Completion...sorta

I've finished paliting the mane of my G3 warmblood. It turned out pretty good for my first attempt. I even resculpted the ears. Next week he (oh yeah I made her a gelding, might make him a stallion before he is painted) will be going to the painters to be painted like Wolkenzauber an American Warmblood. Wolkenzauber is actually related to my Terrificly Tuff bred stallion. Both Wolkenzauber and my stallion have the same great grandsire, Jetilito. I was floored when I found that out. I've been a fan of Wolkenzauber for 3+ years, since before I bought my stallion and it was very awesome to find out that they are related. So, needless to say, I am an even bigger fan of Wolkenzauber and can't wait to have my SM painted in his image. I literally just got another idea. I am going to do another G3 WB the same way and have it painted like my stallion ( a light/medium palomino with crome). But before I start on that project I need to finish the race track base that I kinda put on hold to get this guy finished. I did need the break because I was hitting a wall when it came to the tote board, but now I have a plan for it. Stay tuned for that!

Today, in the mail I received a thank you letter from Jenna N. host of Show For The Cure. She said the cross country jump with the CM jumper and tack that Anna made, brought in $175! Not too shabby. All together the show raised $3500

Feelin' Ambitious

Ok, so don't ask me why I did this...I'm felling creative here. I hacked off my warmblood's mane and forelock. Why? Let me explain. The cantering warmblood is my favorite of the G3 series and I'm a sucker for braided manes, naturally these two things are going to come together. I've seen several G3 warmbloods redone with braided manes and tails and I drool over them all the time. I want one of my own. Now, for who knows what reason I've decided to take on this task myself. I confess, I am not by any means a sculptor, but I have faith in myself that I can give my warmblood a braided mane (I dare not take on a braided tail just yet). The urge didn't come to me until literally 30 minutes ago when I was trying to take a nap. It was bugging me so much I couldn't fall asleep until I at least started on her. So, I got out my trusty dremal and took off her mane and forelock. Hehe now she looks like a Cob with a hogged mane and her ears look like they could take an eye out with how sharp they are. I'm really dreading fixing her ears, I hope they come out realistic and not cartoony. Wish me luck!

More race track progress

Well, I had hoped to have the infield and track done yesterday, but I ran out of spray adhesive so I couldn't put in the track. I was able to get to the craft store today, they didn't have the 3M adhesive spray I normally buy, so I bought the Elmer's stuff. It seems to have worked just as well. The track is still a bit damp in places right now from the scenic glue I put on top of the ballast after it is put on with the adhesive spray. Using the scenic glue on top of the ballast really helps to secure the ballast to the wood so that you don't get bits falling off. Now that I have the grass and dirt on I can start on the landscaping and the tote board. I'm still up in the air about how exactly I am going to do the tote board. I haven't found a really decent photo of one to go off of. Perhaps I need to get my hands on a Blood Horse magazine or maybe even go down to Santa Anita race track and tale pictures of theirs. I have to go into work tomorrow so I probably won't get a chance to work on it until Sunday.

Off to the races!

Heres the newest project, a racetrack base. I've seen a few of these done in SM scale and I alsways thought, "hey, I can make a more accurate one." So, heres the the start of it. I've got the base stained and the rail painted and mounted. The rail is removable for travel. In the end it will have a tote board and perhaps even a 'big screen'. This base is a joint project between Anna K. of Dreamflite Design and I. She'll be making the tack for the race horses and we'll be selling the entire set up when it is all complete. I plan on having the base done by the end of the month and show it at an upcoiming live show in April.

Now, I'm off to work on the infeild and track ground cover.

Been busy

It's been awhile since I posted last, mainly because I haven't been able to get on my main computer. My fiance has taken over our room with sewing projects and he is using my desk as a center of operations. I've been using my mom's laptop to check mail and roam the net. The laptop doesn't have any of the photo editing programs I like to use so my photos have been sitting on my camera. I did brake down though and upload the photos of me new jump to share with you.



Here is what I have been working on the past week. It works both as a hunter jump and as a stadium jump. I have yet to add the directional flags and jump number. Theres also so refining I have to do on the flower boxes.

