Virtual Brush Box

Celebrating Art

 
Awareness of the outside world. “That electric blue that all of us dream of pinning on our horses’ bridles.” Calling All Horse Girls: One In Six Hundred and Sixteen, by July Urschel. No, I’m chopping onions. Why do you ask?
~~~
Recent Additions. Thank you to Identify Your Breyer: for the model/mold data. Still have no plans for these, other than “Oooooh, pretty.” Bought back in December. I can’t blame cabin fever.

Lightning Ridge. Model #1817, mold #721. Desatado mold. “Desatado was introduced in 2012 … It was sculpted by Kristina Lucas Francis.” Other links, Identify Your Breyer: Desatado. Other links, Model Horse Madness: Khalid, Lightning Ridge and the Seafoams are here!. Lightning Ridge Opals are from Lightning Ridge, Australia. Gem info International Gem Society: Australian Opals.

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Bisbee. Model #1815, mold #736. “The Mustang Mare (also known as Forever Saige) was released in 2015 … It was sculpted by Kristina Lucas Francis.” Identify Your Breyer: Mustang Mare. Other links, Model Horse Madness: Bisbee!, Model Horse Madness: Bisbee is (finally) here!, Breyer History Diva: Bisbee. Bisbee turquoise is from Bisbee, Arizona, USA. Town & gem show tour International Gem Society: Bisbee Mineral Show

As I have done every year since 2015, I bought the MEPSA result book as inspiration for my model horse photo showing. I know the chances of me actually getting around to organizing a photo shoot and entering a contest are vanishingly small. If I wanted to, I would have done so by now. I like to think it’s a possibility. Allow me my fantasies.

Plus a handful of Stablemates Mystery Horse Surprise Blind Bags & Mini Whinnies Surprise Packs to relieve the ennui of errands.

Research Notes for Rest of the Herd
Model refers to the paint job; mold is the underlying body. AFAIK

Fire. The only one I have managed to name. Chinese Year of the Horse. Breyer model #1715, mold #717. “The Esprit mold was designed specifically for the 2010 World Equestrian Games (WEG). It was sculpted by Kathleen Moody.” Identify Your Breyer: Espirit. [Shopping: My First Model]

Illumination. Breyer model #1799, mold #1279. “Nokota was introduced in 2007. The mold name refers to a feral and semi-feral breed of horse native to the North Dakota badlands. It was sculpted by Kathleen Moody.” Identify Your Breyer: Nokota. [Low Key Photo Challenge: Toys]

Winter Wonderland – The 2017 Holiday Horse. Model #700120, mold #725. “The Totilas mold was introduced in 2013 and is a portrait model of Dutch Warmblood dressage superstar Totilas. The mold was sculpted by Brigitte Eberl.” Identify Your Breyer: Totilas. [Speaking of Shopping Sprees, My Latest Breyer Purchases]. Second photo from Breyer site.

Sam. Model #, mold #476. “The Cigar mold was introduced in 1998 and is a portrait model of 1995 Horse of the Year Thoroughbred racehorse Cigar. It was sculpted by Susan Carlton Sifton.” Identify Your Breyer: Cigar. [Foto Friday: A Suitable Subject]

Frankel, left. Model #1712, mold #586. “Smarty Jones was introduced in 2004 and is a portrait model of 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Smarty Jones. The mold was sculpted by Susan Carlton Sifton.” Identify Your Breyer: Smarty Jones. [Shopping Bonanza]

Harley D Zip, right. Model #1718, mold #728. “The Loping Quarter Horse, also known as Latigo, was introduced in 2013 … It was sculpted by Sommer Prosser.” Identify Your Breyer: Latigo [Shopping Bonanza]

Peppermint Kiss. Model #700118, mold #728. “The Gem Twist mold was introduced in 1993 and is a portrait model of Olympic and World Champion show jumper Gem Twist … The model was sculpted by Kathleen Moody. Identify Your Breyer: Gem Twist [Shopping Bonanza]

Artist Links
Susan Carlton Sifton: Sam, Frankel
Sommer Prosser: Harley D Zip
Model Horse Gallery: Kathleen Moody: Fire, Illumination, Peppermint Kiss
Kristina Lucas Francis: Lightning Ridge, Bisbee
Brigitte Eberl: Winter Wonderland

Post Archive
[Model Horses]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Welcome Meg! [Archives]
Meg McKinney, Photographer
[We – The Unicorns … Arrive]
[We – The Unicorns … Go On A Road Trip]
~~~

We – The Unicorns … Bring their magic, to the Magic City

Story and Photographs by Meg McKinney

Until now, we’ve only seen our visiting unicorns in daylight. But they go out at night, seeking adventures, and make discoveries in our world.

