2019 Safari Models

Safari have announced their 2019 range. You can view the full range here: https://store.safariltd.com/collections/whats-new

In the meantime here are my selected highlights:


Good luck minis beavers! YEP TINY BEAVERS! OMG!



Merhorse



Chinchilla


Thoroughbred


Tinker - I love this one

New Arabian Mould

With the new Breyer website has come a better image of the new Stablemate Arabian mould that is due to be released as part of the 2018 Stablemate Club.



I can't say I'm a massive fan (but I wasn't based on the silhouette either), it will be interesting to see how it translates into plastic. Afterall one can't really make a judgement until one has the model in hand to look at!

The Julip Hoard

Wow, what a 24 hours it's been! I've finally sat down today and gone through my images and catalogued the 18 Julips I'm keeping out of the lot (spot the missing one :p).

There are still two, however, that I'm not sure on the mould of, I think I've got the rest right but feel free to correct me if you think there are any errors! And if you can ID the mould on the two that I'm not sure on that would be amazingly helpful :)

For those who aren't on Facebook here is where these came from and their story:

So a few weeks ago I came across a very interesting auction online.

It was described as 18 Julip horses and accessories and had one very poor photo that basically showed some boxes and a black horse stood up.

After much computer based inspection I could make out what appeared to be a few originals, enough that I knew it was worth taking a punt on and enough that I could set a maximum.

So I spoke to Brendon (and my parents) and he agreed that he would drive me to Cornwall to pick them up if I won. He also agreed they could be my birthday present and we set a maximum we were prepared to pay (afterall for all we knew there could be 18 modern HOTY models in bad condition)!

Last Wednesday I sat in my parents hall, praying to the gods of internet connections, and watched half an auction until my lot came up.

I bid. And bid. And came very close to my maximum! Someone in the room was bidding which gave me confidence that they weren't all awful. In the end we paid less than our maximum including fees which was nice :D

And so today we got up at 4.30am to drive to Cornwall to find out exactly what I got. I had set my hopes low, but I knew at the price we paid there only needed to be 3 originals for it to be worth while.

Well what can I say. There are some moments as a collector you just get lucky. Lucky you found the thing, lucky nobody else found the thing and lucky you were prepared to take a risk (and an amazing husband).

In total there were 19 (somebody can't spell) horses. 18 Julip Originals and the black thing I could see in the listing that is maybe a custom? Maybe a repair job? No idea.

There were also 8 riders, a huge amount of tack, a few little bits and bobs, some 1980's catalogues and a fox hound :D (o and a metal comb which obviously I am very excited about).

I am so over the moon with these guys :) 18 of them are staying with me, one is going to live with someone very special who I think needs cheering up. I've named one of them but the rest are yet to be named! The dapple grey has been named Cloudberry, it just seemed to suit her.

Some of them were tagged with breeds and I do actually have the name of the original owner as one of the boxes was addressed. Sadly none were tagged with names :( But they've come to a good home, they'll live with me and the rest of my extensive Julip herd (they've already met Crackers...) for the rest of their lives :D No more cold auction rooms for these babies, just a cold pony room instead!

(I'm afraid to say some are going back into boxes if they can't stand to help preserve them, the rest are going in the glass cabinet with the other vintage Julips).

Enjoy the eye candy :D I know I can't stop looking at them!

Now onto the models, each one now has a name :)

(1) CRS The Dark (Pebbles)

Child's Hunter Pony

(2) CRS The Death of Lorca (Lorca)

Show Hunter

(3) CRS Decameron (Deca)

Dartmoor

(4) CRS The Devil's Discus (Discus)

Child's Hunter Pony

(5) CRS Cloudberry (Cloudberry)

Arab Stallion

(6) CRS Big Red (Red)

American Quarter Horse

(7) CRS Doctor Zhivago (Zhivago)

Shetland

(8) CRS Droll Stories (Drolly)

Shetland?

(9) CRS Ecstasy (Ecstasy)

No idea! Any ideas?

