My Points System

Every time I share pictures of my collection Instagram and Facebook and talk about their average points I get questions about my points system, so I thought I should do a quick blog post about how I work out the points for each of my horses.

The Points

Let's start off very simply with the points. Each placing that a horse can get is allocated a number of points. The points get higher the better the placing. Below is how many points each placing is allocated.

Overall Champion = 100

Overall Reserve Champion = 85

Overall Reserve to Reserve Champion = 70

Section Champion = 50

Section Reserve Champion = 40

Section Reserve to Reserve Champion = 30

Champion = 25

Reserve Champion = 15

Reserve to Reserve Champion = 10

Top 10 = 25

Best of Breed/Group Winner = 8

1st Place = 6

2nd Place = 5

3rd Place = 4

4th Place = 3

5th Place = 2

6th Place = 1

Points are doubled for shows which the horse had to qualify for (BMECS/BILS/MECS/LEMS/Southern Champs/Northern Champs/NAN)

Here is a handy image that you can save/pin/print off for quick reference!

Keeping Records

So how do I keep the records?

All placings are written into a PowerPoint presentation. There is a slide with basic information about the horse and then a slide for all of their placings. Here is the one for CRS Fiery Rose:

In terms of keeping a record of points I have this recorded on my massive horse spreadsheet.

You can see the points in the end three columns:

First Column = Total Points

Second Column = Number of shows attended

Third Column = Average Points (Points/Shows Attended = Average)

The formula you will need for column three is very simple it is just: =AF30/AG30 (enter the columns you are actually using)

I use filters on the top of each column for sorting which allows me to sort the average column from highest to lowest. This lets me know who my best horses are.

It's worth noting that my records have been developed over 20 years, if I was starting from scratch now I probably wouldn't have the PowerPoints and would instead record individual show records on Excel and have it work out total points for me, but I'm not re-doing the whole thing! I already don't have every horse in the massive horse spreadsheet because I only started this about 10 years ago!

Average or Total?

The next point is whether you work out your best horses by average or total. I used to use total points but increasingly it meant that horses that had been to more shows were obviously always classed as the best. This works fine for your first few shows as a new hobbyist but I recommend going for average long term.

If you look at the list above you can clearly see this, the second horse down has over 1000 points total but I've owned him for quite some time! The one above only has 128 points but I only got him 2 years ago. That's why average works out as a fairer and more accurate record of how well horses have done.

If you want a template for the massive horse spreadsheet please just shout. Free downloads don't work on the new website but I'm working on a category of free downloads that you can 'order' the same way as a paid for digital product but obviously it is free!

Putting Together a Live Show List

I thought it would be really fun to share with you guys how I put together a show list for a model horse show.

The show I'm preparing for here is Mrs. P's CTF Show 2025. This is a specialist CTF show and has a slightly different class layout than your general show. You can see there a specialist classes for models such as WIA/CollectA or Schleich/Safari.

I haven't filmed the whole process as putting together a full show list takes a good few hours to do! But you get a good insight into how I decide which models I am going to take to a live show. It's also fun to see all the ridiculous names that I've given my models over the years!

Make sure to check in for a full show report from the show in a couple of weeks :)

How do you turn a mini whinnie into a necklace?

 Mini whinnie necklaces are one of the most fun things you can make with your model horses. Not only are they a creative way to use your minis but they also look gorgeous as well.

Turning a mini whinnie into a necklace is a relatively simple process, here is a quick step by step guide so that you can have a go.

Supplies Needed

🐴 Mini Whinnie Model Horse
🐴 Wire
🐴 Necklace Chain

Advanced option:

🐴 Sheep Eye Nail
🐴 Dremel with small drill bit
🐴 Glue

We are going to go through two methods in order to create your necklace. Either method works well, although the advanced option gives you a nicer finish.

Basic Method

The first thing you will need to do is ensure your mini whinnie is clear and, if you want, paint your model to a new colour.

We are going to be using this little mini whinnie here

Now get your necklace change and your wire. Feed your wire through the centre of the chain and wind it around itself.

Alternative option: If you want the horse to be loose on the chain add a small jump ring onto the chain and wrap your wire around this instead.

Cover the wrapping by adding a little bead, I've gone for this cute wooden one

Now get the ends of your wire and wrap them around your model. Secure them by using pliers to tie them in a knot under the model.

You now have a cute little model horse necklace!

Advanced Option

For the advanced option you will need either a dremel or a small hand drill. Use this to make a hole in the withers of your model.

Now fill this hole with superglue and insert a sheep eye nail into the hole. Leave it there to set.

Now you can add a jump ring through the sheep eye and feed your necklace chain through it.

