didn't make it over to the OF Plastic show rings as much as I hoped, but I still have some really nice plastics to share with you here. This darling Easter baby is owned by our friend Jamie Rott.

The next four photos all show the Stone paint breed class. What tough competition!

The final photo for today is this nice SR Breyer Indian Pony from the Mustang class.

Still to come are the resins and performance horses!

The Customs - Show for the Cure '13

I have heard that some believe the custom division to be in decline, but not at the Show for the Cure, where the classes were full, and the judges were hopping! Cory Olinger of Indiana judged custom breed halter and Chris Wallbruch judged custom workmanship. I found a great deal of eye candy to put on the blog. Please leave comments here or e-mail me if you wish to share the name of the owner or artist of the pieces shown below.

First up is the beautiful 1990's H-R Mini Custom by Sarah Minkiewicz (-Breunig), which is owned by Julie Bailey.

From the same class, we have this gentle looking Breyer G1 Drafter, which I believe was customized and painted by Jenn Kroll, followed by a few more nice draft customs.

The next photo shows a traditional size piece from the pony class. He appears to be a Sarah Minkiewicz custom, but is he? I haven't seen him before, so I'm curious! I planned to go back and get a better look, but didn't make it back to the ring before he was gone.

The next two photos show beautiful customs by Tiffany Purdy.

My very own "Imbolc," a Breyer Swaps customized by Tiffany Purdy and painted by Carol Huddleston, took a double championship in the pony division.  Carol's roans are extroardinary, and this piece is always an inspiration. 

Another captivating inspiration was shown in the Other Sport breeds class. Created by Pamala Hutton, this piece was originally known as Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. 

Later classes brought more wonderful pieces, like the below Alborozo and Lonesome Glory customs. 

This Proud Arabian Mare custom, which I believe to be by Steph Michaud, really speaks to me. 

Check out the expression on D'Arry Franks's Weather Girl custom, which is now a stallion. 

One of the best moments of the day was when Paul's filly "Baby," a Breyer Classic Arabian foal that I painted for him (and which some may remember as the foal that was "born" on Paul's desk!) took a double champ in the custom foals division. He was tired by that time of the day, but still beaming! 

Congratulations Paul! 

Check back here for more Show for the Cure photos from the resin, custom glaze, and performance divisions!