BreyerFest 2023: A Bit on Dishonesty, Theft, Loopholes, & Shill Bidding

BreyerFest 2023 has gotten a lot of great reviews - people have expressed satisfaction, even happiness, with the event. But like any large event that brings people together from all over, there have been a few examples of those who would be dishonest and steal, find loopholes to do what they want, or who would act in a way that is patently unfair to others who are following the rules.

Sadly, the Live Auction took a large hit this year with $42,500 that was to go to charities lost to bad bidding. Speculation on social media is that there may have been some shill bidding going on, and as I look at some of those bids, I can see why that accusation has been raised. 

Auction List compiled by Kelsie Suter and used with permission.

Thanks, Kelsie!

The bids I find most suspicious are those that wildly dropped, such as Lot 22, the Pegasus Newsworthy. It was at $23,000 online prior to the auction. There were no in-person bids and no more online bids when the bidding started. When the online bidder failed to pay, the next highest bidder was $6,000, a drop of $17,000. That smacks of shill bidding to a lot of people, including me.

Look at Lots 12 and 19 and you will see more huge drops between the highest bidder and the second highest bidder. Things that make you pause.

A really sad thing is that it is very possible that someone who ended up being the second highest bidder and won a model innocently placed a bid and did nothing wrong. Shill bidding shines an unfair spotlight on them and sours their experience of winning a one of a kind auction model.

No doubt next year Breyer will make some changes, both to the way bidding occurs at the auction to the closing of loopholes that were exploited to even adding safety awareness measures or reminders to help prevent theft.

(To be fair, the loophole that was used was legal from a certain point of view. From others, it was not.)

And I hope those who were affected by the actions of those folks join us again next year and have a much better experience than they did in 2023.

I am aware that there is speculation about who may have been involved in the dishonesty, shill bidding, loophole exploitation, or theft. Comments naming these people will be deleted. Please be kind.

 

BreyerFest 2023: Another Horse Passes

Another horse passed away during this year's BreyerFest. Pixie, a Miniature Horse, was there representing her breed and unexpectedly died Sunday while preparing for her demonstration.

Thanks to the generosity of those who heard the news of Pixie's passing, the Go Fund account has met its goal and she will be able to go home with her owner.

I was shocked and saddened by the news. I also have questions. I don't recall a horse dying at BreyerFest in the past, let alone two, both who were seemingly healthy. Granted, Funny Cide was an old horse, but Pixie was neither old nor sick.

Is there a connection between the two somewhere? Ot was it just one of those coincidences that happens occasionally?

My heart breaks for that little girl.

BreyerFest 2023 Begins & a Giveaway!

Finally! The wait is over! BreyerFest begins today. I am watching the clock as I work in my office - I want to go downstairs and get showered and walk Pepper before BreyerFest opens online at 9:00.

All week I have been wearing Breyer tee shirts in preparation; today I will wear my 2023 volunteer tee in honor of the day.

Already I have made two exciting purchases, one of which I have been looking for for decades and came from my dear friend Simone Smiljanic's collection. The other was this gorgeous flocked pair of Running Mare and Foal, a 1984 JC Penneys Special Run.

My jaw dropped and I literally gasped out loud when I came around a corner and caught sight of them! They're here and safely ensconced on my shelves now. (I'll share more about these new models in a few days.)

There is SOOOO much happening this weekend, and I am going to add one more thing to it - a giveaway!

I'm teaching a virtual seminar on how to make a live show apron for BreyerFest, and in honor of that, I am going to give a show apron away to a lucky winner!

I may make one for the winner, or I may give away the one I wear in the video.

They're fun to make and the best part is choosing the pocket fabric.

Barn Buddy Kelsey modeling the one I made for her in the video.

Another one that I made for a hobbyist who requested I make three as she was giving them away as gifts.

The usual rules for a Horsiemama giveaway apply - only one entry accepted per day and enter by commenting on a blog post from the days entries are open (or by emailing me at horsiemama8@gmail.com). Entries will be accepted Friday, July 14 until 11:59 PM Sunday, July 16 and are open now!

