Happy Trails V - The Dan Patch Show is Almost Here

The Dan Patch Show is only one week away! And I have been very busy with final preparations for it.

So have Brooke and Tom - the Prairie Victorian/Dan Messner building (left) is really starting to sparkle! (Photo by Brooke.)

The swag bags have been filled. I wish I could show you what's in them, but some folks who are coming also read Horsiemama and I want them to be surprised. (I did take a photo; maybe I'll show it after the show is over.)

This is a fun show so the classlist is not your usual live show set of classes. I'm judging and I told folks that for the most part, I would look for the piece that best describes the title of the class. The judging will probably be tricky as a result.

I have a big bag of rosettes that someone gave me a while back and I was delighted to find four complete sets of champ and reserves for the show.

Between leftover ribbons from past shows, donations, and adding in ribbons I've won myself in live shows, I have plenty to cover the classes.

I purchased these Collecta by Breyer pieces as prizes for the two divisions of the show,

but then I ended up creating four divisions. At this point, I am undecided as to how I will use them.

There are lots of donations for the raffle.

All proceeds from the raffle will be given to Brooke and Tom to use as they continue their work on restoring the historic building.

The show also features a swap meet, a brief talk by Brooke about the building's history and connection to Dan Patch, and a Toilet Paper Derby!

Craig, Mila, Emily, and Lukie in our family Toilet Paper Derby last summer. I learned a lot by watching the one we did at home - roll the paper, don't pull it, no lifting the paper off the table, and have a well balanced Stablemate!

I am so excited about this show and can hardly wait for next Saturday!

Bringing Back My Pony Party

Finally! I am feeling well enough to do something I haven't done for four years. Here are a couple of hints.

A game to play.

Horsey swag bags.

A historic building (1874) with lots of space to use that's being restored by my friend Brooke and her husband Tom. (All photos of the building are by Brooke Sauter.)

Now renamed "The Prairie Victorian," this isn't just any historic building.

It's the Dan Messner building. He built it and owned it along with his family until the 1940s. He also bred, raised, and trained Dan Patch.

This is the barn where Dan Patch was foaled and lived the first six years of his life.

All this horsey history happened in tiny Oxford, Indiana, just nine miles from my home.

So, what's happening? What am I doing after a four year hiatus?

I'm bringing back Happy Trails, my in-home model show and pony party, and Brooke has agreed to let me use the Dan Messner Building for it!

While the restoration of the building is not yet finished, Brooke and Tom have been holding events there since last December.

Like past Happy Trails shows, this one will not be a NAN card show - the intention has always been to gather horsey friends for a day of playing with ponies and having fun together. And, since it's been held in my home in the past, it's always been an invitational pony party. (I'm sticking with that for this year's Happy Trails show.)

Details are still being worked out (including the date for the show) but I am over the moon at the location. To be able to hold Happy Trails in a place that is so important to American horsey history gives me chills.