This same method can be used to create all kinds of jewellery and ornaments, including earrings! Enjoy :D

Show String Rankings: How To

 When you've been showing for years it often becomes hard to identify which are your best and worst models. Sometimes you probably feel like you take the same models to every show and although you feel like they are your best they aren't actually doing as well as you would like.

So today I'm going to share with you a quick and easy way to rank your horses and get a good picture of who is still succeeding and who is falling short. All you will need is MS Excel (or similar) and a bit of time and patience.

Scoring System

The first step is to create your own scoring system. You will need to allocate a number of points to each of the different awards your models can win. How many points you award is up to you but it needs to be consistent.

My points system is below: 

Overall Champion = 100
Overall Reserve Champion = 85
Overall Reserve To Reserve Champion = 70

Section Champion = 50
Section Reserve Champion = 40
Section Reserve to Reserve Champion = 30

Top 10 = 25

Champion = 20
Reserve Champion = 15
Reserve To Reserve Champion = 10

Best of Breed/Group Winner = 8

1st Place = 6
2nd Place = 5
3rd Place = 4
4th Place = 3
5th Place = 2
6th Place = 1

I also double my points for BMECS/NAN placings.

Now you have a scoring system in place you are ready to start your spreadsheet and start ranking.

Setting Up Your Spreadsheet

Set up a spreadsheet with columns as follows:

1. Horse's Name

2. Points

3. Show's Attended

4. Average

To work out the average points you will need to enter the following formula into D2

Now you can go about populating your spreadsheet. This is going to be extremely time consuming if you have been showing for years and just starting out so maybe try to aim for a year a week or something similar!

Start by recording the total points for every horses in Column B

Next go back over your show lists and record the total numbers of shows each horse has attended in Column C

Important Note: Even if a horse has zero points if they have attended a show you will still need to make a note of this.

You should notice that column D automatically populates with the average points.

You should end up with something like this:

I have applied filters to make organising easier! You can do this under the 'Data' tab.

Sorting Your Horses

You can now sort your horses by two main methods either their total points or their average points. To illustrate the difference between the two look at the list of my top OF horses. The first is sorted by total points:

And the second is sorted by average points:

You will see the two lists are very different. One of the reasons you want to use average points over total points to see your top horses is that if you have a model that you have been showing for years (like Bushka for example) they will have a LOT of points and it will be hard for newer models (like Sultan for example) to make their way onto the list. Look at how many shows Bushka has attended compared to Sultan! Using average points therefore allows you to ensure that new horses that are doing well fit into your show string and old horses that maybe did well in the past but haven't placed in years drop out.

Final Tips

The final thing I would say is try to split by finish, that way you know your best horses for each finish:

I have also started linking these into my Massive Horse Spreadsheet. This means that I can sort by things such as make, scale and breed to tell you who my best OF Arabian or best CM Thoroughbred is. This is really helpful when it comes to specialist shows.

My Favourite Tutorial

 As a miniature things addict I just wanted to take some time to share one of my favourite mini making tutorials with y'all.

Desktop Stables has, quite frankly, some of the most incredible hobby themed minis. Making miniature things is honestly so much fun, I love making my dolls little tiny books and catalogues and all kinds of fun things. When I did my Model Horse Shop I even made them a little mini version of the Chestnut Ridge catalogue! But learning how to properly scale things down and print them can actually be quite tricky, not everything works first time and sometimes the scale is just not quite right. That's why I absolutely love this tutorial, it helps you to learn how to scale things down.

Once you have learned the basic tools needed to scale real life items down to mini scale the world is quite frankly your oyster (or book). You can literally make anything you want to! That way you can spend all your time making your dolls tiny little copies of inappropriate things (like my mini copies of 50 Shades of Grey) that you can sneak into their live show scenes to see if anyone spots. I mean you could make normal things as well but why do normal when you can do ABNORMAL!

So if you too would like to have a go at making tiny things check out the tutorial here: https://desktopstables.com/2015/10/18/some-tips-for-making-printable-minis/

Enjoy!

(and don't forget to share what you make)

How to Use OMHPS

 With our Grand Photoshow 2022 opening tomorrow I know some people will be new to OMHPS and thought I would do a quick post to talk you through the basics of using it.

Note: I have premium membership so your pages may look slightly different to mine, but the basic concept is the same :)

Signing Up

Step 1

Visit www.omhps.com

Click on 'Register'

Step 2

Fill in your account details and then click 'register'. Your account will need approval, so go through all the relevant steps to verify your account (the same as pretty much every other website)

Uploading a Horse

Step 1

Login to your account and then click on 'My Horses' at the top of the page

Step 2

Click 'Add Horse' just under your username

Step 3

This will bring you to a page like this

1: This is where you enter your horse's name

2: You can add anything to the description or you can just leave it blank. Sometimes I add in the horse's stable name to help me remember who is who

3: Use the drop down list to select the make of your horse

Makes are general e.g. Original Finish China, this helps your horse go into the right sections

4: Use the dropdown list to select your horse's breed, you can search by typing into the search box

5: If your horse is a crossbreed enter what they are crossed with here

Important note: Leave blank if your horse is purebred!