One recent evening, Twinkle, with her brilliant pink coloring glowing brightly, encouraged the herd to visit downtown Birmingham, Alabama, a.k.a. the Magic City.

“Let’s go! We must make the most of our time here. There’s so much to see. Maybe we’ll make new friends,” Twinkle said, breathlessly, while shaking her product-enhanced mane and tail.

Mystic took the lead, naturally, directing the group towards the city’s lights, avoiding traffic jams, and gawkers, altogether.

With their unearthly powers, they transformed Morris Avenue’s red brick, cobblestone pavement, into a purple carpet, as their hooves touched down. The buildings – former livery stables and boarding houses – faded into the shadows.

While the unicorns’ colors and glittery speckles were enhanced by the street lights, they didn’t pay attention to the street’s transformation. Unicorns are used to magic.

Seeing a sliver of a rainbow in the east, as the sun was setting in the west, as a good omen, they cantered to the Alabama Theater, on Third Avenue North. Theater lights were blazing.

“Oh, they’re showing films tonight!” Twinkle said, and trotted in place, hoping to attract a Hollywood talent agent. Starlight and Mystic stayed close to her, not wanting to attract agents of any kind.

To Twinkle’s disappointment, no agent materialized.

Melody, herd coordinator for all things practical, sniffed the air, and detected freshly popped popcorn. She spied food trucks down the street from the theater.

“Nothing here for us to eat,” she sighed, “only provisions for people. And, Birmingham doesn’t have water troughs for horses, any more.”

The dark purple unicorn mare thought longingly of their guest stables, where the herd’s daily menu consisted of delicious oats drizzled with pomegranate molasses, first-cut alfalfa hay, and fresh spring water.

Not having been to an historic theater before, the unicorns walked inside the Alabama Theater’s lobby, and looked around. Theater-goers were intently networking among themselves, so the unicorns went unnoticed.

A few notes from the Mighty Wurlitzer organ reached the lobby. The unicorns had to see what created this music, and they went inside the theater itself.

The grandeur of the theater left them speechless. It was beyond anything they’d seen before.

They returned outside, and toured more of Birmingham.

Mystic sensed brighter colors for the herd to enjoy, and followed traffic to the 18th Street tunnel. The changing LED light display entranced the unicorns, as traffic streaked past them.

Starlight, head of the unicorns’ security detail, with her no-nonsense blue coloring, thought they should stay there until dawn. The unicorns coloring matched the tunnel’s light show. She felt secure.

But, after several cycles of the light show, Melody, Mystic, and Twinkle wanted to see more of the Magic City.

They trotted for a few blocks, and saw very tall buildings.

“These are called skyscrapers,” Mystic announced, as they looked to the sky.

Melody asked, “I wonder what skyscrapers are for? I don’t see any paddocks, and the windows look too small let in sunlight.”

Mystic was hoping to see the tunnel lights one more time, but the other unicorns decided it was time to return to their guest stables. They were thinking of a late night buffet with oats and hay.

The big surprise, to us mortals, is that no one noticed the unicorns, or, at least, reported seeing them, in our midst.

Unicorns have their own magic, for travelling in the Magic City.
~~~

Photographing toy unicorn models is a welcome challenge presented by “Virtual Brush Box,” during the pandemic of 2020.

For this edition, I photographed them in my kitchen, with a back light, projected through a soft-light reflector. My camera is resting on household items, to get closer focus on the unicorns. I photo-shopped the unicorns into my own Birmingham photographs.

The opportunity to create a fictional story — a complete diversion from photojournalism and corporate photography –- is new territory.

Follow “We – The Unicorns…” as they let me know when, and where, they roam.

Unicorn Stablemates created by Breyer Animal Creations.

Meg McKinney

Travel, of a sort

 

Awareness of the outside world. Beneficiaries – BreyerFest 2020.
~~~

Today is the first day of Celtic Fling, Virtual BreyerFest 2020. I’m not completely sure how everything is organized. That’s okay, no one else knows either. Breyer has been around for 70 years. BreyferFest for 31. This is the first virtual. This is my first BreyerFest of any kind. Time at BreyerFest 2020 will be time spent staring at a screen, either watching events or shopping.

