Budget showing with a twist

My last blog post was a basic breakdown of the costs of showing in the western division. Which of course was just one example as depending on exactly what your set-ups are or the costs of your horses, tack and props it could be considerably different. However if you take care of your showing items they should last you for years and years (and then some more years).

   Last April I was judging at Quabbin Valley Performance Open, held in Spencer MA. I judged the entire AR/CM performance division so could not show in it. I was however allowed to show in the OF division. I didn't want to overload myself because I was judging but I have been chasing a Superior Event Horse award with my side saddle Strapless, Lady Intrigue. She needs to retire so I am trying to get her that last therapeutic riding card that she needs. Those of you that have been reading my blog for awhile will recognize all of these photos from the show report but the story here is a bit different.

   Originally I was just going to bring Lady and show her in Other English to try for the Therapeutic riding card I needed for her card collection. Then I thought it would be fun to do the entire division with therapeutic riding set-ups (not that I can use the extra cards). It was a fun challenge. My second self challenge was to fit everything I needed to show (other than the horse) in a shoebox. Mission accomplished.

   Here is the monetary breakdown for the first scene:

Side saddle Strapless- $70 for the set (I got it when it came out, before the prices went up)

Ultra suede footing- $5 a yard on sale (this is actually less than a yard and made several pieces of footing)

Jennifer Buxton English tack set-(trade!) $300ish value

halter/leadline/reins- homemade, $5 or less of materials

Leader doll- homemade, maybe $75 if I bought her

male sidewalker doll- (bendy guy) $150 if purchased

teenage doll in pink (semi-portrait of my daughter)- $150 if purchased

youth rider doll (semi-portrait of my son)- $150

ground poles- $1 or less

cones- came from the Breyer trail set, $30 set (?)

OK, so IF I had actually paid money for everything I put on the table this set-up would have been $936. But you have to consider that I was using top quality tack and 4 dolls. Since I made the dolls and traded for the tack my actual cost was about $196. I included the cost of materials to make the dolls I used and the dolls I traded to Jennifer. So I paid that money once and then...

 

I used most of the same items again. Same show even. Same dolls (mostly), tack, horse and some different props. The rider doll was one I made but it's not mine. I borrowed it from my friend Joan Fauteux who was also the show holder. There is no cost to borrow from your friends and that's awesome! The props changed a bit for the scene. I actually borrowed those as well. I used stitch counting rings (for knitting) squinkees and the balls they came in for toys. I borrowed the rings from my friend Melissa and the toys from her daughter. If I had bought my own (which I have) it would have been $3 for the rings (a BIG pack) and $2 each for a pack of 2. I bought 5 packs because they were on sale. So I have now added $13 to my investment. This was the "Other English" class that I needed the therapeutic card from.



For my next entry I again used the same horse, same tack, same dolls and I switched up the props again. The bridge is from the same Breyer trail set which we have already accounted for with the cones in the first scene and I don't need to add that again. The only other difference is the trail mat. Now that was fun to make. It's a bit messy at times but it was fun. I used a piece of ultra suede (also already accounted for) and some model train "grass" It was a few bits leftover from another project and would amount to $5 or less (probably way less as they were leftovers).



My next class at the show was the the trail class. I use documentation I made from photos of my son riding, a picture of the trail patterned used in the therapeutic trail class from one of the shows and all the same dolls, the same horse and so on that I already used previously in the show. I again used the cones from the first scene so this class was $0 more.

The last class was pleasure and while I thought about using the therapeutic riding team again I decided to just do run-of-the-mill pleasure class with a regular hunt seat rider. Same horse, same tack minus the halter and a different doll. Again, I made the doll but if she was purchased she would be $150.

At the end of the day Lady Intrigue came home with 4 NAN cards and OF English champion. The initial investment was significant (if I had paid with money for everything) but I can now use those dolls over and over again for a variety of things, the tack will last a long long time and the props have multiple uses as well. The fun thing about this particular show was the personal challenge of seeing if not only could I do an entire division with minimal props but could I do it mostly in therapeutic riding style. The judge loved it, I had a lot of fun and it was refreshing to do something so unusual.

