Fall Pony Finals Harness

     Yesterday was the Fall Pony Finals held in Stafford Springs, CT. I had a very interesting drive in. It was super foggy, but just in patches. I snapped this one just as the light turned green. The fire station, where the show was held, is only about 40 minutes from my house so I didn't have to get up super early. Since I was going alone I needed even less time in the morning for getting ready. That was nice.

     I got there and I got all my sales stuff set up. I have 24 dolls. I may or may not get any more finished before TRXC. We'll see. All I had to bring to the show was the sales stuff so it was easy to pack, easy to leave and easy to carry my stuff in. Then I judged. 

The first class in the harness division was harness performance. 

William owned by Joan Fauteux

There were two entries in that class.

Don owned by Ronnie Bartholomew

Next up was harness pleasure...

also with 2 entries

Other harness had only one entry.

But there was a cute dog. 

Ronnie got reserve champ

Joan got champ

     And I got a new project. Because I have time for that sort of thing. I bought the Protocol and dogs set because I really liked this dog. Really. But when I pulled it out of the box I realized that this is my Abby. She is way closer than the lab I have been meaning to make into Abby for years. I just need to alter the ears a bit and maybe tweak a couple of other things and paint her. Which of course now I need to make happen before TRXC next weekend. Obviously. 

     I also still have my endurance project happening. But I made a ton of progress when I got home from the show last night. Partially from cheating. Anyway, the bridle/halter/breast collar arrived from Sara Bowman and I tried it on Enchanted Eve to see if it would fit. Because I said I wanted it to fit Loping Leggs or Victrix, with the preference being Loping Leggs. Well, this happens to look really good on her. The saddle made by Mandy Claussen is a wonderful fit as well. I made the pink saddle bags years ago and I took one of my sales dolls, ripped off her boot tops and made her some half chaps. Later today I will make a saddle pad and a number bib and I think this will be all set. I am really pleased with how it's all coming together. 

     I have lots and lots more photos from Fall Pony Finals. I actually managed to take a photo of every single performance entry. That is the beauty of judging and not an overwhelming number of entries. Not that the small classes made the judging any easier it didn't. But I made it through and was done and out of there by 5:20 and headed home. A handful of people were still packing up but I had already packed the sales stuff and was ready to run. I still have so much to do before TRXC!

Grr

      Thursday night a couple of my newly done nails smeared. That is not supposed to happen. We have no idea why those didn't cure, but I went back to Jackie anyway. So my thumb nails are purple with large and small glitter overlay. Damn. That is how I was picturing the color for ALL my nails when I went. But the small glitter overlay that made a cool galaxy type finish over the black polish last time did something that looks more like 80's frosted lipstick, this time. I have some purple and one red nail and the glitter on them makes them all look like they are the same color. So next time we know which glitter to use. Anyway, I went back to see Jackie yesterday just to get my thumbs redone and have a coffee and a short visit. Then I came home to work on finishing up the western pleasure dolls I have been working on. I managed to get 3 all finished but the one photo I took was blurry. I didn't notice until the dolls had already been tagged and packed up. Grr. 

     I got this photo from Alex, Travis's para, yesterday. He definitely looks like he is having a good time decorating his pumpkin. When he brought it home he wanted to put it in his room. I said he should leave it on the kitchen table. Otherwise I know we will forget about it and end up with rotten pumpkin in his room. The other thing from yesterday is Travis sent me an email and said he wanted to go Trick or Treating for candy. He can't eat the candy, it's cold outside at night and he's grown so people will often be mean. I am trying to see if he would be OK with an alternative, that still gets him candy. I think the candy is the part he wants the most. But really, grr.

