Small Haul/SM Valegro Review

Hello again! Sorry for the long pause between posts. :P We've been busy with real horse shows and preparing for a model one! Anyway, yesterday I want to our local Flagship Breyer dealer to get a few things...

First is Valegro, or as I've named him 'RRS Grace Under Fire.' I love the mold. It looks - and feels more like a resin then a Breyer! He'd look fantastic in a dressage set.

Now onto the things I DON'T like about him.

The quality control is well... Less than fantastic. You can see on his off side he has a rub on his hip and about 20 pinholes. His shading is good, but I'd like him more if he was better. Hopefully mine is just a fluke and others are great! 

His blaze is pretty crisp, but the pinking  'spills over' onto his nostrils, causing some discoloration.

Just like the real horse, he is a gelding. :) His Breyer stamp is on his belly (like most stablemates), and he has the belly spot the actual Valegro has.

Size comparison. This is a really bad photo, so you can't really see, but he's much smaller than Dungaree. The pony is about the same size as him. The scale is smaller then stablemate, but not much.

I like him but will probably try to find a LSQ one. His show side isn't that bad, so I will. This new mold is lovely, and personally I think his conformation is much better then other Breyer SM warmbloods. I really hope they use him for the Breyerfest Ticket Stablemates, and I can't wait to see what people do to customize him!

The next thing I got was...

Great job, camera...

There we go. :) I got the pink Mini Whinny surprise! :D It took me a while to feel all the bags, but all I had to do was find one that had two large pieces, because the stand is separate from the horse.

I'm normally not one for pink, but this guy (girl? he? she? it?) is so cute! I've decided to name him 'RRS Neapolitan.'

The last thing I got was a stablemate single for Becky. I've already primed her, though. She'll be painted to look like the horse she rides. 

Well, that's it! Thank you for sticking with us! We also just hit 1500 views! Awesome! :D 

-Emma

Zombified

Recently I won Five Paws Studios' Fear The Walking Dead giveaway.  As I am a die-hard Walking Dead fan I was so excited! If you haven't checked out her blog, check it out here! I've met her in person once before and she's just as awesome in person! She's so generous and friendly.

Onto what I won!

The first thing I opened was this AWESOME nameplate halter! This horse actually didn't have a name, but the halter fit him and looked so nice on him that his name is now RRS Zombie Slayer. :)

Next I opened the main attraction of the box; a zombie! She's a bit creepy, but in a good way. My dad thinks she looks like something one of the kids from The Munsters would play with. ;) But seriously! How cool is this?

To quote Jackie Arns-Rossi; "I am so happy to see a zombie wearing head gear. Note that brain is still intact, people!!"

I totally agree! #mindyourmellon

But there's more! Two amazing Walking Dead pony pouches! Love them!

Even more!

Walking dead books! I've always wanted to read both of these, just never gotten around to buying them! I've already started the comic.

Last but certainly not least is a great YA book!

It's my new car book, the one I read whenever we take long trips. I've only read the first couple pages and I can't wait to read the rest!

Like a true performance shower, I just HAD to tack up everything to take a photo!

My poor Breyer guy always gets in the worst situations... ;)

Thank you so much Kristian! Seriously, if you aren't reading her blog, start! She posts regularly about some pretty awesome stuff.

-Emma

Operation "Save the Seat"

Hi everyone, Becky here! I had quite an amazing new year with my family which included buying my dream saddle. :)

This is my Barnsby Puissance. One of the huge perks of the purchase was the fact that the saddle was unused for a very long time, but in it's day it had been well cared for so it was relatively easy to revive. 

I love cleaning saddles, so this was a "labor of love." I have a strange taste for the plain flap close contact saddles, especially the forward flap for my crazy long legs. I love that I finally found a saddle with a "square" cantle, since this particular model was made with both. 

Here are some before pictures! (Spider and all!)

A good scrubbing, soaping (Don't forget all the little crevices with a toothbrush!), and a LOAD of oiling and it is looking amazing. All those scuffs? Gone! I was amazingly lucky to find such a deal!

