And...I am still alive!

Believe it or not, I am still around! Summer is when I spend a lot less time on-line and a lot more time outside.

Here's one big reason I'm busy

Her name is Rikki and she's a 7-year-old Boxer. She's a rescue, like most of my critters, and she does take a lot of my time.

As far as the ponies go, I've taken a break from them for a little while, at least I had until yesterday when I found some M.Love Quarter Horses and an old 57 Western Horse at an antique store...

Don't be surprised if you hear next to nothing for the rest of the summer, but I'm sure I'll have plenty to say later on!

I'm Still Alive!!!

Yes, believe it or not, I am still here!

Moving is a big adventure. Especially when it involves 2 horses, a bunch of fish, a leopard gecko, and lots of plastic ponies. And a spur-of-the-moment bunk bed.

Now there's Charlie, my recently adopted cat and Timmy, my roommate's new Golden Retriever.

It's a zoo!

On top of everything else, my checking account was compromised. What a mess! Luckily, it's getting slowly back together, but it's been a BIG FAT MESS!!!

As far as the horsey-stuff goes, I've picked up a few new Breyers now, some Stablemates and the new Classics Paint horse. Wow, that one is a stunner! My biggest purchase of late is a nice pair of  Easyboot Epics for my gelding. I love having my boy barefoot, it's done wonders for his hooves! And he seems to like the boots so far. I haven't had a chance to really try them on the rough terrain yet, I will soon though.

And photos. I will have photos soon. I hope :P

More New Stuff

First off, it's another Breyerfest SR,

Prince of Chintz

I don't like him. At all. In fact, the ONLY thing I like about him is the Espirit mold. Everything else (the flowers) makes me gag. Apparently though, quite a few hobbyists disagree with me. That's good, every model needs a few fans.

I'm glad there's still nothing I absolutely NEED at BF this year...hoping it stays that way!


The second new model to pop up in the past few days is much nicer, in my opinion.

This guy was a special offer for the Vintage Club members. From the gossip I've heard from member friends, extras (if there are any) will be offered to the Collector's Club. He's a cute horse for sure, and he's getting a lot of attention. Most of us figured there'd be an Old Timer in the VC horses somewhere, and he's finally popped up!

As far as my life goes, there's a few new things here as well.

First of all, my current obsession with jumping! This has lead to dusting off my riding helmet, collecting old wooden poles, new cues for Whiskey and me, and digging old tires full of putrid water out of 3 feet of weeds...

Please don't judge my lack of 2-point...I'm a Western rider and I'm still learning!

And then there's my brand-spankin' new HOTT PINK SADDLE BAGS!!! They also have a bunch of pockets which makes them even better!

Doesn't my gelding look sexy in hot pink? :o)

Buried Treasure

Scrolling through MH$P this morning I found an ad for this guy

This is "Buried Treasure", a run of 62 models that were supposedly found in the Breyer vault and were up for grabs yesterday for Collector's Club Members. As far as I know, there was no email or any other notification sent out, he was just there on the website. He's all sold out by now of course, so I have no clue what he went for. I think he's lovely, but I'm sure I couldn't have afforded him anyway. Besides, I was too busy yesterday teaching Whiskey to jump over a log! SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's "Dead Week" here on campus, and I've yet to figure out exactly why we call it that. It's the week before finals and the idea is that professors lay off the tests this week. No one wants anything to do with classes by now...including studying for finals next week...so we all just kind of look like zombies wandering around up here. Maybe that's where the idea came from.

Last week I focused on my real horse all week. The weather is finally nice and all I want to do lately is be outside! It was my cousins' daughter's birthday (just go with it) and she wanted to ride a horse. Of course, Whiskey and I volunteered for the job!

Here's the birthday girl with my awesome boy!

I have been slightly active in the hobby still (of couse!) The deal I was working on with my Earth model finally got wrapped up and I added some new models to my herd. 

The mustang is an old one. He even feels vintage. I LOVE him, from his rich old shading, to his handpainted mane and tail, to his faded dorsal stripe. After agonizing over a name, I decided on just Mustang Jake.

I'm starting to love the Big Ben mold after adding "Sugarfoot" to my collection. I'm really fond of my original Big Ben, who I named Ginger, and this guy shows off all the mold's good points even better.

Then there's "Sam". The Brown Sunshine mold is one of my favorites and I just need the spotted mule to complete my conga. Love those mules!!!

