Breyerfest Customs Contest

One of the most exciting parts of the artisan gallery was seeing the finalists of the Breyerfest Customs Contest. There were different divisions to the contest, and it was exciting to see who'd made the cut! Here are some of them. Aren't they great?

By Kimberly Bleecker

By Emily Foltz

By Tiffany Purdy

By Monika West

By Sovae

By Laura Skillern

By Christina Riley

This custom won the competition!

By Melanie Miller

By Kylee Parks

*I'm currently away for the week, so if you try to contact me or have sent me a message, I won't see your message until August 7th.

Breyerfest Part 1

I came home from Breyerfest on Monday and am still catching up on sleep! It was a great weekend. :)

I traveled from Pennsylvania to Kentucky with fellow hobbyist, Melissa, just like last year. We stayed from Thursday to Monday.

Before Breyerfest began we made our way to Old Friends and fed carrots and gave rubs to retired Thoroughbreds.

Next came plastic ponies. Lots of plastic ponies. 

Custom by Monika West

And some real horse mixed in with plastic ponies.

So there will be more pictures related to Breyerfest!

It's All About Lucy

Like I said yesterday, my main reason of going to the show was to watch and take pictures of Lizzie showing her mare, Lucy. Isn't she pretty? I took others, many others, but I'm going to make this one all about Lucy.

Their first class of the day was 14-18 showmanship.

Lizzie received a 3rd in the class.

Her next class was trail.

The two earned 3rd.

Hunters came next and so did the heat. Up until this week I would have considered the weather in PA to have been mild. Not cool but not gross hot. Yesterday was gross hot for me, so I can't imagine what it was like to be in full blown showing clothes. 

The hunter class was large. With dozens of hooves moving all at once, the dust in the dry ring became a cloud that cloaked everyone. I was shocked the judges could see much!

Minuscule moment of clarity.

Dust!

After the flat part of the class, the dust settled because each pair had to jump a line of jumps.

Lizzie placed 6th in the class.

The second to last class of the day was Horsemanship.

Lucy and Lizzie did well trotting,

backing,

and cantering circles.

The last class of the day was classic hunter under saddle.

 Lizzie and Lucy got first in the class!

It was a good day.

Rest and hay after a good job. And happy birthday Lizzie!

Lancaster County 4-H Show Pt 1

Today was a real horse show type of day. I went to the Lancaster County 4-H Show show to watch Lizzie compete with her mare, Lucy.

I also saw an array of other events, both in the ring and out!

Mini Horse Driving

Mini Horse Jumping

 Rubs for a good horse.

 Proud entourage

To The Beach Part 4

By luck, the first Pony Show of the season at the Chincoteague Pony Centre took place the Tuesday Madison and I were there. 

Surrounding the arena was more Misty memorabilia in the shape of Breyer horses. Misty has been in production consistently since 1972.

The show is a celebration of Chincoteague Ponies and Misty descendants.

 It started out with the playing of the National Anthem and Misty's Morning Glory helping with the carrying of the flag.

And then the show began.

It demonstrated the abilities of the ponies by timed games.

Chincoteague Teaguer isn't a Misty descendant but is a veteran of the swim. 

He's also a trick pony

 with a repertoire of tricks

that include drinking soda.

Misty's September Stardust had a rough start in life. 

Instead of being a riding pony, she's been trained to be a trick pony too.

Other Misty descendants were shown.

Misty III

Misty's Icicle 

Misty's Heart of the Storm

Here's the heart shaped marking that helped her get her name.

After the show we visited some of the turned out ponies.

Misty III

It was my first time watching the show and I enjoyed it. 

Sunset on the island

We woke up the next morning and began our way home. It was a nice beach getaway to one of my favorite places!