July the 7th saw one of my favourite shows held at my local Live Show venue, Rothersthorpe.
The Village Hall in Rothersthorpe is a great Live Show venue in almost every way – the one reason I say almost every way, is the distinct yellow lighting the hall has, casting an amber tinge on all photographs taken, so please forgive my yellowish photos!
So, I actually missed the beginning of the show, I’m a bit overloaded at the moment with casting (a certain cheeky little colt model…) along with various orders that have been coming in so I had to make a trip to the Post Office before I could enjoy a “day off” at the show.
The morning saw the OF and CM sections. I’ll be honest and say I forgot to get my camera out and take photos during these sections, I was too distracted catching up with my old pals Ann and Yvette – we’d not seen each other since my Wedding in May and enjoyed a good gossip! I can report the Champion and Reserve though 
The OF Section Champion was this incredible piece of Royal Worcester, shown by Keren Gilfoyle-McGroarty . I took many photos of this gorgeous piece, he’s probably my holiest of grails!
The OF Section Reserve Champion was this model (I’m not sure of the mold on this one), shown by Wendy Goodson.
At lunchtime it was raffle time! I’ve been trying to sort my studio out and found a bunch of items to donate to the raffle, so in addition to the items that were already there, which included this Ltd Edition print of a drawing by Heather Irvine (BBC Wildlife Artist of the year 2012, no less!)…
…these lovely cards which I really fancied…
…and a host of other items including a Breyer Black Forest horse, a Breyer Haflinger mare, The Horse Whisperer in hardback, a cowboy book (full of photos of hunky cowboys, as pointed out by our hostess!), a lovely little CM Schleich model, a cute little Thelwell model and of course, the obligatory bottle of wine amongst other items, I added these:
A Babysitter resin(raw)
A cold cast Bronze Little One, this one broke both ears but I never got round to fixing them back on, I look forward to seeing it restored in the future
A copper verdigris Inferno (always very popular )
A bridle (unknown details) and a random ball*
And a Fly Fishing second.
*Random balls are created as a by-product of casting horses and medallions in coloured resins. SO although not-horse shaped, they are directly related to the models I make. They make nice gear knobs, too
The raffle raised lots of money so I like to think I did my bit to oil the wheels of running a live show as I admire anyone that takes on this task, though I may have got a little bit carried away, to be honest!
I didn’t win anything in the raffle, but Ann won a few items including the thoroughbred cards which she gave to me, I was so touched by that – thanks Ann!
So, back to the Live Show – here’s my table:
As you can see, I’m into AA models and Artist resins (and Chinas – that’s my Gustav!
) so the afternoon was about to get quite busy!
First up were the AA models, things got off to a relatively good start with my herd bringing in a few 3rd and 4th places and the odd BMEC qualifier. I was tickled when this happened though – this is the first time “Pre-Raphaelite” has been shown by me, so when he won his class (of 9 horses) shown as a NASD, I was tickled pink!
The AA Euro Heavies class is always full and today was no exception. The winner was the Earthenware Edmund model at the far left of this shot.
We had the full complement of Edmunds and Little Teds featured in this class, there was the Earthenware and resin versions of Edmund, the resin and bone china versions of Little Ted and even a resin Big Ted (which is a mini version of the model, but with long mane and tail).
I kept losing my camera, what with trying to photograph classes and move horses about, it kept getting left on the show table. It was pointed out at one point that it was pointed at one of the mini Arab’s backside. Someone said “What an odd photo to take, so of course, I had to press the shutter button!
I had an entry for the Arab class, as there were no costume classes I put it into the breed class. I wasn’t expecting much but was pretty chuffed to see my model called “Blingading” come third.
Finally it was the AA Youngstock class. My little palomino took a first here, giving me two models (along with PreRaphaelite) to take through into the AA Championship.
…and I couldn’t have been happier! My rearing NASD took the Animal Artistry champion title with Ann’s Suffolk Punch and rearing Circus Pony taking Reserve and Reserve to Reserve respectively.
The other show table moved to the AR section and up first were the Arab Stallions. This is the first time in a while that I’ve brought out my Optime resin (just as he’s quite big and I rarely have the energy to box him up).
So when I saw this I was very surprised and pleased!
I quickly realised, however, that good models weren’t all that was required for results at this show. Breed assignments were also being taken very seriously (as they should!). Sadly though this is an area I’m not very strong with so many of my models perhaps lost out because of poor breed assignment, or lack of documentation. I am hoping to put this right before my next show!
The Artist Resin section was full of gorgeous models, some I’d seen before and some were new. This is the Light Breed section winners line-up showing a selection of gems from the day:
This is the Other Pony class with Wendy’s selection of Kick the Can and Ollie Oxen Free models – I wouldn’t have wanted to judge this class!
and this is the European Heavies class with Ann’s awesome cold-painted multi-show champion china Valentin and Nicki’s resin Valentin amonst a selection of other treats. I had high hoped for my Gustav in his class…
…and he didn’t disappoint, coming third. I was pleased, but was a little puzzled by the placings in this class…
I was very pleased to see some of my little sculpts making their way into the classes. Here is the Thoroughbred class, in which there were no less than three Babysitter models!
I think this is the Sportshorse class, this is a different grey Babysitter taking a very respectable third place, even placing above a Valor!
The Warmblood class saw a couple of experimental entries, I entered my Sweet Lullaby (Hanoverian) and my Mindy Berg Babysitter (German Warmblood).
No placings this time but I’m happy to concede to the likes of the other models on the table, given the level they were at! My last-minute breed assignment probably didn’t help the little ladies either, poor things!
I had a few new models with me for this show, earlier in the year I received a fantastic box of goodies from Joanie Berkwitz, including two china Little Ones and this guy, a china Taboo:
His class was quite small so although he won it, it was a small victory. He was vindicated in the Spanish section class though, as he took the title of Spanish Champion too!
Youngstock were up next so I had a chance to show my new clinky Little Ones. The Light Youngstock class was first and I entered my chestnut model as a TB. She tooks a 2nd place which I was tickled pink over!
Next up was the Sportshorse Youngstock and the competition was tough! I entered my new appaloosa Little One and was thrilled to see it come first!
The Youngstock championship was up next and I had two entries! My little Horsing Around foal had also qualified as a NASD.
Yey!!! My Little One took the Youngstock Champion title. What a debut!
As the day drew to a close, the Supreme lineup was complete and the Supreme Championship was judged. The Custom, OF (won by two china models), AA and AR Champions were all lined up and we waited anxiously to see who would take the title.
…and the winner is….. Keren’s gorgeous Royal Worcester Suffolk Punch!! Congratulations Keren!
The Reserve Supreme Champion was my PreRaphaelite, yey!!
Wendy’s china Pony model took Res. to Reserve after being brought forward when the Suffolk was given Supreme.
After the show, Ann, Yvette and I headed off to our favourite local eatery and enjoyed a lovey dinner and gossip. After our meals we felt we could manage a nice bit of cake (Live Shows and naughty foods tend to go hand in hand!). When I say “a bit” though…. none of us quite expected the mountains of gooey goodness that were brought to us!! Those plates are huge!!! We stayed at least another hour but we just couldn’t put these cake-oliths away!
The next big event on my calendar is the Utterly Horses Hullabaloo. I’m really looking forward to the event, though I’m not currently planning on showing there but it'll be lovely seeing the models people are planning on bringing along.
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