Happy BreyerFest!

BreyerFest 2023: Almost Time!

It's the day before BreyerFest and the Clarion is filling up. Room sales have begun, friends are reconnecting, and hobbyists are touring thoroughbred farms, Keeneland, and other horsey sites.

I'm grateful for all the photos and stories flooding social media. Jennifer Buxton, also a virtual attendee, is sharing lots of news and photos on her blog - if you aren't attending BreyerFest in person, it's a good place to go to see what's happening. (It's a good place to go regardless!)

I'm replicating BreyerFest week as much as I can. I usually leave on Thursday, after spending Monday through Wednesday making final preparations to go. This year I chose to work on a project that really needed to be done - inventorying and reorganizing the Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile sales albums.

Opened in August 2020, the Mercantile was pandemic inspired - my annual pony party, Happy Trails, could not be held as usual. So, I held a photo show and made haversacks as thank you gifts to all who entered. One thing led to another, and suddenly I was in business.

It's been three years, and while I have done some inventorying in the past, never have I gone album by album, comparing what I had in stock with what the album showed, and deleting SOLD photos and adding others that never were posted.

I'd never counted those albums, either. I was stunned to see that I had a whopping 166 albums! The inventorying project is now finished and I winnowed that number down to 138 - still a lot, but far more manageable.

And, while I knew that I had been selling a lot of haversacks recently, I had not realized just how low my inventory had become. I desperately need to cut out more and get busy! (I've been sewing, but it's been 18th century clothing, not haversacks.)

Today is Thursday and that has always been my travel day. Since I'm staying home, that can't be replicated. I'm going to do some cleaning and sorting, and maybe even cut and prep some haversacks. Rain is in the forecast but I hope to run out to the barn for a candy cane moment or two with Abby and the herd.

Look for a special announcement tomorrow in honor of BreyerFest! 

Stay 'tooned!

Teaching a BreyerFest Workshop

I was thrilled when Breyer posted its virtual line-up of seminars for BreyerFest 2023. I could finally talk about mine! Seeing the description of my workshop and the photo of Teacher Daughter Lisa and me was the culmination of months of planning, preparing, and in the end, filming.

I wanted to share the news with my hobby friends, but Breyer asks all presenters to wait until they have posted their list of workshops before we share the news. It was difficult at times, but I've been keeping quiet since last October.

I did need help with filming. Craig, Lisa, Curt, and Vanessa could not help me for various reasons, so I did have to tell one person that I was teaching a workshop - Barn Buddy Kelsey. She is as trustworthy as they come and she, too, has been keeping quiet. 

Kelsey came over one Saturday and spent three hours filming as I taught and sewed. She also set up my new ring light for me. (Thank you, Kelsey!)

Not only was Pepper wanting to hang around with us as we worked, but Nash did, too. More than once they snuck into my sewing room and suddenly appeared on camera!

By the time we finished, there was nearly an hour of raw video - way too long for a workshop. I went through and cut a lot of extraneous material out and got it down to a half an hour and then sent it on to Mountain Mama Jessica.

She LOVES to make videos and set them to music, but as she got into this project, there were some unexpected incompatibility issues. She ended up spending hours editing, with her husband Andrew stepping in occasionally to help or give her a break.  (Thank you both!)

The last thing to do to complete this project was to take some photos for Breyer to use to advertise the workshop. Lisa dropped by before school early one morning to help model two of the aprons I'd made for the workshop while Craig took the shots.

I sent several to Breyer and they selected this one.

This is the second virtual workshop I've done for Breyer. For BreyerFest 2022, Breyer asked me to teach in person at Kentucky Horse Park, but Breyer would've had to rent sewing machines for everyone in the workshop plus ironing boards, too. It just wasn't feasible. 

And since I am a classroom teacher (albeit retired) either virtual or live teaching are fine with me. I've done both. 

This project and volunteering for Breyer was "sew" much fun. I can't show anything else, but I do hope you will take some time to watch it during BreyerFest. And if you decide to make a show apron and need help. you know where to find me!