Cow Camping

This last week my family went camping in our trailer.

I hesitate to say camping though as it's 34 feet long and is air conditioned with plumbing and cooking appliances. More like glamping... :P

Anyway, I am not a fan of camping. It's not the outdoors part... it's the BUGS. I hate mosquitos. 

However, when I heard there might be some horses around, I happily walked the 3 miles to the 'cow camp.' A cow camp is basically a historical setup to look like an old cow camp. There is a cowboy there who is dressed in accurate clothing. If you know like Colonial Williamsburg, it's the same concept.

When we got there we talked to the cowboy a bit then checked out the camp. Unfortunently it was more or less nap time for all the animals. The one pony there, named "Stroker," was more interested in yawning and sleeping then posing for photos!

Good teeth references?

The cow camp was set in 1875, and during that time you could sell one cow for one gold coin, which was about $14 at the time. Cowboys were very fond of their Cracker Ponies, though, and you would have to pay about 20 gold coins for a pony. 

Next we saw the calves and the cows. I didn't realize they came in such interesting colors.

The colors on some are just so cool. This one looks near leopard or something :P

His lil face <3

Brindle!

They also had an amazing revolutionary war saddle set, but that will be it's own post. Sorry this one was mostly photos, but hopefully you got some color ideas for your next cow to paint? I know I have. :)

Portrait Models

Are definitely my favorite type of custom! I recently received this amazing model in the mail. He's a custom I commissioned from Rusty Key Studios on Facebook.

He's a portrait of one of the two horses I ride in real life. He turned out perfect!

His marking is spot on.

Merlin is pretty green and one of his biggest issues is flower boxes... So I had to have him jump over some.

I highly recommend the artist. The price was great and she was very nice.

Merlin isn't my first portrait horse, though. Last Breyerfest I picked up a portrait of the paint a ride, Steps!

He was painted by Emily Foltz.

I've also painted two portrait models for Becky. One SM driving horse, and a Haflinger (who I can't find pictures of...)

One of the reasons portrait models are so special to me is that I ride lesson horses. My dad is in the army and we aren't in a position to own one. The sad thing is that horses come and go, and when you don't own them... You have no say.

Portrait models are a great way to remember! I have 2 more real horses I want in plastic, now to find painters and molds! :)

Real Horses at Breyerfest

I finally got around to editing the majority of my Breyerfest photos and thought I'd share some of my favorites.

The first ones I took were in the arena right beside the Special Run line. Some of the riders for the reining demonstration were warming up their horses. I really enjoyed taking photos of them, they were very photogenic!

This is one of my favorites, the horse looks super relaxed and happy.

The rest of these photos were taken in the indoor arena. I apologize for the eh quality of these photos,  the lighting was sucky and that made the camera not happy...

We watched the icelandics several times. It was really cool to see them all tólt together. Svali, one of the 2016 Breyers, was just as impressive as he seems in person!

I watched a couple minutes of a natural horsemanship demonstration, this guy rode his paint in a halter/lead flawlessly! I've tried it before, and even using a saddle it was very difficult!

Another great group was the Young Guns Drill Team. We watched every performance they did and it was amazing! 

The horses were mostly stock breeds but there was also an Arabian or two.

I also saw one of the only pure Sugarbush draft horses left, Harley Quinn's Classic O.

Lastly, they had a versatile Arabian demo. This featured lots of Arabians doing lots of events.

First, there was a sidesaddle mare...

Then came a showjumper, who put up a big fit and refused the jumps several times.

There was also a champion gelding who did his trail demonstration bridleless.

My favorite was the classic presentation Arab...

But this lovely dressage gelding,

And the arena costume mare were also great!

There also was the donkey, Hickory Hills Wall Street.

He really wasn't in the mood to walk quietly around the ring, though.

Last was Diablo DC and Endo the Blind. My mom really enjoyed these guys, but I think it wasn't as much about the horses based on the sheer amount photos of the riders on my camera...

But this will have it's own post soon. ;)