Losing the Unicorn Horn

Pony Pal Mila had an accident at the swimming pool yesterday. She was wrapped in her towel, tripped, and smacked her head on the pavement. A trip to urgent care was made.

A little glue, a couple of big coverings, and TLC was applied, and Mila was feeling a bit better. But she was still a little upset at what happened. Fortunately, her mama knew just what to say.

"Why, Mila! You look like you had your unicorn horn removed!" she said. That perked Mila right up! And she's right - it does look like that.

Mila has been all smiles ever since!

Where are the Boys??

When I turned down the lane alongside the south paddock for a visit with Abby, she and Diablo trotted alongside my car as I drove up to the new barn. At first I thought it was just some over-enthusiasm for a couple of peppermints, but as I parked and watched them, I could see that they were agitated over something - the missing boys.

Trouble and Hokey were in the southwest pasture happily munching fresh grass and ignoring the girls and their calls. Tim explained to me later that he had been rotating pastures before heading to work that morning, and the girls would not let him catch them. He had to get to work, so he left them to their own devices in the paddock after moving the geldings, planning on coming back in the afternoon and making the switch. Then he left.

Well, the girls did not like it when they realized that they were separated from the boys, and when I arrived a few hours later, thought that I would move them, thus following my car and crowding the gate - it wasn't the peppermints or me that excited them, it was that they wanted to join the boys!

Fortunately for them, Tim came out shortly after me and moved them over with the geldings. He said that he only had to halter Diablo - Abby was so anxious to join the others that she tagged right along without a halter or lead rope!

Happy Trails Final Wrap Up

Here are photos of some of my favorite classes - the divisions were Colors (any vintage mold in a specific color), Specialties (models with eye whites, models with stickers, test runs, etc.), Animals, and You Be the Judge (variations, mare and foal, etc.) with entrants judging the classes using bingo markers.

 For sheer beauty, the class for charcoals took my breath away. It, like most of the classes, was very difficult to judge.

 A rare grey Appaloosa PAM and PAF were in the grey Appaloosa class. It may have been a small, non-NAN in-home show, but the competition was through the roof!

 Steff Bodamer's conga of grey Appaloosa Fighting Stallions was incredible!

 The class for palomino pintos.

Two, TWO(!!!) of the old clamshell boxes were in the buckskin class! (The other was a Western Prancer.)

So was this lovely Indian Pony with warpaint and blue ribbon sticker. I have this piece from my childhood and it is one of my all-time favorites.

Callbacks for the Color Division were spread out over both show rings (I only took first place winners due to lack of space.)

As a vintage Breyer enthusiast, it was a treat to have so many lovelies in my home and to be able to get close up looks at them as judge.

 Take a look at these awesome woodgrains! I think this was my second favorite class overall for sheer beauty. (Yes, that is a woodgrain PAM and PAF over by the Belgian.)

 The wedgewood and copenhagen class was another difficult to judge class.

Some of the callbacks in the Specialties Division. I had never seen that Benji and Tiffany display box - wow!

 The other table of callbacks for Specialties.

The class for dogs in the Animals Division. (Surprisingly, there were no entrants in the class for cats.)

 Pachyderms! A woodgrain, one with howda, a pink, and two battleship greys. I want them all!!

 Callbacks for the Animal Division.

These are the two pieces I am looking for now and were in the flockies class. (Photo by Steff Bodamer.)

Judging was hard. Sometimes I felt like just throwing the ribbons up in the air and calling for people to choose the ones they wanted! (Photo by Steff Bodamer.) But, those droolicious pieces in the classes made it the difficult judging worthwhile.

Happy Trails was such a fun day and I have already calendared Happy Trails 3. The date is set so that folks can plan ahead - June 6, 2020. I am not sure what the class list will be like yet or if the stick horse competition will return, but I'm full of ideas already!

What's in Those Swag Bags?