     Also yesterday was Elecktra's road test. She was already nervous because everyone is nervous for their road test. She and her friend went, because the friend has the ebrake in the right place in her car. Well, her entire 3:00 group got skipped and the people at the registry insisted they called them and none of them were there. They insisted they had been there the whole time and so did another couple of people. So rude woman went to check the tape and some really horrible man (maybe one of the testers, I have no idea) came out and got in Elecktra's face and was screaming at her, made her read out loud the portion in the driving manual that says you need to be on time and then when she said he was rude and she was leaving he followed her and her friend out to continue screaming insults at her! She called me incredibly upset and I got off the phone, with a description of the guy, to see if I could talk to a supervisor and lodge a complaint. There was NO call for him to be screaming at her, getting in her face and DEFINITELY not for him to follow them out!
      I was super mad and more mad when I discovered you can't call the registry and talk to a person. You can only choose options from their menu and all of them are for specific services. You also can't go on the website and send an email about this sort of nonsense because the website is the same as the phone system. So if I went down there maybe I could lodge a complaint about harassment, but most likely not because of the way the registry works. And because the earliest I could go is Monday, I don't know the man's name and so on. I'm pissed though, grr. I don't think that would have happened if I had been there. Elecktra and her friend feel that she was singled out because the lady with the other kid that was there for his test looked a lot older. I said next time I will go just to be the 40 year old woman who is on her side if any crap like that happens again. That is beyond messed up. Ethan was also pretty mad about it when I told him the story. These things should not happen. If you hate your job, get another, don't freak out at people for no reason. 
     Today is the Fall Pony Finals and I am actually leaving to head to the show in about 10 minutes. But I didn't have a post for today already written and I don't want to let you guys down. I am hoping to get a bunch of photos today so I have some more post material for this week. Plus I will hopefully have doll and doll accessory project updates. TRXC is coming. Just one week left. 

So Many Western Pleasure Dolls

     I am in full TRXC prep mode. That means that "free time" is a much stranger concept to me than it usually is. I don't have piles of free time as it is, but right now I have even less. However, self-care is very important so yesterday I went to see Jackie to get my nails done and to hang out for a bit. I felt good about that decision because I recognize (finally) that I need breaks. But I was also feeling good about it because I managed to get a good junk of work done on Wednesday. I got feet carved and boots made for 4 Western pleasure dolls. 

     And I got the shorts and chaps on those dolls as well. 

     I then managed to get through the decorating on the red and black doll and a bit done on the purple doll. I didn't finish anything, but I got a lot done. Which is also good. I am hopeful that I can finish the rest of the Western pleasure dolls I am working on in the next few days at most. And then I need to make my endurance rider and a few other things in preparation for TRXC. But I am making progress. And I feel good about it. 

      Strangely, I didn't feel like showing so I volunteered to judge at Fall Poy Finals, which is being held tomorrow in Stafford Springs. Which means another day I can't get day doll work done, but also another day I can go to a horse show and see horse show friends. Getting ready to go to a show to judge is simple. Especially one that is fairly close by. I don't have to leave quite as early, I don't have to pack stuff to bring. I just need to go. I will bring sales stuff, so I will need to get there early enough to have time to set up, but I don't need a ton of time for that. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I enjoy judging quite a lot. Not only do I get to see the competition but I get to see a ton of creativity. Both of those things might be missed on the day of a show. Plus when I am judging I will most likely (hopefully) have time to take photos. Which will give me something else to talk about. 

Because I Need More Projects

      I feel like I am slacking again. Though it's only the beginning of the week (Monday is when I wrote this post) but time flies so quickly I feeling like it's getting away from me. This time of year does that to me. I have a much bigger head start on my TRXC sales dolls than I usually do, so that is something. I really like how my year is turning out. In the Spring I started making and putting dolls away for Breyerfest. Then after Breyerfest I sort of listed dolls on the blog, but not much of anywhere else. So I had a bunch left when I started prepping for The Jennifer Show. Then I got the dolls back again and I again sort of listed them on the blog and have been adding dolls to the bunch as I get them done. Once in awhile this year I have listed a doll. But mostly I have done orders and put random dolls away for the big sales weekends. It's worked out fairly well. I have to see what next year looks like. I don't know if I can sell dolls at Breyerfest again in 2020. That will still likely depend on the kindness of friends. 

      I really should not feel like a slacker, I actually got a ton of work done today. I got the dressage outfit from the last batch of clothes sewn, plus the 5 western pleasure outfits. Which are actually super basic, just tops and shorts for under the chaps. I still have to cut out all the chaps and so on and so on. But I have stuff ready to dress 5 more dolls. Then I also dressed the dressage doll and finally painted the gloves for the driving doll. So technically I finished 2 dolls today. That should bring me up to 21 sales dolls for TRXC. Which is a really good number and I think close to what I had in total last year and more than I have had some years. (I just checked my photo from last year and it looks like I had 24 sales dolls. Gonna beat that this year...)