(10) CRS Elmer Gantry (Elmer)

Cob Mare

(11) CRS Fanny Hill (Fanny)

Fell

(12) CRS Feast of the Seaweed (Seaweed)

Thoroughbred

(13) CRS Fifty Shades of Black (Fife)

Heavy Hunter

(14) CRS Frankenstein (Franken)

Highland

(15) CRS Forever Amber (Amber)

New Forest

(16) CRS The Fugitive (Fugi)

Welsh Pony

(17) CRS The First Circle (Cicle)

Welsh Pony

(18) CRS God's Laugh (Laura)

Also not sure about this one? Any ideas?

And finally we have CRS Grapes of Wrath aka Grape the Foxhound :D

New Breyer Website

Breyer have launched a brand new look website, I can't say I'm massively enamoured with it but I'm sure one will get used to it!

It was really easy to activate my old account, go to the homepage and enter your email address, click the link, create a password and you'll have access to all your old orders as well as any Collector's Club etc. memberships.

You can view their new site here: https://www.breyerhorses.com

BMECS Fun!

It's that time of year again :D With just one week to go we have a range of fun and games both for those attending and not attending BMECS this year!

Guess the Champion

Each year on Facebook we ask you to guess what breed/colour/performance type you think each champion will be and this year is no different.

From Monday - Friday we will put up posts for each section. All you have to do is comment underneath what you think will win.

We will choose a winner randomly from all those with correct answers and they will win an extra special prize, I'm not revealing what the prizes are this year but they are pretty cool :D

You can find our Facebook page here

T&Cs

For a full copy of our competition terms and conditions please email competitions@chestnutridge.co.uk

Some important things:

(1) Winners are responsible for postage costs on their prize - these are £2.95 to the UK but will vary for different international locations
(2) One entry per person per post
(3) The winner will be chosen at random from all correct answers - where there are no correct answers no prize will be issued
(4) All entries must be in by 7am GMT on Saturday 29th September 2018.

BMECS Treasure Hunt

Find all the items on our BMECS Treasure Hunt whilst at the show and you could win a very special prize.

Add your images to Instagram with #BMECSTreasureHunt or add them on the Facebook post.

Not Attending Treasure Hunt

If you aren't attending BMECS this year don't worry you could also win a prize! Your treasure hunt is below.

Upload to Instagram with #BMECSNATreasureHunt or add them as comments on the Facebook post for your chance to win a prize.

ENTRY DEADLINE: 6am Monday 1st October 2018

A Step Away from Perfection

Do you ever feel really low about your work? You see all these pretty horses that people have painted online and could never be that good?

Well rest assured everyone started somewhere! And that somewhere was not great...

So for today's blog post we are going to take a trip down memory lane and have a look at some of those "yea I'd rather forget that" moments from my customising past!

Feel free to laugh!

(entries for Worst Custom By Owner classes can definitely be found here)!

Check out that over spray! She has black boobs :p

Gold muchly?

Aaa March you never ending winning Worst Custom by Owner entry!

What happens when you dip your horse in coal? This apparently.

What is this? Just what was I thinking!

The infamous cow pony!

Honestly this horse should come with some form of public health warning!

Paint doesn't make it better!

I encourage other artists out there to share their dark past horses! Let people know that they will improve!

And don't worry...even now I still create offences to model horse kind...

WEG Postal Show Results

Thank you so much to everyone who entered our WEG postal show :D We hope you really enjoyed it and love your new rosettes which are in the post and on their way to you!

For those who haven't seen the results and certificates can be found on our website here:

But for those who are too lazy to click a link the results are below: https://www.ukmodelhorses.com/weg-postal-show-2018.html

1 - Endurance

1st - Athame owned by TM
2nd - Firebrand owned by SC
3rd - Prince Caspian owned by SD
4th - Desert Dream owned by HL
5th - Desert MoonRise owned by IM

2 - Reining

1st - Doctordonna owned by SC
2nd - Indy owned by SD
3rd - Dun to Perfect owned by TM
4th - Goldie owned by SC
5th - Isadora Cruce owned by HL
6th - Saturn's Dance owned by IM

3 - Dressage Grand Prix

1st - Dakota owned by TM
2nd - Enigma owned by SC
3rd - Pride of Vole owned by SD

4 - Dressage Grand Prix Special

1st - Roly Fox owned by SD

5 - Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle

1st - Sun Girl owned by HL
2nd - Jedi owned by SD
3rd - Chaucer owned by SC
4th - Phoenix owned by TM
5th - Science and Faith owned by IM