So at the end of the day it comes down to several things. You don't necessarily have to spend a ton of money to show well and have a good time. I happen to be in love with Jennifer Buxton's tack and that is what I choose to use. I could have (and I have) used an English tack set I made myself. The cost of that was probably about $35 including a pewter tree and cast bit. I don't love it as much as my Braymere tack but it works well. Most of the dolls (all of them really in a pinch) COULD have been out of the box dolls. I make dolls so enjoy making them. And I enjoy occasionally seeing just how many I can use in a scene. The props I used on this day were super cost effective. The horse happens to be an OF that is not bottom of the barrel pricing (but not that bad really). And again I will say, if you just want to try out performance showing, pick out a horse and see what you can borrow. After that if you discover you love it decide what you can invest in show show equipment. And get a bit at a a time.

Live showing in the western division on a budget

Readers of Jennifer Buxton's blog will know that in a recent post she discussed performance showing. She also talked about how scary a lot of people think performance showing is. I was reading through the comments and saw some really great questions from people on how to show successfully in performance on a budget. So I thought I would snag that idea and do a post on getting the most bang for your buck in the western performance division.

 

This first entry can be seen in a couple of ways. If we take it on exact face value it was a bit expensive. Here is a breakdown:

cows:$60-$80 each X3 cows

ultra suede footing (on sale): $5 a yard

Breyer pipe fencing: $20

Breyer Seabiscuit: $20 OF bargain!

Saddle: set was $300

bridle: homemade...$10 or less of material with cast bit

boots: $20 on MH$P

cowboy: I made him and Liesl Dalpe sculpted the head. IF he was purchased today would be about a $200 doll.

 

So if we take this one entry, exactly as is it cost about $785 to put together (holy cow!) However I have also done this same entry with borrowed cows, a saddle I made myself from a $25 Rio Rondo kit and you could use a Breyer cowboy ($13 out of the box) as they aren't too disgusting. They are but not too bad. So you could do this set-up for about $113 if you made a saddle from a kit, borrowed some cows and used an out of the box Breyer. I should totally do that to prove it's true.

 

 

But let's take the set-up on face value again. What I actually paid (or would have paid if I had to purchase) for the items. Here are most of them again in this natural trail set-up. I left off the cow numbers (which were hand written on card stock with a sharpie marker) and instead of the pipe fencing I have a diorama I made. The total cost of the diorama supplies (which would make more than one piece) was about $30 or less. I have now done team penning (other stock work) and natural trail with the same items.

 

This next entry is a game. The now semi-famous two barrels and a pole game using Jennifer Buxton's blog photos as reference. I now am only using the horse, tack and doll and have added two painted soup cans and a painted pole. VERY cheap props. This game nearly always gets first.

Next I used the same horse, same tack and same doll and added a bridge from the Breyer trail set ($30 for the set?) a couple of painted poles, and potted flowers. The flowers were made from $1 bouquets I got at Michael's in tiny Terra cotta pots (also about $1 for 2)

 

 

So depending on if you get the fancy fancy stuff or make your own tack and doll items (or use out of box dolls) you can do the entire western division for a little over $100 on a budget or go up and up from there. And maybe if you just want to give performance a try you might ask a performance showing friend if you can borrow some items and try it out. It never hurts to ask and you might just find that you love it.

editing the MEPSA champ show book

For people that show with MEPSA or at least are part of the MEPSA yahoo group and read posts you probably know that last year I was the editor of the champ show book. I didn't have to make up absolutely everything as I had 3 previous books to comb through for ideas. But I didn't want to make the book just like the others. So the first thing I switched up was the cover

 

I really like the color red and this dressage ring photo was horse related but completely different from any of the previous covers of the champ show book. The photo dictated the font colors and I think the final result was interesting to look at as well as easy to read. Honestly, just about the hardest part of a layout like this is making sure everything is easy to read. When I found out I could change the name of the book to anything I wanted I made up a new one. I like it.