6: Enter the scale of your model

7: Enter the gender of your model

Step 4

Here is my completed page, the horse I'm using is an OF Beswick Arabian. You can see how I've entered the name and then used the drop down lists to select each of the items.

Note how the crossbreed section is blank because she is purebred!

Step 5

Scroll down to add your image

1: This is the main image that will be used for showing

2: You can add alternative images, these are good for things like headshots or specialist images for certain shows

Step 6

Click on 'Choose File' to upload your photo

Step 7

Select the photo you want

Click 'open'

Step 8

You should now get a preview of your image that looks like this

Say hello to CRS Love Has Won

Step 9

You can stop there if you want or you can add some extra information about your model. You can enter workmanship, collectability and performance photos.

1: This is where you enter the main information for your horse

2: If you have a reference picture or description you can add it here

3: Add workmanship details here

You need to do this for OF models as well as CM as some shows have OF Colour classes

4: Add collectability information here

5: Once your horse has been created you can add performance photos here

6: You can add non-OMHPS show records through this tab

Step 10

Click on 'References'

Click choose file to upload a reference picture if you have one

I don't - she's just a plain bay Arab, so I'm leaving this blank!

Step 11

Now we are going to add Workmanship information

Remember - you need to add this for OF horses as well as CM if you want to maximise the number of classes you can enter

1: Add your horse's base coat colour here

2: Add the pattern here

Note! You need to select 'solid' in this box if your horse is a solid colour!

3: Add the medium here

4: Click this box to use the horse's main image, you can upload a separate image if you want

Step 12

Here is Love Has Won's details, note how I've selected to use the main image and put her pattern as solid

Step 13

We are now going to add collectability information

1: Type in the year the model was introduced

2: Type the year the model was retired here

3: Select the 'run type' here

4: Use the drop down menu to select how many were produced

Step 14

Here is Love Has Won's information

Step 15

We are now finished! Just click 'create' at the bottom of the page to add your horse

Step 16

Click that you aren't a robot (unless you are one, in which case soz bro)

Then click 'create'

Step 17

The final page should look like this, as your horse is entered into shows you will see cute little ribbons appear in the awards box.

Entering Shows

There are two methods to entering shows. You can either do this from the horse's information page, or you can enter it from the shows page. Let's start by entering Love Has Won into a class.

Step 1

At the bottom of your horse's information page click 'See Classes'

Step 2

You should get a page that looks something like this, it will have all the open shows listed below

Step 3

Click the little + symbol next to the show you want to enter

Step 4

Next to the class you want to enter your horse into click 'Enter'

Note: Usually the only classes that will show are the ones that you horse is eligible to enter BUT there is a function for show hosts to click 'no strict' entries, this means it will show EVERY CLASS, which is super annoying, so you may have to scroll down to find the right one!

Step 5

On the pop up you can select to use an alternative image if you'd like or just click 'enter' to use the main image

Step 6

It will now show the class like below to show that the horse has been entered

Step 7

Now let's look at how we enter via the shows page. At the top of the page click on 'Shows'

Step 8

From the dropdown click on 'Shows'

Step 9

This will show all of the current shows, this includes upcoming, closed and currently running shows

Hey look my show is there!

Step 10

On the tab at the top click 'Open Shows' 

This will open all of the show that you can actually enter at that time

Step 11

Find the show you want to enter and click on it

Some shows will have paid for entries, or limited entry lists and some will be free and open to all. Read the show info to see if there are any extra steps you need to take in order to be able to enter.

Step 12

On the class list click the little + next to the division you want to enter

Step 13

Now click the + next to the section you want to enter

Step 14

Find the class you want to enter and click 'Enter'

Step 15

You will get a page that allows you to see:

Eligible Horses: Horses you can enter

Currently Entered Horses: Horses you have already entered

Ineligible Horses: Horses that can't enter

Click the + next to eligible horses

Step 16

Scroll down to the horse you want to enter and click 'enter'

Step 17

On the pop up you can select whether you want to use an alternative image or the main image

It can be slow to load hence why you can't see the image here!

Click 'enter'

Step 18

It should now show your horse as entered

Hey look it loaded the image!

I hope this has helped those who are new to OMHPS

Remember the Chestnut Ridge Grand Photoshow opens tomorrow. Full details can be found here: https://www.chestnutridge.co.uk/grand-photoshow.html#/