6 - Eventing - Dressage

1st - Mickelin owned by TM
2nd - Fleetwood Fox owned by SD
3rd - Watercolour owned by SC
4th - Valegro owned by HL
5th - Autumn's Glow owned by IM

7 - Eventing - Cross Country

1st - Domino owned by SC
2nd - Echo owned by TM
3rd - Presant owned by SC
4th - Acarmas of Athens owned by IM
5th - Mr. Blue Sky owned by SD
6th - Smarty Jones owned by HL

8 - Eventing - Show Jumping

1st - High Flyer owned by SC
2nd - Silver Stone owned by SC
3rd - Gemini owned by TM
4th - Light owned by HL
5th - Endless Skies owned by IM
6th - Doublet owned by SD

9 - Paradressage Grade I

1st - Moon owned by HL

11 - Paradressage Grade III

1st - Black Pearl owned by IM

14 - Vaulting Individual

1st - Night owned by HL

15 - Vaulting Freestyle

1st - Bear owned by HL
2nd - Alexandrite owned by IM

16 - Jumping - Speed

1st - Bothwell owned by SD
2nd - Castiel owned by TM
3rd - Sky Full of Song owned by IM

17 - Jumping Freestyle

1st - Caranto owned by TM
2nd - Zephyrus owned by IM
3rd - Frankel owned by HL
4th - Persian Red owned by SD

18 - Driving Dressage

1st - Berlin, Lex's Captain, Watson D and Baccardi owned by TM

How To Choose Your Next Model Horse?

It's the problem we all have, we totes need a new model horse but which one to get? There are so many? How do we decide which of the thousands of pretty ponies out there we will be adding to our herd next?

Well do not fret! I am here to offer you great and wise guidance (and totally not enabling at all) on how to choose the next pony for your collection.

Lists

One of the best ways to organise what you are going to buy is to write lists. You can add these with savings (this is what I used to do as a teenager) and it is absolutely perfect if you are a bit of a spreadsheet or journalling nut!

Write a list of all the model horses you want to purchase (or need to purchase, you know those two words basically mean the same thing). You could add an approximate amount and even do little squares to colour in as you save up.

You could randomise the list as well to make it a bit more...well...random! If you are looking at inspiration check out eBay listings (particularly on eBay.com), current dealer websites, cataloguing websites like Identify Your Breyer and social media sites to see what should be on your must buy list!

Pandora is an example of a list purchase - back when I first started in the hobby I wrote long lists of everything I was going to buy.

The Impulse Buy

This is often the reason the models on our wish lists never get purchased, it is because we are impulse buying too many model horses! 

Hit the sales pages and eBay and start to scroll through, you never know what you'll find! See something that takes your fancy and buy it.

Just a word of warning - don't use this method too often. Your bank account will hate you (and what I mean by that is yes totally buy that pony).

Fiori (like many of my RubberNedz) was very much an impulse purchase. I should probably impulse purchase less expensive things...

Random is Fun

This is quite a fun way to choose a new model, you can end up with something you would never have normally chosen.

This is a good method to use for buying lower value regular run models like Breyer and Schleich. You know when you just need a bit of pony happiness but don't really want anything in particular? I like it because it adds lots of variety to my collection. It is also useful if you have something like a voucher to spend.

When I purchase things such as the Breyer Premier Club models I always buy another model to come with them, these are usually chosen at random like Toyland here.

Get Someone Else to Choose

OK so you better trust your friends but this can be quite fun! Give someone a budget and tell them to go find you the perfect model horse under it and then buy it! 

Obviously this requires some trust and I don't really recommend it for higher budget purchases but I think it is worth doing at least once. You never know what they'll choose and you could end up with something that is not only really random but also a memento of your friendship.

Smexy wasn't actually chosen by me! I got my mother to choose his colour, she said he should be spotty and spotty he was. Clearly she made a very good choice.

Buy The Model You've Wanted For Years

You know that regular run Breyer you wanted but never purchased? That model you've seen up for sale so many times but never quite got around to buying? Maybe you've had your eye on something in the show ring.

One of the problems with running a dealership is you never end up buying the models you like! I'd been after a Rainbow Unicorn Mare for a while but never got one for myself. So when I found one in the Toys R' Us closing down sale I just had to have her!