   The next layout challenge was the back cover. Of the three previous champ show books I have one back cover was blank, one had an explanation of what MEPSA is (I think...) and the other had a nice photo of some of the prizes. So I had to come up with something interesting for the back cover but again, I didn't want to just copy what had already been done. My good friend Joan Yount had written a funny poem about the hobby. She said maybe I could find a spot in the book for it. Well it seemed like the perfect thing to put on the back cover. Here is the poem since I don't think the photo is clear enough to read it:

 

Poem by Joan Yount

My Name is (fill it in) and I am a Model Horse Addict…

We’re united by a habit that stems from childhood days
For those of us who by no choice succumb to horsey ways.
It may have started with a Hartland, or some other nameless plastic
And grew by leaps to customs that are simple, major, drastic.
Some money may be spent for sure that’s saved for bills like cable,
But we go to MH$P and buy what we are able!
Plastics call, resins beckon, be they unpainted or painted -
Those of us who can resist to buy them should be sainted!
Who’s to say where it starts, but we all know where it leads us -
We’re addicted to an equine habit that so sustains and feeds us.
With horses real or not so real, these models fill our stables
And pastures, shelves, nooks and corners, desks and kitchen tables.
Some eat real hay, you can ride them, others collect some dust,
But the sight of something with 4 hooves drives us to buy or bust.
So girls, why fight it, it’s not so bad, let’s buy to our heart’s content -
For deep inside, we all know, horses are Heaven sent!

 

 

So the poem went on the back of the book and then I thought, why not get more MEPSA people involved? So I started posting asking for photos of everyone's collection. Or at least a portion of the collection. Those photos all went on the back of the book as a nice (and fitting) frame for Joan's model horse obsession poem. And it was fun.

 

This year I volunteered to edit the champ show book again. I have some of the same dilemma as I don't want it to be just the same as last year. But it is easier this year as well. I already have a good idea of what will fit and how to stuff things in so they still look good, are easy to read and I can get more in. I have a completely different cover design worked out (but I won't share it because it's a surprise!). I have started working on the inside of the book. Or at least what I can work on before the articles arrive. Once those get here I will have lots to keep me occupied and lots of fun things to do with the 2013 MEPSA champ show book. I again have no idea what to do for the back cover. So I am open to suggestions. Even multiple suggestions. What would make a nice back cover? A photo? Another poem? Maybe a short story or some original art (not from me, I really can't draw that well)? Any and all ideas are welcome.

My 500th doll

On Tuesday I finished my 500th doll. These days I only take photos once a week so I had to wait a bit to have time to dig out the pieces of the photo tent, the lights and set everything up. And as usual the photos are better than my photos ever were in the past but don't showcase the doll as she is in real life. I swear, she is MUCH nicer in person.

 

I wanted to do something really spectacular for my 500th doll. After all, it's a pretty big milestone. So I searched around and found the reference photo for this doll's top. I didn't make it exactly the same but I based it on a real show top. And to make her fancier still I gave her a bendy neck.

The cross on the back is all done in glittery Swarovski crystals. You wouldn't know it by the photos though. Anything that look sort of like a silver nail head is actually a crystal.

 

So as not to distract too much from the elaborate pattern on the back of her top I made the front simpler. It's still pretty fancy though. I really wanted this lady to be worthy of being the 500th doll. And now I don't really want to sell her :)

The Method Behind My Madness a.k.a Why My Dolls Are Priced the Way They Are.

As far as doll pricing goes I make dolls priced in the middle range. Sometimes I wonder if I am setting myself up for failure. If I am pricing my dolls in the middle range do people think that the dolls are of a lesser quality than the higher priced dolls out there? I'm pretty sure that there are people that think that way. I also have a feeling that because I run sales (less often than I used to, but I do have them) people may also be thinking that the dolls are worth even less than what I normally charge. I thought it would be interesting to share why I price the way I do. There really is a method to my madness.

   First let me share some about the creation of the dolls. I have had people make comments that lead me to believe some people think making a doll is easy. Well it's not the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life but it's not the easiest. On average a doll takes between 6 and 12 hours to make and sometimes more. That's 6 and 12 actual hours, not playing online or doing other things hours. It also doesn't include all the time it takes to email back and forth, do any additional research, plan the doll, shop for supplies or anything else. That 6 to 12 hours is really just construction time.



 

The above doll was pretty fun to make. While she is not the most complex doll ever she was not one of the simplest. All of the silver swirls on her coat were hand painted without any patterns. Just the painting took a couple of hours. She was very interesting to make and the asymmetrical pattern was easier than mirror imaging (which I have a lot of trouble with still) but it still takes time, patience and a very tiny brush.



This doll was made in a very similar style to the black and silver doll. She has ultra suede chaps with no decorative edging, custom made ultra suede boots, a fancy top with asymmetrical swirls and Swarovski crystals. A bendy neck (I think, hard to tell in photos) and a new face. Plus her hat was custom painted to match her chaps. Western dolls like this take longer than the average hunt seat doll.