I think an exact model replica is in order! ...in fact... maybe a replica of all of my tack...

Making Your Model Horse Show Classlist

Hello! Happy New Year! I have a show coming up, so today I'll be showing you how to make an organized model horse show classlist. This is much more time consuming than just writing on the show's version, but it's much easier to use!

Hopefully it will look something like this when you are done! The classlist shown below is from my last show.

Step one is to put on a good YouTube playlist. This is probably gonna take a while.

Next open your word processing program of choice. Whatever one you use, you need to be able to create tables in it. I'll be using pages.

First make a title! The first classlist I'll be making will be OF Breyer. 

Now create a table with 5 titles and label them like so.Having all this information is helpful in case you have to make identification for your horse fast/ write down a placing. Don't worry about how rows underneath you have yet.

Note that I don't know all the graphing terminology so hopefully you know what I mean!

After you do this, open up your show's official classlist and type in all the class names. For the purpose of this tutorial I'll just be showing you how I did the foal division.

All you have to do now is just fill in your horse's information! Add rows if needed.

Don't delete to row that you don't have horses in. It's really useful to check so you can see you have however many classes until your next horse.

It's pretty easy to do, but time consuming.

It's also good to put parents to work at shows and have them mark off classes that have already happened! ;)

Finally, just finish your entire classlist/s! I have to do one for every division... Fun! ;)

-Emma

Happy New Years... Maddy lives!

Hello everyone, Maddy here, long time no see!

This post is just basically the result of the editor and chief Emma threatening me, but also just a little summary of my year and what I plan on doing this coming year. ;) I've been really busy lately with the holidays, a new horse, new sport and some new friends that keep me busy.

Highlights of the Model Horse part of my year:

I started the year off good with a very successful trade!

This was completed towards the end of the year but it was my first set that I really worked on as much detail as I could.
SMB's, Reins, Pad and Stirrups made by Rachel Fail

I made my first attempt at silver plating in stablemate scale, It was a pain to make, but not too shabby!!

All of us hanging out for the first time, needless to say we get along great!!

I had success in Performance with using tack and props I made...

Last saddle of 2015

Our whole gang got to work alongside the amazing Rachel Fail at two shows!
She is an amazing performance shower, a great teacher and so generous, thank you Rachel!!

Horses I painted had success in the show ring for other owners, makes me so proud!!

I finally had great success in OF. ♥

And another of my lil customs winning against the big guys.

Me and Emma sharing the spotlight with our Mini stock horses!

Fun during lunch break. ;D

You never know that the three of us are going to get into!!

This coming year I am striving to focus on my business more, which means more tack, customs, shows and of course blog posts!! 

I am taking a break from traditional saddles and working in the stablemate scale for a while, 

It seem I enjoy it more and was getting tired of all the work that goes into traditional saddles.

Keep an eye out for more blog posts soon, hopefully I'll have some helpful posts on painting and performance showing very soon.

Thanks for reading, hope everyone had a happy new year!!

Peace out!

Maddy ♥

Breyer Models 2016 Opinions: Classics and Stablemates

Note from Emma - This was supposed to be posted two Saturdays ago. I'm so sorry it didn't get posted, it's been done! :(

Hello everyone! It's all of us here now! :P As some of you may know, most of the photos of the early 2016 Breyer models have been leaked. If you haven't seen them, here they are! We'll show the photos and then have our opinions with them. Since there are so many models, today we'll only be doing Classics and Stablemates.

CLASSICS

Classic American Pharaoh and Blanket

Emma: Meh. He just doesn't do it for me but I do admit he's cute. I'm not a classic collector at all, though. I don't mind Breyer milking the AP cash cow, though! ;)

Maddy: I agree with Emma, I'm not much of a Classic fan but this mold is super cute and from what I can tell Breyer did a pretty good job on shading, wouldn't mind having this one!

Becky: I really think his color suits the mold well and I like the added detail of the blanket, though it is oversized. I don't normally fall for non CM classics but this guy might be on my list!

