LIMHE CM Stockhorse and CM Western

    This past Sunday was performance day of LIMHE (Long Island Model Horse Expo) hosted by Laura Rock-Smith. I have never attended the show because I thought I had to take the ferry to get there. The thought of being late for my ferry time (which is not cheap) made me really anxious. When I found out from Elecktra that I could go around, I was excited! It was still a 3+ hour trip to a show, which I planned to do all the driving that day, but I wanted to go.

    The first class in CM/AR performance was judge stockwork. I have not shown Bootlegger in awhile so he came out to do some showing. His first entry was working cowhorse. I really do love this horse. For this show I decided I didn't care about champs and reserves so I was going to show horses in classes they made the most sense in. And sometimes alternate classes so I could more easily manage any tack changes needed. Or avoid tack changes. Bootlegger started off the show with second place. His tack was made by Pam Perkins and my Elecktra doll (with updated hair) was made by me. 

    The second class was Times Stockwork and Flash in the Sky, who also has not gotten to show in awhile, did a roping entry. I still have no idea who made her tack but I made her boots and the doll. Flash got 3rd in Timed Stockwork. 

     Next up was Dressage/Western Riding. Bootlegger went in with this western riding entry and got first place. 

     The next class in the CM Stockwork division was Extreme Cowboy. I actually made this doll for this specific entry. Flash got 4th with this. 

     Within the last couple of weeks I made this cowboy curtain. It was not particularly hard to make or time consuming. I feel it is a lot nicer than the first one I made that I showed with for a couple of years. 

     I also really like the sandbags I added. The standards on this are a bit tippy so I wanted to make the whole curtain a little more stable on the show table. I made these miniature sandbags to do the job. Several other showers thought they were cool and a very realistic addition. 

   Bootlegger is my usual choice for the cowboy curtain entry. He got second place with this. 

    Bootlegger then went on to get Reserve champ in CM stockwork. While I was not aiming for champs or reserves it happened. There was a lot of fancy glassware as prizes, in addition to rosettes. 

    Next was the start of the CM Western division. The first class was Pleasure/Ranch Pleasure and Mocha Latte, wearing a saddle made by Niki Hertzog and a Bridle by Danielle Hart, got 2nd place. 

    Halestorm came out again with her slightly corrected doll (who can now keep her arms down more than she could at the last show) and got 5th. 

    Next up for me was Arena trail. I was having trouble with my trail documentation all day. I was showing in both OF and CM/AR and the divisions were run opposite each other. So while CM was in Western OF was in English. I kept mixing what I was doing and forgetting which horse I was looking for documentation for. I should have prepped a stack for each horse ahead of time. Live and learn. I finally got my act together and set up this trail entry for Halestorm. I was glad of the arrows I had put on the documentation since the last time I set this up I had him going the wrong way! Not a phenomenal showing, but 4th place is improvement. 

    Continuing my struggles with documentation I finally settled on this poles entry for Mocha Latte. Joan came through with my new sets of pink and white poles and I was now prepared to set up almost anything for trail, with properly matched poles! I was very pleased with this entry and they received 3rd for it. 

     I actually struggle with the games classes at shows. I am never quite sure of what I should do for most of my horses. For Halestorm I went with musical stalls. Which is not impressive to look at or all that interesting to set up. They got 4th with this. 

    For Mocha Latte I set up my Housewife Scurry entry. While it also is not difficult to set up it is usually more interesting to look at and often does very well. This time it was worth 1st place. 

    The last class in the Western division was Other Western Performance. I put Caramel Latte in with a showmanship entry. Showmanship in Other Western is very hit or miss, and usually miss. There are often much more interesting things to look at on the table. But this time it got 2nd place. 

    There were no champs and reserve champs for any of my horses in the western division but I was having a really great time. The show was small enough that it was somewhat relaxed, even though I was usually showing 3 horses at a time across 2 sections. There was still a lot to come in the LIMHE.