I love to go to shows where there are fun little things that the show hosts give out to entrants. And so when I host a show, I try to do the things that I would enjoy if I were an entrant.

On the show's Facebook group, I posted this photo of these two fabrics with a teaser about using them for something.

The red fabric with hoof prints became a show tablecloth and can also be used for the 4th of July since it's red. (Aren't those charcoals gorgeous??)

 I made quilted potholders for everyone from the vintage cowboy print.

I liked them so much that I made some for me. There's enough leftover fabric that I may even make myself an apron or placemats. Or possibly another tablecloth - there are lots of options!

Each swag bag also had a bendy cowboy and a western boot keychain in it, too. 

In addition to the potholders, cowboys, and keychains, I put in a bottle of water, a granola bar, and a couple of pamphlets about attractions in the area. Then, underneath the swag bags (placed on each entrant's table before they arrived) I put a copy of the class list, the show rules, and an entry form to The FAMulous Collectibility Show, a show that Allison Pareis and I are hosting September 14 in Muncie, Indiana, where Allison lives.

One more post with a variety of class pictures, and the Happy Trails show reporting will be done.

Stick Horse Entry Videos

Enjoy these two videos from the Happy Trails sick horse competition. (Sadly, I didn't get one of Sande - I thought someone else was taping it!) Judging was done by all of us and published in Abby Appaloosa's journal, Happy Trails, Happy News. Abby has been kind enough to let us print her thoughts (see below.)

Trio & Handler/ Liz's Lovely Lady Lippizaners with Liz, Jamie, Yvonne, and Steff

Freestyle Reining/Love in the Pasture with Allison and Stan

Stick Horse Competition

Reported by Abby Appaloosa, America’s favorite “in the know” nag!!

1st Place: Freestyle Reining/“Love in the Pasture,” with theme music “It’s Not Unusual” by Tom Jones. Allison and Stan

This very romantic pas de deux by real life sweethearts Allison and Stan knocked the judges’ socks off. Cleverly choreographed, the duo showed the real life struggle that can occur when one person is attracted to another, but alas, the other is indifferent. (Or, playing hard to get. ) Their mounts were well trained and were (usually) stepping in time to the music! And in the end, as is true with all good love stories, the boy got the girl, and they trotted off to live happily ever after. According to a recent Instagram post from “Nosey Neighsayers,” Stan and Allison actually fell in love while practicing this routine and POSSIBLY even got married. Could the rumors be true?? Ooooo! Don’t we all hope that they are living happily ever after somewhere?! Four hoofs up, you lovebirds!

2nd Place: Trio and Handler/Liz’s Lovely Lady Lippizaners. Liz, Steff, Jamie, Yvonne

Handler/horse groups have been performing for millennia, but this group of talented performers makes other groups want to stay in the barn. Why bother performing when these mares will outshine you? (Rumor has it that there was even a mare and foal pair in the group; can you confirm that, Liz? “The Equus Enquirer” wants to know!) Handler Liz clearly has trained her mares well, although the one with the green tail had a problem or two staying on the correct lead. But she quickly fixed that, and the performance continued to sparkle. Now, talk about sparkle; did you see Liz’s dress? Another rumor has it that Liz imported it from Egypt where designer Fabu Neighyad has an exclusive shop. Chatter after the performance was rampant; Liz, are you going to confirm those rumors for us? Another four hoofs up!

3rd Place: An Audience with a Therapeutic Assistance Horse, Buddy, the Clydesdale. Sande

Buddy is one of those horses who has been the backbone of the horse industry throughout history. Steady, calm, and willing, he and Sande have been partnered together for several decades. Using the philosophy, “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” Buddy makes sure that Sande has a clear path ahead of her when she is hunting for that one, elusive Western Horse - the 1938 Western Horse in wedgewood with wavy tail mounted on a clock with a secret nightlight button, a music box key, AND the ability to change the nightlight into a lamp in only three easy steps! Sande and Buddy, we wish you the best of luck in finding that last Western Horse! And when you do, we hope that you will remember your friends at “Happy Trails, Happy News” and give us the scoop!  Four hoofs up!