     I doubt I can get the 5 western pleasure dolls I am working on done by the end of this week, but I can give it a good try. If Elecktra wants to go out driving tomorrow while I am doing laundry, we can do that. If not I will work on hairing heads. That is a good laundromat activity. 

      So I am in full TRXC prep mode, which of course means I need some more show projects. And why not maybe? As most of you know, Joan Yount is a good friend of mine. As most of you probably don't know, her daughter Mandy has started making tack. I decided that I really wanted to have an endurance saddle, because I have wanted one for a long time. So I looked up styles I liked and sent Mandy some reference photos. And she made me this really excellent saddle. 

    I liked it in the photos but when I got it in hand I was amazed. It is SO much nicer in person! The quality of craftsmanship is obvious and it looks pretty much exactly like the reference. So now I have a Mandy Claussen saddle in my collection. And I will likely be adding more. This is quite good and exactly what I have been wanting for a long time. I'm so excited!

   Really what started this was when Sara Bowman listed a hot pink endurance bridle/halter with breastplate. I wanted it. Of course I did, it was pink. But she didn't have a saddle with it. But then I remembered Mandy was making tack. So I asked if she could make me a saddle, I asked Sara if she could make me a pink endurance set (since she sold the last one) and here it is. I don't have the bridle in hand yet but sooooon. And then I will put the pieces together and see how they look. 

     They look excellent on their own so I am sure I will be properly impressed. Now I just need to also make a doll, since none of the ones I have are dressed appropriately for endurance riding, and I need to make a few accessories and some documentation. Because you know, I need more projects. 

      So to sum up, I got a bunch of sewing done and finished two dolls today and made a mental list of the new projects I need to finish for myself before TRXC. No pressure, I have lots of time, lol!

Sunday Drive

      Sunday I told Elecktra she could get in a bunch of driving practice. Since her road test is Friday, that is a really good idea. I have not been in the car with Elecktra driving since she got more comfortable driving on main roads. The last time we drove together she was still in neighborhoods and not super comfortable with that. So it was an interesting, and slightly scary day. 

     Travis and I went and picked Elecktra up and she drove us around Ludlow a little bit. Then I had her drive me out to Amherst so I could go to Trader Joe's for pumpkin spiced coffee and peanut butter. That made for a reasonably long drive (about 35 minutes one way) and driving on all sorts of roads. But we got some more lovely views, which for once I got to look at. 

     On the drive back home I got comfortable enough to stop watching the road so much and took some pictures of the scenery. And Elecktra driving. My current car is a lot bigger than what she is used to driving, but she did a great job. We didn't die, I don't think I have any new gray hairs and she got a nice chunk of practice in. 

      It would have been nice if I had more available time, but at the moment I don't. I needed to get home and get at least some work done. TRXC is coming. 

     And NaMoPaiMo is coming too. I could wait until after TRXC to start prepping, but it was a nice weekend. Sadly, by the time I remembered that this pony had a bath it was raining. Stupid rain! So no primer got on the pony. But I think this is officially my NaMoPaiMo pony. I have never painted a traditional that didn't then belong in the trash. So my goal is to do at least as good of a job on this pony as I did on the micros I've done recently. I will do what I did with Hugh, just keep on fiddling and blending until things look great. It's good to have goals. 

    Sunday I did also get some doll clothes cut out, but that was as far as I got on doll things. But all I need to do is keep picking away at the doll projects and sooner or later I get something finished. I still have some time, but I need to get moving on things. TRXC is coming.

White Creek Fire Company Novice Performance

       I'm sure a lot of people when they hear "novice performance" immediately think of Breyer tack and props and tack made from rubber bands. Stop it. You're wrong. I have not paid too much attention to the novice performance divisions at shows for awhile and that could end badly for me. I am almost exclusively a performance shower, so when I am showing, I almost never know what is going on in halter or in novice. After judging at the White Creek Fire Company show on Sunday, I know this is a big mistake. If you are serious about showing you should not only make sure your own entries are the best they can be, but you should know your competition. Listen up performance people, this is our competition.

      This is Hannah Mahardy. She was the only novice performance shower at the show. That did not necessarily make judging any easier. 

     The novice division followed the same class list as open and I flip flopped back and forth between them. The first class of the day was harness. Hannah had this gorgeous pony cart 

     And also this milk wagon. For anyone that just reads and scrolls, stop. Go and click on all the photos so you get them full size and can truly appreciate the details in these entries. 