Things to Look At
Guest Horses
Seminars
Workshops
Model Horse Photo Show, update
Best Customs Contest, photos Braymere Custom Saddlery: BCC finishwork entries
Diorama Contest, photos Braymere Custom Saddlery: BreyerFest Diorama Contest entries, part one, four parts.
Live Auction
Silent Auction
Artisan’s Gallery, update
Vendors
Equus Film Festival

Of course, some of these could make the leap from “look” to “buy” if I am struck coup de foudre by an artist’s resin. I don’t think it’s likely. This is not a high expense-risk event for me. Okay, I will admit to one, tiny grail model that might be hanging out in a vendor’s barn, Herald-Leader: Breyer adds ‘Big Lex’ to its stable, Staff report, 2010. We’ll see. Really, my shopping list is long enough as it is.

Things To Buy
Commemorative Model. Comes with my ticket.

Special Run Models. IRL, one gets a ticket for a certain time. Enters the Special Run sales tent. Is allowed to buy two models from available stock. To recreate this exercise in enforced scarcity, we submitted a list of preferences in order. At the appointed time, I will be offered two models based on my list and what is available. My top choice was the decorator model Boudicca. I assume I will get this because decorators are not a fan favorite. I also chose the surprise. I don’t have a strong preference among the rest, I’ll take whatever they give me. Needless to say, I’m very much a tourist in the hobby.

Limited Editions. Have my eye on the shiny green stablemate, Éire. Not sure if this is limited or unlimited. I only want one, so I should be fine. Okay, maybe two. They’re small.

Regular Run. All the normal Breyer products will be on sale as well, I assume. Expert advice says yes. This one is pretty. Lipizzan Mare & Foal, Favory Airiella Gift Set.

Probably a few other things that will leap into my cart when I’m not looking.

Raffle. They have three. Tickets are free, but I have to remember to enter. Update.

All the loot bought from Breyer will be held until after the event, combined into one order, and sent with free shipping. Nice.

Things To Do
The exception to all of this screen time is the Gaelic Gallop on Sunday morning. I signed up for this back in January, when life was still normal. Remember those days?

May walk in the pasture. May do multiple laps of a pocket park near me.

More Links
Celtic Fling nail art from eternalequestrian on Instagram.

BreyerFest posts from the miniature artist who blogs – not often enough – as Desktop Stables, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014 II, 2014 I. Their work is amazing.

[VBB Model Horse Post Archive]

Meanwhile, Elsewhere in KHP

Over in the Rolex Arena, the Saddlebreds are showing IRL at the Lexington Junior League Horse Show. To my mind, gathering hundreds of horses from 30 states is not the best choice of activity in the middle of a pandemic, but no one has appointed me dictator of the world. Having made the decision to go ahead, KHP/LJL have done what they can. Here’s what I saw via the livestream on Monday.

Judges, ringmaster, etc. wore masks.

Much messaging, both on the video crawl and by the announcer, on masks & social distance.

I think I glimpsed a mask with the horse show logo. Handed out by show? No, sold as a fundraiser.

Victory pass but no presentation shot.

Blue ribbon handed out in the ring. Rest of the ribbons given outside of the ring.

No post-ride interview.

Ring took up half of the Rolex arena. Other half used for warm-up. Lots of space. Rolex arena is huge. Lots of room for warm-up and entry. Exit lane may have been a little tight, but most people hustle right on out of there.

No crowding along the rail.

No spectators allowed. Lots of space in seating. People were seated far apart, in clumps. I assume those are the ones they came with and already have each other’s germs.

Judging from the still photos from the official photographer, the rails look to have gotten more crowded as the week went on. Still, many masks.

Mitigating the creep factor. I wasn’t stalking Reagan as much as Stepping Stone Farm in general. The day that I livestreamed, Reagan was the only adult showing, so she represented. After that, I refuse to admit how many times I checked the schedule & results at HorseShowsOnline: LJLHS 2020 or surfed the photos at Howard Schatzberg Photography: Lexington Jr. League.

