Sewing Pony Pouches

At the Happy Valley Show I was organized. I had my documentation together a head of time and my classlist all figured out. But as I unpacked and eventually packed I realized I was missing a piece.
Pony pouches. I had some but not enough for all of my models. Pony pouches are the easiest way to be organized during a show. No worrying about bubblewrap or any other type of fabric to protect models.

Today I decided to pull out my sewing machine and start fixing that part. Even though I rarely sew, I do enjoy it once I get into the rhythm of it.

I made Harry Potter themed pouches.

Walking Dead/Zombie pouches.

And Game of Throne ones.

In total I sewed 16 pony pouches. Each one has a lining of fleece. I still need to make more, but I’m well on my way!

First Snow

PA had its first snow storm of the year. Winter Storm Avery dumped eight inches of snow and a layer of ice. It started mid morning and continued late into the night. Because of the weather I decided I wasn’t leaving the house.

Instead I went into the craft room to make tack.

I started and finished making a Justify nameplate halter to mirror the real life Triple Crown Winner. I realized it’s been a long time since I had a giveaway here, so this will be one of the things. I always have a list of things I’d like to do, but this one is a sure thing since I actually finished it!

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

About a year ago, my mom, her friend, and I went to a local wildlife rescue called T & D‘s Cats of the World. We heard about it with enough time to go to the final weekend it was open. It’s a hidden gem in central Pennsylania. While the name mentions only the big cats, the whole place was packed with many types of exotic creatures. We opted to do the guided tour so we could hear the stories about all of the different animals.

All of the animals are rescues. About 300 call T & D their home and have since its establishment in 1990.
Some animals were housepets until being a pet was no longer an option.

Others came from zoos or governmental facilities.

No matter the background, each animal found its way to the rescue.

There were Tigers.

Look at that face and those stripes!

I really loved the Tigers.

Lion.

Bear.

Patagonian cavy.

Prairie Dog!

Lemur.

Some of the wolf/wolf hybrids played with their toys when we got to their enclosure.

This Coyote was over ten years old. He had the sweetest face.

There were different types of deer.

I never realized that Emus made a vibrating drum sound.

The animals will live out the rest of their lives there. While it was sad to hear about the different circumstances that landed the them at T & D, it was nice to see them in their final home.

If you’re in central PA or plan to visit, I highly recommend going to the rescue!

Happy Valley Fun Show

On Saturday I went to the Happy Valley Fun Show. If you aren’t familiar with showing, you may be confused about it being labeled a fun show. Fun shows are model horse shows that aren’t NAN or North American Nationals qualified.
Happy Valley was hosted by Kim Swanger Grove and Susan Benesema Young.
My mom wanted to come along so we woke up early to drive to State College. Saturday was a Penn State game day so we weren’t the only ones on the road early.

The show was held at the State College Best Western. Sue judged.

The prizes were jumbo sized candy. Who wouldn’t want to win so much sugar? Performance champs and reserves also won custom halters by Maddie Klein.

Sue announced the new class with a sleigh bells.

Performance started the show. Harness was the first class.

Next came costume and parade.

How cool is this?

I showed my Dundee in my Game of Thrones set up. My True North wore my Watership Down inspired saddle set (that still needs its own post!).

In scene I did a drag hunting set up.

English came next (even though I somehow missed taking photos of it).  Next came western performance. I showed my Dundee and True North.

In other western my Dundee did horse ball and my True North did cow work.

There were plenty of great entries.

Look how tiny!

The last performance class was tack and stable wear. I scrolled through pictures of tack classes from other shows so I was excited to participate in one. 

In all I won a champ and two reserves. My three performance models each won a halter. 

The first halter class was called family groups. It required a mare, stallion, and their foals.

The rest of the halter classes were pretty standard.

Pretty models were placed on the table.

The final two classes were collective efforts. One Breyer and Peter Stone mold was chosen for the class. Every entrant voted for their favorite model. For Breyer, the selected mold was San Domingo. For Peter Stone it was the American Saddlebred.

This was a really enjoyable show. It was nice to hang out! Plus I won plenty of candy.

I hope to go to the show next year. Thanks for hosting it Kim and Sue. And for inviting me. :D