I realized that I have never really given the full story of how I got into the model horse hobby and where it has taken me in my photography skills and in my collection. I thought that it would be fun to share it with you!
It all started December of 2006......when I was 7 years old.
I got my first Breyer horses. They were named Apple (the appy mare) and Spots (the foal). After the first night I had them, Spots broke his back legs and I used glue to "repair" him, which didn't work very well (I knew nothing about fixing models back then).
He didn't stand very well, so I used Play-doh to stand him up. He was eventually traded to a friend.
I got my first Traditionals for my birthday in 2007. They were the Chubasco and Caravelle set, and I actually didn't care that much for them at first because they were bigger than my Classics and I couldn't play with them. Caravelle was eventually broken by one of my sisters, but I still own Chubasco..a.k.a. "Paintball."
In October of 2012, I only had around 40 models, and only 5 Traditionals. I found MEPSA and then started showing in the Novice Division. My first photo I entered was this:
I won Reserve Grand Champion with that photo (yes, I was in the NOVICE division and I was only competing with about 4 other people who has also started out).
I kept on working on my photography, but they were all pretty bad photos.
But I continued to get better and better, and at the end of the MEPSA show season I had quite a few qualifications with some of my models for the championship show.
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| 2013 |
Later that year, I got multiple ribbons and prizes. I continued to collect and tried performance showing.
We also moved from town into the country, which is mostly how my photography improved.
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| Yes, I know she is in the wrong lead here. This was my first performance picture PICTURE IS FROM 2013 |
I decided to stop performance until I had good tack (I still do not....)
In my last year of Novice, I didn't do as well because all of my models were placed in the wrong class by accident (it was my numbering fault, I had no idea how I put nearly ALL of my horses in different numbered classes but oh well!)
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| 2014 winnings |
After graduating from Novice and going into Open, I only did one qualifying show. Four of my 13 horses entered places 1st-3rd out of as many as 91 models per class, so I was very pleased. But after that I just got so busy I didn't keep showing. I still have not entered in a class yet. It has been over a year now and I do miss it, but we no longer have a color printer and I just do not have the time to put into so many photos and getting my horses qualified.
Because of that, I have been doing a lot of IMEHA stuff, and my horses are doing great!! My photography has improved very much, and you can see a big difference in the photos.
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| Oct. 2012 |
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| May 2015 |
Also, my collection has improved. From only 40 horses in 2012 to over 130 now and 36 Traditionals, I would say that the collection has grown!! :D
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| 2006-My first Models |
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| November 2015-My favorite models....or as many as I could fit into the picture! |
Who is your favorite model? Do you show? What is your model horse story? If you send your story to cowgirlyssa@gmail.com I will post it on here!
~CBL