Finally unpacked

Well, I finally unpacked all my models that I took to Eureka Live. Overall, it was a pretty good show. Lets see, the cross country jump I made for Show For The Cure took 4th. Personally I think it should have placed higher against the competition that was there. I spotted several things things wrong with one entry in particular. The entry was a D'arry resin, a slightly altered Vespers I think, going over a slanted log fence on top of a bank jumping into water. Let me set the jump for you, the horse would have jumped out of the water onto the bank, and then jump over the slanted log fence back down into the water. Now the horse was perpendicular over the fence and his body was in a position as if he were half way over an oxer not preparing to land in water. The entry also had one of D'arry's riders, which was not in a position to land in water either, not to mention that the rider would have been sliding around in the huge saddle (an unfortunate problem with D'arry's riders). Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love D'arry's resins, I hope to own many of them in the future. I'm just not a fan of the rider to saddle proportions. So, back to the entry, I just couldn't see how the horse had done the bounce out of the water and over the fence in the position he was in. I wish I had taken a picture of it.

I'm also glad that I didn't take my usual performance entry, in which I enter nearly all western classes and all english classes. The reason for this is that the judge was from out of our region where they obviously judge differently than we do. When it comes to pinning a division champ and res. champ we use a point system. Each ribbon has a point value and which ever horse has the most points gets champ and the next highest gets res. champ. To me this is the most logical way to do it. Well, this judge gave the champ and res. champ to whom ever she wanted to regardless of how many ribbons they had. I just don't think that it is fair that someone who entered every class and got a 3 1st and a 2nd and some lower ribbons would be beat out by an entry that entered a few classes and got only one 1st and maybe some lower placings.

In the halter rings I did pretty well. My best horse, or rather foal, got 1st in the appaloosa foal class and then received foal division champ. I also got several 1STs and 2NDs but no other division wins.

I've got several ideas floating around in my head for some stablemate jumps. I've got a hunter jump planned, I'm thinking a burgundy and white (or cherry stained) standards with a fence and rail. I'm also thinking of making another Horsetrader stadium jump with some differences from the first one I made a year ago.

Getting ready

All packed and ready for Eureka Live tomorrow. I'm just double checking that I have everything I need. I hate getting to a show and finding out I left something important at home. I'll only be showing two performance entries since I want to revamp my performance props and tack. I'll be showing my Arabian dancing horse costume which normally does well and I will be showing Anna's jumper in cross country with the tack and jump we made for Show For The Cure. I'm looking forward to see how it does.

I plan on making a few cross country jumps in the coming weeks. I have some ideas and reference pics of jumps I found while doing research on the levels of cross country. So, keep an eye out for those in the weeks ahead. I'll also me making a few random props like trail bridges, bending poles and road apples...

More pics...

I got the clear rod to finish off the cross country jump for S4TC. So heres the finished results...please excuse the halfhearted photos.

Another Donation for Show For The Cure

I wanted to donate more to this show because it is such a wonderful cause. I just finished these draft size overlay halters done in shades of pink. The colors are fitting for the show and for breast cancer awareness. As always they are perfectly scaled for the Breyer drafts and even the Stone drafts. They include a matching lead with attached stud chain.

Of all the 'nylon' tack I make I think overlay halters are my favorite to make. I just love thinking up new color combinations and different halter styles. One day I hope to learn how to put words on the overlay.

Show For The Cure donation

There it is, all finished. My part of a joint donation with Dreamflite Design. Anna made a cross country tack set to go with the jump for a custom G3 jumper. I'm still waiting on some acrylic clear rods to make a support for the horse so he is going over the jump in a proper position.
I am pleased with how the jump came out. I can't wait to show the set this Sunday at Eureka Live. Anna has lent me her jumper with the tack she made to show with it at the show. It's going to look great all together.
I hope the donation brings in a lot of money for the show since all the profits go towards cancer research. I look forward to donating to this show again, since several people in my family have had cancer, so the cause is close to my heart. My grandmother beat breast cancer, but later was taken by esophagus cancer.

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