Happy Trails - the Prep Begins

For my retirement last year, I threw myself a pony party. I called it The Happy Trails, Lynn! Breyer Vintage Collectibility Show and had so much fun that I am having another this June.

To denote that this was the second year of the show, I dropped my name and added a Roman numeral two to the show's name. It will still be part show/part pony party, and remains a collectibility show, the kind I like the most.

Yesterday I pulled out the show tub and went through what was in there. As I eyed the ribbons, I decided that counting them and preparing them for use would be a good project for a snowy January afternoon.

I began by stacking them by placing so that I could see what I had. Happy Trails is a free show, and the ribbons used are recycled ones that I have won in the past. I was pleased to discover that, aside from rosettes for champions and reserves, I would not have to order any ribbons again this year. (Ribbons can be expensive, but I prefer them over the paper ribbons some shows now give out. In my opinion, when you pay $50 and upwards for a show, ribbon flats should be awarded.)

I pulled a few ribbons out and set them aside - for years I have wanted to do a ribbon quilt, and since I have been showing since 1970, you can trace the history of shows over time by looking at what is imprinted on the ribbons. I have always thought that a hobby historical ribbon quilt would be super cool. (And sewing is my other hobby.)

Like these ribbons from Great Lakes Breyer Registry. Begun in 1984 by Kerri Gehrmann Johnson in the Chicago area, it has morphed into Great Lakes Congress and thirty-five years later is one of the longest running shows in the hobby.

I found some Great Lakes Congress ribbons among those for Happy Trails, too! (If you ever get a chance to go to a GLC show, do! They're competitive, but they're also very friendly and fun.)

I spent several of hours sorting and collating ribbons while listening to a Mares in Black podcast, and discovered that I would not need to budget for the expense of buying flats. (I do need to buy rosettes for Champions and Reserves.)

Check that off the list of things that need to be done as a part of hosting a live show!