There's lots of hoopla in the hobby right now over the new announcements Breyer tossed out this weekend: the new Mother's Day Web SR and the TWO models of dressage star Totilas.

 

Here's "A Mother's Love", Whinny and Nicker. Because I have no $$$ to spare, I won't be entering for them. Unfortunately I quite like the pair! I do have the original Susecion and Le Fire, so I won't be too put out by missing on these. It'll be interesting to see how much they sell for second hand...I imagine the mark up will be pretty high judging from the popularity of the molds.

Then Breyer's making some new molds for Totalis, the Traditional size preview looks promising, he's in a very nice extended trot. I don't know if I'll need him, I'll wait until he comes out this Fall (email says November)

The other model of him is going to be released as 5" resin in a piaffe. I'm guessing it's going to be like the little Breeds of the World horses that they have out right now. I'm not a big fan of them...hoping it's a little fad like the creepy Classics with the hair and glass eyes that came out a few years back. 

I'm probably going to stay about where I am in the hobby for a while, I've got too much real horse stuff going on to concentrate on the plastics for a little while! So don't be surprised if the blog gets a little more in detail about Whiskey and everything else going on in life right now :o)

Equine Affair in Ohio

Every year this big, awesome event makes me wish that I lived somewhere else for a week or so. I'd LOVE to go to EA (all the horsies!!!), but it's too expensive for a college kid with a part time job and a horse. That seems to almost be my motto lately...

Anywho, the EA always includes Breyer goodies in person, and one of my "modelholic" Facebook friends who was lucky enough to get to attend has graciously given me permission to use her photos on this blog. (Thanks Heather!!!)

First off, the single day ticket Stablemates. I rather like the Clyde and the G4 Draft, the Belgian is pretty as well, and I'm not a fan of the Friesian.

This is Nugget, avaliable at BF, possible RR later this Fall??? He's on my gotta-get-it list, drool worthy dun!!!

There's lots more (the BF SRs all look very nice in person!) Here's just a few final photos for you. 

Union Jack, translucent BF "souvenir" model

Tunbridge Wells, another BF SR

Black Beauty, another BF "souvenir" model

Hope you enjoyed the photos and to everyone who got to see them in person, I'm jealous!

All photos credit: Heather Bruen. Thanks again!

Updates

I've come to the conclusion that the thing we refer to as "the sky" is actually the bottom of a vast ocean and that yesterday someone busted through it with a really big shotgun. And now it's leaking. Possibly forever.

Rain, and lots of it.

Growing up in a farming community, I appreciate the rain and what it does for the land, but that doesn't mean I like being out in it! Plus I really, really, don't like mud!

I'm pretty busy these days. I've got lots of little painting projects, books to read, classes to study for, work (as usual), lots going on with Whiskey, and  THE BIG MOVE is just around the corner. I'm starting to get that going-to-be-overwhelmed-soon feeling that comes at the end of every semester, only this time there's more on my plate.

My tax return came sooner than I expected, it's not a lot but it's something. It's a new pair of jeans and the rest is going to open a new account specifically for my animal expenses (horse, dog, cats, fish, gecko...)

Whiskey got a surprise yesterday. Me, my uncle, and Natalie hauled her little Russian Arabian gelding, Sunny, out to Wellsville in preparation for THE BIG MOVE. Whiskey was pretty excited to have another "big horse" in the pasture with him. Sunny was more interested in the grass.
(I had plans to take photos and share them here, but it was raining.)

As far as the model horse stuff, I've got 3 Stablemates that have been commissioned to take up my time, but I'm still waiting for 2 of the bodies in the mail. Plus the reference photos need to be printed out, and colors need to be mixed/found.
I also finally caved and bought my Brookside, who I promptly dubbed "The Pink Panther." He's a looker!
The new Appaloosa twins are really nice too, I paid them off and got to take them home last week. Finding the perfect family for them was easier than I imagined, it was like destiny! (I know that sounded cheesy, but really, that's what it was like!)

Now I've got some Walkaloosa twins!

I was surprised to find that the bay blanket insists he is a colt. Now I just need to decide what to name them, something sorta matching I suppose since they're twins, but I don't know how to get it to fit with the parents' names as well (dad is Enchanter and mom is Nancy Drew...oh, boy...)

Well, I guess i'd better get back to the reference photos for the little customs. I'd like to finish them before THE BIG MOVE.

Happy trails!