Well now is the time to buy it! Quite often we can buy the new shiny thing and never get around (or have the money for) that model we've been after for a long time. Don't put it off. Make the purchase, you'll feel so much better and you'll get something you really love.

Bogeyman

This year's Breyer Web Special Halloween classic is definitely interesting!

I'm wondering whether a bogey is the same thing in the USA than in the UK? Snot covered model horse anyone :p

That said I do rather like her, just can't justify the shipping :( Unlikely she'll still be around when I actually need to place an order!





Sale link: https://www.breyerhorses.com/bogeyman

WEG Postal Show

I am running a free to enter postal show with the theme of the World Equestrian Games

How Does it Work?

Just email over the entry form (you basically just put the name of up to 10 horses in a table) and you are all done! It is perfectly simple and completely free.

You don't need to submit any pictures or anything and it isn't actually done through the post!

The Prizes

I have ordered 20 rosettes for the class winners and there will also be printable certificates for 1st-6th place :)

Entry Deadline: 15th September 2018

This show is completely free and open to all! Share with your friends and lets get as many entries as possible :D

Results are judged at random, everyone has an equal chance of winning.

For more information about the show and to download the entry form please click here.

Having Fun with Outdoor Photography

So I promised I would start Blogging on a more regular basis and what better way to start off than a talk about outdoor photography.

We've had such dry weather this summer it has been almost perfect for model horse photography! If we ignore the often very bright sunshine.

So here is a little trip through some outdoor pictures and some tips on how you can get good lighting, good footing and generally have fun with your model horses outdoors!

Snow

OK so I know that I was initially talking about the Summer weather but I just love taking pictures in the snow so much! Snow makes for lovely light and a really great footing. The other good thing is you can use surfaces you wouldn't normally use such as tables and walls because the snow creates a realistic footing.

OK so here we have an example snow picture. Here you can see one of the biggest problems with snow photography and that is where the snow is too deep. I do quite like this shot because it looks like the horse is having fun playing in the snow but the long grass and deep snow makes it look out of scale and covers a large part of the horse - a big no no with model horse photography.

This is a much nicer example of an outdoor photograph. Here none of the hooves or legs are hidden by the snow as it has been crushed down where the horse is. You can see the grass is also much further away which means the horse looks in scale. The light is also really nice, there is a little reflection on the quarters - this is something you need to watch out for with slightly shiny models and snow pictures where there can often be a lot of light reflection.

Outdoor Backdrops

You don't just have to take outdoor shots using the natural environment. You can create mini scenes outside as well and use backdrops.

Here is a nice example of a really simple set up. A scenic mat, a backdrop and some lichen. I like the light in this shot, the foal is really clear and shown off. Unfortunately there is quite a lot of reflection on the backdrop though and also some shadowing which takes away from the realism of the photograph.

Here is an example of how outdoor pictures can sometimes cause you a few problems with lighting! Here we can see heavy shadowing from some form of plant that makes the picture quite atmospheric but doesn't lead to a great photoshow picture, particularly where there is shadowing on the background.

This is another example of a really simple set up. There is a painted backdrop and footing. This could be better but is a nice example of how you don't need anything fancy to get a decent shot!

General Outdoor Pics

Outdoor photography can often mean great light and a natural backdrop without much effort! But there are a few things to look out for, like long grass and...WIND! Gosh I hate wind so much...

Here we can see some lovely lighting but deep grass covering up the horse's hooves a bit too much. That said the light shows off his beautiful red colouration so well.

I love this picture. The background isn't massively realistic but the light and the colours just work so well. The light is perfectly hitting the horse and showing off his gorgeous shading. The grass at the front could have done with a bit of a trim.

Very deep grass does not a good picture make. Take a look at this picture of Ruffian in really deep grass and the picture below of Feoh on a area of ground which is more earth. Which do you prefer? The one below is clearly much nicer.

This shot of Feoh has lovely light and a nice base. It's just such a pity I didn't take the time to trim the grass and plants in the foreground as they are blurring her legs! If only those weren't there this would be a nice example of a good outdoor shot.

Long grass isn't the only issue with outdoor pictures. The background is really important. It's important to make sure the things in the background are realistic and in scale. Clearly our old house was not...

 Have you taken some cool outdoor shots over the Summer? Why not share them on the Chestnut Ridge Facebook page? I would love to see them :D