Classic Jockey Set

Emma: Again, I'm not a classic collector, and this mold is one I HATE. The saddle blanket is way too big and the Breyer tack isn't very realistic. The rider is traditional and looks giantly out of scale. Not buying this one.

Maddy: YES. Hate this mold.... it just seems unnatural to me, and not sure what is going on with that tack too.... hahaha

Becky: Uhg, this could've been great...  but then there is this HUGE rider, an incorrect bridle, a general purpose saddle, and this crazy pad. I like the coloring of the horse but this mold just doesn't suit the set, it is definitely not a typical TB.

Breyer 2016 Classic Horse Of The Year: Harper

Emma: Now this one tempts me! The coloring is really nice and the mold is overall pretty good. The gait is a bit funny, but I might buy this one.

Maddy: I actually really like this one, super cute and nice pattern! Would look adorable in a western saddle, I think I'll end up getting this guy.

Becky: I like him alot! He reminds he of the Bluegrass Bandit mold crossed with Latigo... I really love his coloring and I am impressed with his shading.

Rock And Roll Forever

Emma: Not for me at all. I'm picky with decos in the first place.

Maddy: I pretty much agree with Emma, not my style, not a big deco fan.

Becky: I am not entirely a fan of this boy... I don't collect decorators because I almost only show performance. I would have been tempted if this model really had some actual rock and roll flare... but he looks  Hannah Montana 12 year oldish.

Onto Stablemates!

STABLEMATES

Valegro Mini

Emma: AWESOME new mold! I love it, great for a dressage class! And at only $5.99 he's a no brainer... Coming home with me!

Maddy: This is the first time I've seen this guy, if that's a stablemate then oh yeah! Give me 10 please!!! ;) (said like a true painter)

Becky: I really like the idea behind him... but (this might be just me) something looks off about where his neck joins his body, and his hind end and also the base of his tail. This may not be so apparent in real life, I have faith in you Breyer!

And that's it! Soon we'll do Traditionals! :D

-Emma, Maddy, And Becky

Christmas Haul 2015

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas! Hopefully everyone had a nice, horse-filled holiday! I had a very good Christmas filled with family, food, and gifts! Both giving and receiving.

I got some really nice gifts and I’d like to share them with you! Although, I DO need to start this off with the obligatory saying that I am not spoiled and am part of a middle class family. We put aside money every month to have a ‘big’ christmas. This post isn’t meant to brag or gloat, just to show ya’ll! 

The first thing I got was the traditional American Pharaoh! He's my first on the mold and one I've been wanting for a while. Thanks Mom and Dad!

RRS Dank Memes owned by EVR

 Next I got the stablemate American Pharaoh. Again, thank you Mom and Dad!

RRS ShudaPutARingOnIt owned by EVR

My parents also got me another little stablemate. I needed a draft for my mini showstring, and now I have one! I'm thinking either Fjord cross or North Swedish Horse.

RRS Harlem Globe Trotter owned by EVR

The next thing I opened was from my aunt and uncle. Thank you! They got me Peppermint Kiss! I actually prefer him without the costume, he's such a nice dark grey.

The last Breyer item I got is the Super Sporty set! There's a long story behind these guys, but it's for another day...  I love them, though! 

RRS Little Drummer Boy owned by EVR

RRS Run Run Reindeer owned by EVR

RRS We Three Kings owned by EVR

RRS Polar Express owned by EVR

I received another Colorful Breeds paint set from my uncle, too! I love all the molds in it and of course I enjoy painting, so keep an eye out to see the results! 

Our dog (yes, our dog) got me the Model Horse Jumps flower box but I didn't get a picture because it's not raining. :(

Speaking of dogs, I found this adorable Schleich dog in my stocking! It's so cute and looks like one of the puppies we are training to be a guide dog.

Last but not least is what my brother got me. He got it in a gag gift exchange and didn't trade it because he thought of me! Love him, lol! I wonder how she'll show, hmmm...

Well, if anything I can use it to practice plaiting manes. :P

I received lots of great things for Christmas this year! What did you get? Comment down below!

Just remember the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate Jesus's birth and spend time with family. 

Happy New Year!

-Emma