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.