    But lets talk a bit about hunt seat dolls. The lady below has rebuilt soft-sculpted legs that are shorter than the factory dolls. Her legs fit better in most English saddles which makes the overall picture of doll and tack look better. But when I shorten the legs of a hunt seat doll I also shorten the doll at the waist. That means time with the dremmel and restringing the doll so they stay together. Again, not the hardest thing I have ever done but not the easiest. And it all takes time. The doll underneath the clothes takes longer and longer to make. I think the results are worth it as you will have a doll that looks more human, is more user friendly and just an overall better doll. I think the finished product is worth the prep work. And just to share, the prep work on a rebuilt hunt seat doll such as this also takes several hours. That's just rebuilding the body, not hairing the head, painting the face or redressing.

 

 

The dolls that I have been getting recently actually need a lot of work just to function as a show doll. Many of them have floppy legs, loose arms and crooked waists. Not to mention strange wide hips that make the finished doll look lumpy in strange places. I spend a lot of time with the dremmel, armature wire, medical tape, bandages and other assorted things (including dental floss) to improve the doll just enough to make a basic doll. It all takes time. And money, none of the rebuilding materials are free.



 

Remaking patterns takes time as well. I don't have to do it all the time but sometimes you really need to just rework a pattern to make it work. And to make things that look like they do in the real world. If I had a Shrink ray like Dr.Gru (Despicable Me) I would totally use it. But then I would have to pay more for materials so maybe that wouldn't be a good idea... anyway, shrinking a pattern down to 1:9 scale doesn't just happen. Sometimes you have to create things from other patterns or just out of trial and error. There is actually a lot of trial and error in pattern making. As an example I have used at least 3 different boot patterns since I started making leather (and ultra suede) boots. I have redone my shirt patterns at least as many times. Pants patterns, chaps patterns and anything else I have made probably isn't the same as it used to be. Improving takes time as well.

 

So far I have talked about a lot of reasons why the dolls cost as much as they do but not why they don't cost more. Well that reasoning is simple. I don't want to make it so only a few people can afford to own and enjoy hobby dolls. I think dolls add a wonderful amount of realism to a model horse set-up and I want to make it easier for more people to have them. And to help the hobby in that way I am willing to make less on my dolls. Because after cost of materials, time taken to research and make the dolls, time taken to improve the way I make dolls and taxes (yes, I pay taxes, LOTS of taxes) I really don't make very much per hour. But I do get to stay home and raise my own kids and I get to make dolls that are priced in the middle range that are high quality, realistic and easy to use. I try to make it possible for people to afford my dolls. Sometimes I take trades I don't necessarily want (not often, but it has happened) I take time payment if needed and I do run sales. If that leads people to believe that my dolls aren't worth the cost...then they are welcome to not buy from me. I enjoy making dolls that people can afford without making them compromise on quality. When I say I am always working to improve the ease of use, realism and so on, I really do mean it. I enjoy making dolls and I enjoy the excited emails from customers telling me of the recent wins they had using my dolls. Whether it is a small local show, NAN or just people playing on their kitchen table, if I can make people happy with my work, it makes me happy too.

Photo showing

Wow what an ordeal that was. I wanted to post to the blog and share a bit about photo showing for anyone that hasn't tried it yet but first I had to learn how to post photos (not easy, blogger seems to have changed some things).

   So first for anyone that doesn't know what photo showing is it is similar to but completely different from live showing. In a way it's easier than photo showing because you have as much time as you need to set up the photo just right. But on the same note the judges have lots of time to stare at your photos and pick them apart for faults. With that being said here are some examples of photos I am currently showing. This is my Leggs resin sculpted by Liesl Dalpe and painted by Joan Yount. This was actually a pretty good halter photos and has qualified for the MEPSA champ show (more on MEPSA later). Her name is Caramel Latte and she has been shown as a quarter horse but I may change that in the future.

 

Next we have Little Man Mango sculpted by Morgen Kilbourn and painted by Meghann Hoscheid Lorei. His name is Pacific Redeemer which is the name of my sons favorite horse from therapeutic riding.

