It's been so long since I've written a live show report, I hardly know where to start anymore! It feels really good to be back to showing though, although I definitely have not missed all the packing and long days!
Our day started nice and early on Saturday as we loaded up far too many boxes into the van. With nearly two years worth of new purchases I decided to take quite a lot of horses, much to Brendon's annoyance! At least we have a van now which makes life a lot easier when it goes to travelling to shows.
After a quick stop at Greggs (a steak bake is a health breakfast right?) we found the hall, there was definitely a moment when we were both driving along going "I know it's hear somewhere" but we found it OK :D
After some quick hellos we unpacked all my eight thousand boxes and I was able to extend back away from my usual corner table which was definitely needed. I left Brendon to unpack our sales table and started to chat to people who I haven't seen in so long! There was much catching up to do!
The show day started with performance in rings one and two and commercial resin and china in ring three. I was judging the performance in ring one (English) and wasn't showing in that division so that was a nice slow start to my day.
It was wonderful to see so many gorgeous performance entries, here is a lovely sidesaddle from the first class of the day English Ridden
And here is another one from that class, also a RubberNedz
As well as English I was also given Scene to judge, always one of the most competitive classes I could have awarded first place to nearly all of the entries. This was a really simple set up with a very cool base and Schleich rattlesnake
This was an awesome kracken with Perseus on Pegasus in the corner!
This was one of the in hand entries. A familiar face that now has a new owner and is back in the show ring again.
Performance Championship
I had the pleasure of helping to judge this and it was super competitive! It was nice because I got to look at all the Western entries that I hadn't had the chance to judge.
Performance Champion
Performance Reserve Champion
Performance Reserve to Reserve Champion
Each of the winners received a gorgeous rosette, chocolate and a certificate. The section champion also got another box of chocolates! I loved the colours on the rosettes, they were so pretty and the champion ones even had sparkles on!
After performance the OF section was started in Ring 1 and Toy CTF was started in Ring 2. Both very competitive divisions!
One of the gorgeous commercial entries, just look at the shine on this beautiful clinky boy!
One of my own entries, this is CRS Benedict Cumberbatch. You can see the tag on his leg, Dartmoor Live is unusual amongst UK shows in that it is a pre-entry show. This means you have to use tags on your models and send a list of codes in advance. This is actually really helpful as it saves you so much time on the day writing down results. As the models also already have their breed on them you also save time writing your breeds down on post-it-notes! It does require a bit of organisation and tagging in advance but I just sat down and wrote them all in front of the TV. Also once they are tagged they are tagged, I won't have to do it again in future, lots of my older horses already had their tags as they had been to the show before.
This is another of my entries, one of my new additions from the pandemic. This is CRS Angry Pancakes aka Ballynoe the BF 2020 Celebration Horse.
Commercial Resin & China Championship
Champion
Reserve Champion
Once CCR was finished it then moved onto Craft Collectable in Ring 1.
This is the new Breyer Marc of Charm model, I'm so in love with with this guy, his colour is just beautiful. I mean look at the shading on the tail!
A really stunning RubberNedz with an unusual dapple grey pattern.
Another gorgeous RubberNedz, this one has a lovely sabino colour.
Lunchtime meant sales and a raffle of course. I browsed the sales tables but didn't purchase anything new, I have bought quite a few new ponies recently so decided I should probably be good for one show.
I did however buy £20 worth of raffle tickets and managed to win most of the raffle....including a gorgeous little BFA that I'm just in love with! I will make sure to share some pics once I have unpacked and photographed him. I also got a Mares in Black facemask which is super cute!
CTF Toy Championship
Champion
Reserve Champion
Once CTF Toy was finished that section moved onto CTF Foundation.
This is another of my models that I've acquired over the pandemic. Cicely is a little RubberNedz Andalusian. They don't come with a stand so I use a Schleich tree to stand him up. Brendon says that it looks ridiculous!
This little splash foal was just too adorable, I mean look at that cute little face!
With the flash you can see the real detail on this model and the purple shading that goes all the way up her legs!
I loved this adorable Spirit and Rain set (Rain beat Spirit FYI)!
This is one of the many Winx models that were on show. This girl won her class and is shown here in the championship.
A beautiful light palomino RubberNedz Welsh pony with another little grey in the background.
Original Finish Championship
Champion
Reserve Champion
Once OF was complete we moved onto Artist Resin and China in ring one.
I loved the insane mane and tail on this little RubberNedz circus pony
One of my AR entries. This is Achilles, you can see Brescia just next to him (Patroclus also came but he's a partbred)
The pattern on this Julip foal was so unusual and absolutely gorgeous.
Craft Collectible Championship
Champion
Reserve Champion
Once CC had finished we moved onto Vintage OF in Ring 3. Vintage was for vintage moulds not just models so you will see some new models on older moulds.
This was a really beautiful entry from the AR section. I was getting really tired by this point in the day (it was a really long day and I'm not used to showing) so I do apologise that there aren't many pics of AR!
CTF Foundation Championship
Champion
Reserve Champion
We then moved onto custom in Ring 2, again I don't have many pics as I was very much just surviving off sugar at this point.
Bebe is my bloaty foal. Unfortunately she faced much abuse :( Including being told she should be "put out of her misery" and receiving award for Most Bloated Horse?!?!? Poor ickle creature!
Vintage Championship
Vintage Champion
Vintage Reserve Champion - CRS A League of Their Own
This is my own John Henry model, I have had this boy for years. He never stands up on my shelf but for some reason the wonky show tables were his perfect environment and he behaved so well he won Brendon a chocolate and me a rosette :)
Check out this stunning leopard spotted! That mane is just lush!
Artist Resin Championship
Champion
Reserve Champion
I judged this model so it was nice to see it taking section reserve! It always feels good when people agree with your judging :D
This is Sparkle Warkle and quite possibly one of the best impulse purchases I've ever made. Everyone loved him!
A model that I've loved for years, she did very well at a show I ran about five years ago and is still going strong.
Custom Championship
Champion
Reserve Champion
SUPREME CHAMPIONSHIP!
Supreme Champion - Craft Collectable
Supreme Reserve Champion - Custom Finish
Supreme Reserve to Reserve Champion - Artist Resin & China
Each of the Supremes won a gorgeous rosette, more chocolate, a little sash for their model to wear and one of this personalised Christmas ornaments with the show championship written on them, each one was a Dartmoor pony and were a lovely idea, I'm definitely getting some for the next show I run!
I hope you enjoyed all of these pictures :) No more shows until next year now *fingers crossed* but it feels good to be back writing show reports once more. If you are friends with me on Facebook there are 199 photos for you to flick through :)