The Happy Trails Stick Horse Competition

It was threatening to rain when we took our lunch break, so we decided to hold the stick horse competition before we ate instead of later in the day. There were no rules - it just had to be something you might see at a horse show or that a horse could do. The entries were creative and hilarious!

The stick horse riders. Front row, left to right: Liz Cory, Sande Schneider. Back row, left to right: Stan Sollars, Allison Pareis, Yvonne Rott, Steff Bodamer, and Jamie Rott.

 The first entry was a trio of mares with their handler.

Dressed in finery from Egypt (really!), Liz directed the "mares" in a cantering routine

 around our makeshift arena. (Aka, my back yard.)

 They cantered in circles around their handler at her direction,

bowing and circling as asked. It was fantastic - those mares were very well trained!

Then, Sande shared her "therapeutic assistance horse," Buddy, with us. (He's a Clydesdale, hence the name.)

 Buddy takes good care of Sande, and the "Buddy tails" that Sande shared had us all laughing.

Buddy has been with Sande for years (look for him at BreyerFest) and he even sports his own accessible parking tag for when they need to "park."

His philosophy for getting Sande through crowds is, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." She says it works very well!

Our final entry was a freestyle reining performance by Allison and Stan complete with the song,"It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones playing as they rode.

 Their routine was choreographed to tell the story of a guy who has fallen in love

 with a gal playing hard to get.

 They ended up riding off to their happily ever after at the end of the song

dissolving into laughter as they returned to the rest of us on the patio.

So, who won? That will be in tomorrow's post, along with videos of the performances. Trust me, they will make you laugh!

Happy Trails Happens!

What a day! Happy Trails was an absolute blast. We laughed, we chatted, and we shared some GORGEOUS models on the show tables.

Before the show began, Craig took a photo of us.

Back row, left to right: me, Yvonne Rott, Jamie Rott, Michelle Evans, Liz Cory, and Sande Schneider. Front row, left to right: Pat Reed, Steff Bodamer, Allison Pareis, and Stan Sollars. (Shannon Rodgers is not in the photo; drat!!)

Nearly every open spot in the living and dining rooms was covered with model horses. Allison (who is co-hosting The FAMulous Collectibility Show with me on September 14) found the fireplace mantle useful.

Michelle Evans and I have been friends since the early 1990s. She usually does not like to have her photo taken, but she made an exception yesterday and took a selfie with me.

 Sande Schneider with her husband, Tom, who is one of the best show assistants anyone ever had!

 Pat Reed's stick horse for the competition was teeny tiny.

 She had a bendy cowboy as a rider for it.

Stan Sollers (Allison's husband) is also a faithful show assistant. Allison is setting up while visiting with Steff Bodamer.

 Liz Cory and Yvonne Rott consult together over their entries.

 Allison brought her famous Action Stan doll (Stan's mini me, down to the matching shirt and shoes!)

and had Action Stan sign my golden FAM with the other showers!

Lunch was a pot luck and we had so much food (there was breakfast food, too) that we nibbled all day long.

The classes were chock full of gorgeous vintage Breyers. This is the class for wedgewoods and copenhagens.

It may have been just a small, in-home fun show, but the competition was absolutely top notch.

 And just look at the woodgrain class! As you might imagine, judging was very difficult.

 The gold charm and florentine class. That semi-rearing Mustang was stunning.

If you look very closely, you can see that Yvonne's beautiful charcoal Fighting Stallion did his horsey duty on the show table (the yellow patch barely visibly on the tablecloth between his legs. You can tell from her face that she is enjoying the joke. (We all had a good laugh over that!)

In my next blog entry I will show the hilarious stick horse competition and some more of the classes and their amazing entries. There are even videos of the riders performing with their stick horses!