 

 

I am not that into halter showing even in photo showing. So I have been working on making a large collection of performance photos both in CM/AR and OF. A lot of things have to come together to allow me to take photos though so I usually do a bunch and then none for awhile. I like to take all my photos outside because, until recently, I couldn't take a decent indoor photo of a horse or doll.So I took all the pictures in my back yard. That made things interesting because I could set up my table with my coffee footing (really, it's coffee), put up the arena walls and as long as I made sure there were no strange weeds in the background I was usually OK. Sometimes I would mess up and get the neighbor's truck cab in the photo (it's in the woods) but for the most part it all worked out. I had to try to take photos on a sunny day but I had to be in the shade of a tree or it would be too bright and the photos would be washed out. It also needed to be still. So when all the stars align and nothing falls over I can end up with photos like this. The horse is Cloud Dancing and I can't for the life of me remember who sculpted or painted him. But he's one of my favorite horses. Sadly he has developed cracks all over his body so he has been abruptly pulled from his live showing carear. And he was doing really well. He can still do nice things in photos shows though. 

 

Photo showing can get pretty creative. I think this is an "other English" scene I set up and for the description I said the rider was getting instructions before going into the ring. And I got to use Cloud Dancing again.

One of my favorite events in either live or photo shows is showmanship. It is so easy to screw up but not very complex to set up. Plus it's one of the few things I have any real life experience with since I was once given a showmanship lesson with a properly trained horse. It was to help me with some judging that I had coming up but it has helped me a lot in the show rings. I think showmanship is one of my favorite events. And Caramel Latte does pretty well in it.

I don't much collect OF horses anymore but I do have a few that I show in performance. This one's name is Just Because and she got that name because I couldn't think of anything else at the time. But she is proving to be a fairly versatile performance horse and has done well in live and photo showing. 

 

Have you noticed yet that my background keeps on changing? If you knew my yard it would let you know (somewhat) the season in which I took the photo. The ones I like the best are in early Spring before the giant weeds have started growing back. There is a little hill that goes up and out to the back field and it has a great little path (the trail photo of Cloud Dancing has a good shot of it). Ocassionally people have commented that my backgrounds are out of scale. But I think sometimes they just look more tropical. After all, those are Massachusetts palms (I don't know what they are really called but they get very big, are weeds and are shaped like palms sort of).

   Anyway, this last horse is Enchanted Eve. She is a Victrix resin sculpted by Carol Williams and painted by Angelica Nelson. 

I used to search out mail-in photo shows (I don't really like online shows) to send pics to but I started losing photos that way. So now I do all my photo showing with MEPSA they are a really great group that has been around for years and years and years. The year end championship show is a lot of fun and well worth the wait. I am really glad that MEPSA keeps on going as it gives me a place to keep on showing my horses even when there are no live shows to go to. Getting the results for the qualifiers is always fun and the champ show...is just exciting. I recommend if you have never done any showing with MEPSA to check out the group. 

Happy New Year! 2012 Doll Review

 

Happy New Year everyone!



I meant to post my year in review yesterday, or at the very least in 2012, but things got away from me. We have some fairly major construction projects going on around here and I have spent a lot of time moving things around and bringing pieces of my house outside. Pretty crazy. Anyway, a few weeks ago I started going through my order book and making a list of the types of dolls I made last year. Not surprisingly I have made more western pleasure ladies than any other type of doll. But they are popular and interesting (and sparkly!). So here is a list of the types of dolls I made this past year:

43 western pleasure ladies
12 Hunt seat ladies
7 casual western ladies
7 casual hunt seat ladies
5 saddleseat dolls (and 3 of those were in the past couple of months!)
2 showmanship dolls
11 unusual specialty dolls
3 English side saddle dolls
1 Western side saddle doll
14 cowboys
6 youth hunt seat dolls
1 western youth doll
3 cross country dolls
1 upper level dressage doll

For a grand total of 116 dolls if I didn't miss anyone. Wow! Really, I might have missed someone because once I start making count lists I usually mess it up.Though I do sort of feel like a slacker as I know I took more time off than I should have. But as we all know, life happens and sometimes things get in the way. I have a couple more posts I have been mulling over in my head. I just need time to take the photos for one of them and a push to do the other one. I am going to try to post a bit more often. I know I did much better the end of 2012 but the beginning of the year...was quiet. Let's see if we can have a little more noise this year.