     Next up was the stock work class. I had already marveled at Hannah's harnesses and then I got to marvel at this tiny tack as well. 

     I know this is some special type of saddle but I didn't think to get a photo of the documentation. Seriously though, so detailed and IN SCALE. 

      The next class was Western trail and I got treated to some more amazing tiny tack. 

        I have only worked in stablemate scale a couple of times. It's hard. It's hard to get things in scale and add detail. Hannah's tack is detailed and in scale. And did I mention that she makes it all herself? Yeah, she does. This girl has some serious talent. 

     Up next was games and Hannah again made things hard for me with two entries. This horse soccer entry was very cool

As was her pole bending entry. 

Then in Other western she had a couple of western dressage entries. 

Hannah also had lovely, detailed documentation for all her entries. 

The last Western class was western pleasure. I seem to be missing the photo of her other entry. 

     I actually took several pictures of this saddle seat entry. It's simple, right? Wrong. True, she just has the horse in tack on the table, but the tack is incredibly detailed. Again. The stirrups even have pads on them! I don't think I have seen stirrup pads in stablemate scale before. Admittedly, I don't pay too much attention to this scale, but this stuff is amazing. The strap work is incredibly fine and really, just amazing. If you're already tired of me saying amazing, just stop reading now, there is more to come. 

Next was the costume division. Hannah had this really excellent medieval costume.

     And this cute horse dressed as candy costume. The documentation for the candy entry was very cool. 

     I struggled a lot with the other performance class. Mostly because of this adorable entry. It's a therapy pony, and that sort of thing rates very high on my list. So I had to decide if this entry was as great as I thought, or if I just loved it more because of what it is. 

As usual, Hannah's documentation was excellent. 

Her other entry was this cool souvenir photo booth entry. 

     With reference pics from the Braymere custom saddlery blog. I went back and forth with this class for awhile. Eventually the therapy pony won out. 

          Next up was the cross country/jumper/hunter class. This entry was amazing. What a wonderful jumper entry! She had protective boots, including tiny bell boots, perfectly in scale bridle, breast collar. Incredibly detailed. 

And the jump was fantastic as well!

Hannah made every bit of this entry. And every bit of it is gorgeous, detailed and accurate. 

      She also had a hunter entry. I am pretty sure that she also customized this pony. I will say it again. Everyone needs to watch out for Hannah. 

     This was another class that was tough to judge. Though the jumper entry was so detailed and correct it would have been very hard to beat. 

     Next up was English trail. The pony went in with this entry. Blow up the picture if you have not done that yet. It's worth it. 

     This was one of the few times I actually had anything to tell Hannah that needed correcting. It was still a really nice looking entry and I am sure next time it will be flawless. 

     I may have to steal this English games idea. I have never heard of pool noodle jousting, but it is super cool!

     Hannah also had impeccable documentation. I love this idea. I love how it's creative and different. I love that when Hannah moves to open she is going to be tough to beat. 

Dressage was next and Hannah again had a really nice entry. 

     Several people came over and checked out her entries throughout the day. The way she did her flowers was very clever and had a lot of people wondering why they didn't think of this. Making tiny stablemate scale flowers is HARD. 

This entry looks incredibly polished. I really am impressed with all of it. 

     The other English class was a bit tricky to judge as well. This versatility entry narrowly beat out the tandem riding entry. 

     But the tack fit was a tiny bit better on the versatility entry. But both were very nice and well documented. 

     English pleasure came down to the tack fit as well. And the fit was not actually the issue if I am being accurate. The little pony had the strap of the bridle just a tiny be too close to it's eye. 

    The last class of the show was the scene class. This escaping pony was adorable!

     The entry was detailed.

     Documented. 

    And really, just amazing!

     So cute!

       Hannah may be young and she may be new to showing, but she is incredibly talented. She customized her horses, makes her own props and makes all of her own tack. All of it is incredible. Her entries were incredible. I feel they would be competitive against traditional scale entries. From the first class I said that Hannah should be showing in the open division. Having judged both the open and novice division I can say that even in open, Hannah would have dominated. So listen up again performance showers, Hannah Mahardy is going to be a force to be reckoned with. And Hannah, I hope this post was worth the wait. :)