Windrush Winter Warmup

Yesterday I attended the only model horse show I've ever been to in January. It was hosted at the home of Kate and John Cabot, who graciously welcomed Region 10 into their home for an old fashioned model horse show. Kate and John have a LARGE house, that accommodated about a dozen showers, four judges, and a few significant others for the day. Showers hung out on folding chairs and couches at card and coffee tables, and the two show rings were in the dining room which had lovely natural light for most of the show. We were limited to just artist resins and customs, but there were separate divisions for them, and the classlist was split in ways that allowed for fewer apples and oranges type classes than you might see at a typical show in this region. It was small...some might even say intimate. We had a hot lunch, there were snacks and drinks all day, and we got to spend the day in slippers.












And it was ROARING fun. Seriously. I did not feel like I was at a model horse show all day at the end of it. There was none of that midday after lunch OMG is this the Bataan Death March feel that I get some days. I think part of it was that the group was small enough that instead of everyone sitting in groups of 4 with their usual posse, we all interacted with each other all day long.



Steve even made a new friend.



Sharon Mossey showed off her new Eberl Grace, finished by Steph Michaud,and this was about the only model horse photo I took. I went with good intentions to take pictures, and got bored with it in a hurry. Perhaps I'll change my mind when I go back into albums and scan for hours at a time. Anyway, this mare was gorgeous.





It was not a performance show, but I did bring my new blingy tack by Sue Bensama Young. Viva Las Vegas got to show it off. This sapphire halter went nicely with her Stock Breed Champ rosette, hee hee!



One silly photo of Fraley draft horses. I think Al, the Punjabi, is going to get bitten.



We were also treated to a view of Kate's horse room, which she calls "The Vault." She has these gorgeous built in cabinets, with lighting, glass shelves, and glass doored fronts. It was like looking at a museum exhibit. Once the shelving for the chinas and various vehicles are up, I hope Kate does put up small descriptions of the horses with some of their history. Wouldn't it be fun to organize "farm tours" of our collections?

Skye and I had a great conversation at dinner on our way home about how much fun this show was, and how some of its innovations could be used in the Region to help keep showing accessible and fun while allowing it to continue to mature. I'm saving that for a post later in the week. Make sure you check the Facebook page for some more photos Linda took!