As you can see, I’m still guilty of living other people’s lives instead of my own, a little bit. That’s why I limited myself to one day of livestream. It was tempting to get the whole week. Not a good use of time since I end up watching all the sessions, because they’re paid for. Turns out, you can learn a lot from close examination of show proofs.

SSF has one more class this morning & then heading home. Safe travels.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Fit To Ride

 
Awareness of the outside world. World Toilet Organization.
~~~

5K at home
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Pasture
Time – 1:05:37
Pace, clock – 21:11 min/mile
Pace, calculated – 2.9 mph

Medal from Virtual Strides. No real-world location associated with this walk. Virtual Strides: Gotta Go.

The Plan
Walked the day before. One of the bikes needed a farrier. No biking. Figured I see how I did with two walks in one weekend. Originally planned to do this in a local park for variety. However, this was the day after l’affaire cat food. I was not up for dealing with people. Pasture here I come. [Flying Pig Saturday, Putting The Outside World In Time Out]

The Possibility
Can I do this in one hour? Can I mosey peacefully 15% faster? You’d think so. I did the first two IRL in 54 & 56 minutes. Same distance, right?

Ha.

Terrain. Off road. Not to mention the distraction of wandering into the barn to check on, feed, pat horses.

The Problem
To average a 20-ish minute pace, or just over 3 mph, one has to occasionally go faster to make up for times when one goes slower. In addition to the above mentioned horses, pasture distractions include patting the dog who has come out for a visit and removing a vine you almost tripped over.

After all that stomping, I wasn’t even close. I guess I’ll go back to my turtle pace. What I got to rush off for?

[Walk Archives]

Do you walk, run, exercise for the pure joy of it, or do you need bling/ribbons to keep you motivated? Tell me I’m not alone.

Update. Virtual race benefits Girls with Guts, “The mission of Girls With Guts is to support and empower women with inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease & ulcerative colitis) and/or ostomies through the building of sisterhood and self-esteem.” ibid.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 
Awareness of the outside world (& friend brag). Photo guru Meg McKinney was hired to take the photos of the Montgomery mural in this article, Alabama News Center: Black Lives Matter murals paint Alabama in a different light this 4th of July. More on the mural, AL.com: Montgomery slave market site bears ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural. [Archives]
~~~
In the process of switching Milton to the senior feed that Rodney is on. Switch is official, just feeding out the last bag, which of course takes longer and longer as you feed less and less of the old feed. Zeno’s feed scoop.

Rodney’s feed. ProElite Senior.

Milton’s old feed. ProElite Performance.

The more I fed, the more I wondered why we bothered with two bags. Looked awfully similar to me.

Bag comparison:
Adds alfalfa
Beet pulp, 17% -> 16%, close enough
Protein, 12% -> 14%, not crazy about this but his dinner scoop is small
Less fat*
No oats

Don’t see any deal breakers. Single bag it is. Let’s see how long that lasts. One way or another we always seem to end up back with separate bags. *Side note, Previous Horse & Matilda got veg oil as supplement for years. Did great. These two not so much. Weird.

The rest of dinner is the same, mostly:

Cosequin for both

Cimetidine for Milton [Annoying Shortages]

Sand-Aid, although haven’t feed in a while. Keeping boats unrocked.

Treat. Not shopping as often = less fresh fruit. I’ve gotten out of the habit of a tossing in an apple or carrot. Don’t worry, they get plenty of carrots & cookies from the cookie dispensary. (Not me, I’m the buzzkill. I insist on work for treats.)

