Lilith

       Yesterday we talked about Flash in the Sky and how she is not a prolific performance horse because she is just standing there. Today I want to talk about the madness that possessed me when I decided I HAD to have the premier club Rhian, and that I was going to use her as a performance horse. Because of course I did. The first show I put her in was Medieval Madness, which was held May of 2019. It was an OF only show, which meant of course that I had to use OF horses, even in performance. My preference is custom or artist resins, but you do what you have to do to show in performance. 

      One of the things I have often done for a live show is obsessively create things for a single class. This particular class was medieval costume. So I made, what is clearly a costume (there is a kid on a pony after all) which was a medieval knight. The knight is actually my Travis doll (I still need to make a grown-up Travis doll) who has some chain mail and a tunic over his riding clothes. Lilith may have done well in this class because it was not a large one. Themed classes don't seem to have a huge draw for some reason. 

     One of my favorite live show tricks is to take an existing entry, add some things, and turn it into the next entry in the show. This is a huge time-saver, which is definitely a good thing with the fairly strict time limits that we have at most live shows. The next class in the show was medieval games so I gave my little knight a lance and a practice target. I also spent way too much time coming up with documentation. The idea was decent, the execution was so-so, and the placing was sort of meh. 

     Lilith also went into the regular English division at Medieval Madness. The only tack I have that fits her is a very old set of Braymere tack I got secondhand from a friend of mine. This is the set that I cut the browband  to make it fit properly. This entry was really a way to use a lot of miniature candy and some other neglected props. I spent a ton of time creating the trail class pattern. As an overall picture, I really like it. As a trail entry it's sort of iffy. The youth doll is collecting candy and Little Elecktra is holding the pony, who is just hanging out. It's cute, but would likely work better as a scene. I guess it depends on what else is on the table. 

     For other English Lilith and her kid rider (who was built to fit this saddle) were delivering candy. I can't remember what the sign on the mailbox says, but it has something to do with Easter (the show was near Easter). I made the little panniers and all the candy just to pull this little entry together for other English. Because why not spend a big chunk of time crafting things for an entry you might set up once?

    Lilith also went into other performance with my picnic at the horse show entry. This entry was originally created for a horse in halter, coming out of a showmanship class. I needed something that didn't take more than just moving the horse, since by the time we usually get to the other performance division people are tired and rushing to get the show done with. The entry, which has grown a lot over the years, is an easy fit for Lilith. The rider is visiting everyone who is having lunch. Easy. 

     For some reason natural trail was put in other performance and was mixed English and Western. Standing on the bridge looking around actually works for the entry. And the judge agreed it worked. 

      Another themed show I took Lilith to was Fun in the Sun. This show also turned into how-many-classes-can-I-put-Tiny-Abby-in. And it was a lot of fun. But Lilith started out with this natural trail entry, which was nearly identical to the first time she did it, down to her second place ribbon.

     She also went back into the picnic at the horse show scene, but this time she was sideways so she could eat her fruit plate. A fruit plate has been making appearances in many horse show classes, not just mine, for years. That came from a situation surrounded NAN. If you don't know what it's about, it gets to remain a mystery. If you do know, have a laugh at the large fruit plate. 

     Lilith really seems to do well in themed classes. This class was water games. So I created a game where the rider needed to dismount with a handler ready to hold the pony, and use the water gun to knock over as many milk bottles as possible in 30 seconds. I think I have had those milk jugs for about 10 years and this is the first time I have found a use for them. 

     The next class was Dog Days of Summer, which obviously meant I needed to put a lot of dogs in the scene. Including Tiny Abby. It was not a super well thought out scene, but I got to use a lot of dogs. 

     The next class was Sizzling Hot. This was another class I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating props for. I bought the little grill and then made a ton of burgers and hot dogs, plus all the rolls and the grill tools. Because I clearly had to make a cookout. And since every horse show entry should have a horse in it, the kid and her pony stopped to visit a neighborhood cookout. 

     You know how I said that I love it when I can add some things to an entry to turn it into the next entry? That is what happened when I turned Sizzling Hot into Scene (which needed to be any beach, ocean, or nautical theme). I kept the cookout portions and added a bunch of other things. Including a campfire that flickers, a bag of marshmallows, with marshmallows on sticks, the bikini girls, water guns, drinks. These scene had a ton of details. And a cute pony that really worked well in it. 

      For anyone that is curious, I named this pony Lilith for a very specific reason. In biblical stories,  Lilith was Adam's first wife. Adam wanted her to play a subservient role and Lilith didn't want anything to do with that kind of life so she grew wings and flew away. Apparently that made her a monster (the wings or not doing what she was told, I'm not sure which) and she was mostly regarded as a demon. For anyone that is not familiar with ponies... they are also often considered to be demonic. Which is why I gave a cute little pony the name of a demonized woman. And I like the name. 

     Lilith is another one of my horses who is not necessarily a great performance horse, though with some careful setups I can make it work. She shines in creative/themed classes, potentially because of my obsessively making things specifically for those themed classes. I have not shown her since these two shows in 2019, not even in any photo shows (maybe in halter once or twice). But she may come out and show again eventually.