Circus Horse Score!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a fondness for circus horses and ponies. When we were little, my sister, Leslie, and I used to pack old suitcases, pretending we were bareback riders in the circus, and go on adventures. (Let me tell you, we were very fine bareback performers! At least in our own eyes!) That may be where my fondness began.

Donna Chaney of Animal Artistry in England has a lovely set of Arabian circus horses. The full sized ones are very expensive, but the smaller ones are more affordable. But they are not always available, so I have been periodically checking her web site, hoping to get one.

Just after Christmas last year, I saw she was doing a run of 25 of the rearing one in bone china. I'd tried the other in resin and, while lovely, found that I preferred china. So, I emailed Donna, chatted back and forth with her figuring out details, and paid for my new piece.

She had said it might be a long wait, and she was correct. But what I received was so worth that wait! As I was literally leaving for the GLC show yesterday after lunch (I was walking to my car, key in hand), a box arrived. I'd not had a heads up that it was coming, so I was puzzled at first. I almost left the box at home, thinking it was some supplies I had ordered for my aquarium.

Fortunately, I made a quick check of the return address. Animal Artistry!! My new circus horse was here!

 I had ordered silver tack with blue plumes on a grey horse. I am so pleased with how that turned out. (Knowing what has worked well before, Donna helped me with the color choices.)

 Better pictures soon - these were taken in the bedspread in my hotel room.

Mine is 22/25. I guess I just made it before the run sold out!

I think I will pop him into today's show. I have no idea how he will do (some premiere clinky collectors are also showing, so we'll see!

Stay 'tooned! 

Sunny Morning

I took the day off of school Friday as I had a doctor's appointment that could not be done at another time. When it was over, I drove home via the barn - I rarely get out there in the morning, even in the summer, so Abby was a little surprised when I showed up. (Not that it slowed her down as she came up out of the pasture to say hello.)

She was so glad to see me! The feeling was mutual - while parent/teacher conferences went really well, I missed being able to drop by and visit with her.

I won't see her again until Sunday at the earliest or, more likely, Monday as I am going to a model horse show and will be traveling. But with those conferences done, my time is a lot more open!

Packing for a Show

This morning I got up early and packed for GLC. Due to parent/teacher conferences this week, I had all my entries tagged and ready to go last weekend - it was just a matter of putting them in pony pouches and then into tubs.

The plastics were packed first - I have mostly traditionals and they take the most room, so I always do them first. Years ago I made pony pouches from orange fleece for them. (Orange is my stable color.)

The chinas and resins are trickier. Since they are fragile (and some quite heavy) it takes me a while to get them organized. In fact, this morning I ended up pulling out a fourth tub as the chinas filled two tubs, just as the plastics did.

The chinas and resins get the pony pouches that have padding in them, and I bubble wrap the chinas, too. It took me about an hour and a half to get everything packed as I wished.

Leftover materials are set out on the craft table for when I come home and unpack. I'm pretty organized, and I like to sort my packing materials after shows and have them so that, the next time I go to another show, they are ready for use. Saves me a lot of time.

Everything is ready to be packed into the car! I have taken the day off because I have a doctor's appointment this morning, and then I'll run some errands and head up to the show.

I am very much looking forward to mingling with some long time friends and just having a model horsey day.

Colts Fan??

Indianapolis is an hour south of where I live and the home of the NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts. That means that any time I wear this...

... I hear something along the lines of, "Oooo! You're a Colts fan!"

Not really. I am not much of a football fan. If I had to choose a team to follow it would be the Colts and the Denver Broncos because they have horsey symbols, but I don't follow either team.

The Indianapolis Colt's icon.

The Denver Broncos's icon. (Love the orange - my favorite color!)

So, I usually smile and then say something like, "No, it's just a horseshoe. I love horses"  And the person moves on because, after all, what do you say when you were hoping to talk football, right?

How ironic that horses can be a conversation stopper to Colts fans!

Hectic Week

I love to meet with parents during conference week. There are always good things to say about a student, even if he or she is struggling or has issues. And conferences are in full swing this week - I have them every day before and after school except Friday. That plus the usual planning/preparing/teaching/grading load makes for a very hectic week.

It also makes it so I cannot get out to the barn to see my girl. I get home late and simply worn out, usually going to bed early, only to get up and repeat the next morning.

But, I am going to the Great Lakes Congress show this Saturday, something to look forward to at the end of this tiring week! Because of conferences, I had to plan ahead and get my show string ready early, but that's okay. I am excited to be able to go mingle with my hobby friends, see some beautiful pieces, and maybe bring home a ribbon or two.

This show features plastic collectibility, and so I am bringing my Steha Circus Pony and seeing how it does in the class for flocked horses.

 I am also bringing my JAH unpainted Indian Pony as I have sold it to a friend and she will be there...

... and the JAH unpainted Clydesdale Mare who I hope to sell.

I think going to a model show is a lovely way to wrap up this busy week!

A Memorial to my Mom

On Thursday, October 12, the Tippecanoe County Historical Association planted a tree in my mother's memory on the battlefield. What an honor that is! It is a national monument as well as a cemetery for those who died in The Battle of Tippecanoe. (My mother was a historian who preserved much of our area's history by researching and publishing books about it.)

The tree is a beautiful burr oak, and if things go well, it should live 250-300 years!

We gathered around Allen Nail, head groundskeeper and the man who had the idea for the memorial, and he told us a little bit about the tree, then invited us to add mulch and water and then spend as much time there as we wished.

 Great Uncle Rick and Ian began by adding some water. 

I love how the tree is near the highway so we can drive by and see Mom's tree whenever we wish!

The idea that two of my mother's great-grandchildren helped plant the tree and then may return over the years with their children, grandchildren, and maybe even great-grandchildren, brings tears to my eyes.

 Mila is such a big help!

 The kids LOVED those water jugs.

I hope to go out every October for the rest of my life and have my photo taken with the tree. I am also going to go back out and measure the trunk's circumference - I think it will be fun to track its growth over time.

My siblings Jenny, Leslie, and Steve. Leslie and I have always been horsey girls, Jenny not so much, and Steve always found horses to be useful fodder to tease his sisters.

So, as adults now, of course, we had to do Steve's old "horse feet" move at him. He would drum his hands as though they were hooves and neigh at me when I was a child and DRIVE ME NUTS. Now, it is a wonderful family memory that makes us all laugh.

 These kids worked hard planting that tree!

I love that there is a living memorial to my mother in a place that holds great meaning to her as well as to the rest of our family. And I hope this tree is important to future generations of our family as well.

Black Beauty in Art

Each semester, my students must read a book from classic literature and then present a paper and a project on it. As you might imagine, I love it when Black Beauty or other horsey classics are chosen!

Friday, TM did a wonderful paper on Black Beauty. I was thrilled that one of the things he discussed in his paper was that this book changed the world for the better - as a direct result of Anna Sewell's story of equine abuse, The Humane Society was formed and millions of animals have benefitted as a result. Talk about the power of the pen and how, with our writing, we can make a difference in this world!

TM's project was really cool, too

Black Beauty done in string art!

TM explained that he'd found a picture of a horse that he liked, put it on the board, and then used a Sharpie to place dots around the outline. Nails were pounded in at those spots, and then he wound black string around the nails for the body. There is white string for the sock and blaze.

As one of his classmates said (and I agree), "I think you should hang that up at home and keep it forever."