[What’s In The Feed Scoop, Winter 2020]

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Awareness of the outside world. Blackout Day.
~~~

This is wrong. The horse is happy. While it’s not quite as thick as the photo makes it appear, there is a lot of padding stuffed in there.

How did we get here?

The minions can be slow.

The Week Before. Rodney was a star. Cantered to the corner of the pasture. A first.

Week off for rain.

Day One. Not a good ride. Hey, we all have off days.

Day Two. Walked at length, calmly and quietly. Cranky at trot. Again. Too cranky. I’m not riding this. Got off. Had him lunged. Horse shirty for a while then settled.

Day Three. Acted as if he would run off, or go sideways, or both, if I asked him to trot. Old habit resurfacing. Light began to dawn. [Evil Twin, note the discussion over there was prior to the padding epiphany.]

Day Four. Change padding, Halfway through ride, horse was over it & back to being happy and calm. Rider took a while longer.

Upward progress ever since.

Padding History
Because of course my horse has unusual padding demands that need to be tweaked every few months.

Back in September, we put a felt pad to fill in the divot in Rodney’s back. Magic. [Rodney’s Padding]

Sometime between then and now, we added a thinner grey felt pad as the black pad began to squash down. Cut from a trimmed remnants of Milton’s grey felt pad. [Milton’s Padding]

The latest change was to swap out the old grey pad for a new black one. He now wears double black pads. The original, shaped pad and a new one for thickness. So, when Rodney decided that he absolutely could not function under these conditions, he HAD padding. Quite a bit. He wanted more, or different.

Examining the rejected grey felt, I wonder if the issue is thickness or stiffness. Or a combination thereof. The grey is not that much thinner than it was but it is much more flexible. Maybe the rigidity of the felt keeps the saddle from banging around on his back. Once it gets floppy, it doesn’t work as well.

This will be on ongoing experiment. I can tell.

The space along one side of his withers is from an old, severe injury. The muscle is atrophied, scarred, or simply missing. Lately the depression has been getting deeper, thereby leaving more space to fill. Either he was adding muscle along the rest of his topline (a dog can dream) or bulking up the fat pockets he likes to carry on his shoulders (more likely).

Fill space => saddle sits on back better => horse is rideable. Goes against all standard saddle fitting theory. Hard to argue with the results.

The key moment for Rodney is asking for the second trot. At that point, he’s trotted once and has decided whether or not the saddle arrangements meet with his approval. If he trots off quietly, we good. If he thinks it is going to be uncomfortable to trot again, he makes his feelings known.

Noted. Will keep in mind for future.

Final padding post because I find this one amusing, [Recent Changes, When You Find Out You Are Not As Good As You Thought You Were].

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Thoughts, Horsekeeping, Training Journal

 
Awareness of the outside world. During a televised horse race from the UK, one of the commentators said that some of the horses prefer racing in front of empty stands. Less noise? Less tension in the air?
~~~

Back on this side of the Atlantic, our horses are adapting well to shutdown, semi-shutdown, Safer at Home, call it what you will.

Milton LOVES having someone around the barn all day. Although the major bread-winner’s job is open, he goes in only when necessary. He’s WFH the rest of the time. He has set up an office in the barn aisle.[Unintended Consequences]

Of course, a person around the barn means an increase in cookie breaks and hay snacks. Milton is definitely for those. In addition, Milton just plain likes hanging around people. Always has. (Unless the people is me, then no, but that’s a different blog post.) After a lesson, Milton would happily stand around listening to the people talk rather than wandering off to hunt grass. OTOH, Rodney is better about amusing himself, i.e. grazing. He’s all for the cookie fests and hay snacks.

While work is being done in the aisle, Milton loafs in the run-in half of the barn. Rodney comes in because that’s were the herd is. After a while Rodney can’t take it anymore and goes out to eat grass. Milton follows because that’s where the herd is going. After a while Milton can’t take it any more and comes back to the barn. Rodney follows because …

The other observation has been Rodney’s fly button. Milton stands in front of the fan. Rodney stands behind Milton. This is second banana position. It also puts Rodney’s snoot in the path of Milton’s swishy tail. Flies are flicked off of Rodney’s face. When the tail slows, Rodney reaches out and touches Milton on the butt. Milton feels something on his skin. The tail swishing resumes. I’ve seen this in action. It’s hysterical.

The go-nowhere approach to riding agrees with them. Since we are home so much, both horses are getting worked daily. Except for when they take a week off for rain, or a month off for being a cupcake about their shoes. They get lots of work in terms of frequency, not lots of work in terms of intensity.

When you have no plans, it’s easier to be philosophical about day-to-day progress. Having a good ride? Great. Having a bad day? Too hot? Ah well, ratchet down the work, find something to quit on, and try again tomorrow.

Probably ought to have more of this attitude in non-pandemic times.

How about you? Pets happy for the company or over it?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott