Show Report: Rainbow Rave Live 2026

🌈 Rainbow Rave Live 2026 🌈

Another Rainbow Rave is in the books. It's hard to believe this is the fifth Rainbow Rave! I've been friends with the host Sarah long enough that I remember when it was still just a thought in her brain. It's incredible to see how far it has come! I believe I mentioned last year that this show fundraises for The Trevor Project, which becomes more and more necessary in the current climate. RRL is a show with the best vibes supporting a great cause, and I'm so fortunate to be able to attend. 

Because the show is so close to me (30 minutes away!) I always make sure to help set up the night before. Setting up the tables is no easy task, and it helps the show host so much to even have one extra set of hands. This year, Sarah had a whole crew to help set up (and it still took about five hours - set up is NO JOKE.) Seriously, if you're close enough to a show hall or if you get into town early, definitely ask your show host if they need any help with set up - they'll appreciate it so much. That being said, the extra hands meant the show hall was nearly completely set up the night before - the only things left to do in the morning were setting up the breakfast bar and putting together the raffle. 

The benefit of the show hall for Rainbow Rave is the size. Not only are there callback tables for every division, but OF Breyer is able to double load classes from the top of the day, which makes the whole division run so much faster. Each ring is also color coded for ease of knowing which division is which, and the OF Breyer Mini and CM/AR Mini are additionally on risers. With all of this, the show moves quickly - the show hall was broken down and the doors were locked by 7pm - a major feat for a show of this size! A huge shoutout to the table break down crew, who began breaking down tables as soon as they could while the last few divisions were finishing up. 

When you and your friend sweep 3/4 of the OF Breyer Mini Overalls

My string did phenomenally. I brought home a stack of NAN cards, multiple sectional champions and reserves, and overall in both OF Breyer Breed and OF Breyer Mini Collectability. This is especially exciting since this is the first time I've brought home an overall in collectability at RRL. The past couple of years there's always been something just a tad more rare than what I have. The OF Breyer Breed Champ was also especially sweet, as it was the pony I bought myself for my birthday last year. 

After the show, a group of us went to a local Amish restaurant for dinner. We had a fun time eating and chatting. You know your party has good vibes when the servers say "these pies are too small for us to sell - do you guys want them? We won't charge you." The desserts were delicious, by the way! The food was delicious too - most of the table opted for the buffet, but I needed a burger after being on my feet all day. 

Fisticuffs in the Amish restaurant parking lot! (all in good fun!)

My favorite thing about RRL, like most shows, is the people. The group that attends truly has the best, most welcoming vibes. Maybe it's the knowledge that the environment is safe, as this is an openly LGBTQ-friendly, affirming, and supportive show.  Either way, there's a good group of people that returns annually (like myself) as well as people new to showing. Every year, I get to see old friends, meet new friends, and see friends I've only ever interacted with online. This year, my mom stopped by for about ten minutes at lunch, which is the first model horse event she's attended aside from Spokes and Spurs in 2024. She was immediately welcomed by my friends. It's such a friendly show environment, and I heartily recommend RRL to all showers! 

The Champions:

Tiniest Typhoon - OF Breyer Mini Foals Collectability Reserve

Twin Telepathy - OF Breyer Mini Foals Collectability Champion

Beauty and Grace - OF Breyer Light Breed Reserve

Make a Good Girl Bad - OF Breyer Sport Breed Champion

Spensy Prancer - OF Breyer Warmblood Collectability Champion (I forgot to get a photo with his ribbon)

Wilderness - OF Breyer Mini Sport/Carriage Collectability Champ

No Other Sadness - OF Breyer Mini Sport/Carriage Breed Reserve

Everyone's Type - OF Breyer Mini Gaited Breed Reserve

Rogi Rage - OF Breyer Mini Gaited Breed Champ

Love You Still - OF Breyer Mini Gaited Collectability Reserve

Visigoth - OF Breyer Spanish Breed Reserve

Total Eclipse - OF Breyer Mini Stock Breed Champion

Friendship is Magic - OF Breyer Mini Stock Breed Reserve and Collectability Reserve

Diamond of the Season - OF Breyer Longears/Exotics Collectability Champion

Not Mine to Lose - OF Breyer Mini Draft Breed Reserve

Join the Heist - OF Breyer Mini Longears/Exotics Collectability Champ

Zoinks - OF Breyer Mini Longears/Exotics Collectability Reserve

Sunset and Vine - OF Breyer Mini Fantasy/Decorator Reserve

Crunch Time - OF Breyer Breed Champion and Pony Breed Champion

Golden Child - OF Breyer Mini Collectability Champion and Fantasy/Decorator Champion

Thrilled to get yet another documentation award!

It's Friday, I'm a Judge! Traditional Collectability #5

Welcome back to the Friday judging clinic! It's time for another traditional scale collectability class 

As always, my personal judging history and credentials can be found on my About Me page. 

This week, I'm doing something I've frequently done for the mini collectability classes, but haven't yet done for the traditional scale classes. That's right, we're looking at a hypothetical double judged class today! All three of these entries could be found in a Quarter Horse class at a show. If you've been following the series as a whole, you'll know this means you can have wildly different run types in a class double judged for collectability - everything from OOAKs and prize models to regular runs. 

Horse A: Glossy ATP Power - 2023 BreyerFest Prize Model - 50 made

Horse B: Seven Arts Surprise - 2021 BreyerFest Special Run - Gambler's Choice glossy flaxen chestnut roan - 325 made

Horse C: Wimpy's Little Step - 2024 Spokes and Spurs Event Model - 200 made - missing belly stamp

Take a moment, think about how you'd place this class. When you're ready, my placings can be found under the jump. ↓

Show Report: Trails and Tails 2026

🍀 Trails and Tails 2026 🍀

This weekend, I traveled to Trails and Tails, held in Greensburg, PA. This show is hosted by and benefits a local 4-H club. For those who may not know, I was a 4-H kid, and the organization is near and dear to my heart. I think it teaches valuable life skills like responsibility and sportsmanship, so I like to give back to it when I can. 

This year, I judged OF Stone. The show is small but mighty, with several showers bringing fabulous competitive pieces in all divisions. The Performance ring was full all day, and the entries were incredible - I wish I had taken photos of some of them! Alas, I was busy bouncing back and forth between keeping Stone at a nice pace and getting my horses in the ring. I'm proud of myself - I only had one horse miss a class (well, two if we count the one that I straight up forgot to pack). I had just about one horse in every class for OF Breyer and OF Mini, so it's pretty impressive that I managed this while still keeping my judging at a good pace (shout out to the Breyer judge for letting my horses from the previous class sit for a few extra minutes until I had time to run them back to my table). 

One thing I really like about this show is the only class specifically for unrealistic horses is a fantasy class. Since fantasy is specifically for horses with wings and horns, that means the decorators are shown in the respective breed classes for their body type. For me, a mini collector who loves rarities, this is fantastic - most of those mini rarities are decorators. At most shows with specific decorator classes, I have to try and fit all of them into one, maybe two classes, and they're all competing against each other. Here, I can spread out the decorators! The class limit was two horses, but buy-ins were allowed, so I bought in for my collectability only entries. I got a lot of my decorators qualified this weekend! 

The string did well overall - I had at least one sectional champ or reserve in nearly every section, and came home with two overall reserve champions - one in OF Mini Collectability, and one in OF Breyer Breed. I was not expecting the breed champ, so I'm very happy! 

My friend Christine taking a selfie with me and my hobby mascot Gay Prancer

Something about a small show is the ability to connect and chat with other hobbyists. I love large shows, but it can be hard to manage showing and chatting in an environment with so many people and so much going on. Even with showing two full strings and judging, I still had time to chat with the people around me, my fellow judges, and my friends who were at the show. The show was wrapped up by 6, so there was plenty of time for post-show dinner with the group before driving home. 

I have one more show left in May (Rainbow Rave Live this weekend), and NAN entry wraps up Sunday, and then I get a nice relaxing two week break before the Big Orange Bash in June. I love showing, but I can't wait to get back to my normal routine. I've got some fun things planned on the blog for May! 

The Champions:

Shameful Sunday - OF Mini Light Breed Champ

Audrey II - OF Mini Gaited/Spanish Collectability Reserve

Sunset and Vine - OF Mini Sport Collectability Champ

Wilderness - OF Mini Sport Collectability Reserve

Friendship is Magic - OF Mini Stock Collectability Champ

Didn't Do It Legitly - OF Mini Draft/Other Collectability Champ

Himbo - OF Mini Draft/Other Collectability Reserve

Tiniest Typhoon - OF Mini Pony Collectability Reserve (I forgot to get a photo with her satin flat)

Golden Child - OF Mini Collectability Reserve and Light Collectability Champ

Poderoso - OF Breyer Spanish Breed Reserve

A Jazz Combo - OF Breyer Sport Collectability Reserve

Drabble - OF Breyer Sport Breed Reserve

Diamond of the Season - OF Breyer Draft/Other Collectability Champ

Party Animal - OF Breyer Pony Breed Reserve (also forgot to get her photo with her satin flat)

Jeanne d'Arc - OF Breyer Foals Breed Reserve

Gotta Love a Tight End - OF Breyer Breed Reserve and Stock Breed Champ

Monthly Round Up! April Additions

Happy May! You'll be pleased to know I survived my April of back to back shows, mostly no worse for the wear! We're back to our regularly scheduled programming this week, but more show reports will be coming in May! 

There's nothing like sitting on your couch in mid-April and realizing the box next to you is a horse you forgot to put in your March additions post. I picked up this set from a friend who was selling it at RCC - you may remember this set was the 2024 bonus model for the Stablemates Club, and there was a split. You received either the set with the G3 Standing Foal or the G3 Lying Foal, and the mare was the same in both sets. I received the Standing Foal, and I'd been idly on the hunt for the Lying Foal. This set was listed for the right price, so it came home with me! The mare will likely end up as a show donation, as I don't particularly need two of them in my collection, and I'm fairly sure the one I already have is the nicer of the two. 

You may remember from my BVG post that I met up with my friend Heather B. right before that show. Well, in addition to the chinas I was ferrying, she also dropped off a few models I was getting from her. She went to the Hoofbeats and Maple Treats event last fall, and kindly sold me one of her Tamarkuz models. As is typical for me, I paid for him months ago, and Heather held on to him until I could grab him in person. I also realized that I did not in fact have all of the 2004 JCPenney Parade of Breeds set when I went to take photos for a Stablemates Sunday post. Luckily, Heather has picked up multiple copies of this set over the years and offered me the one horse I was missing from the set (this pinto rearing Arabian). Keep an eye out on the blog at the end of the month to see the post with the full set! 

At BVG I got to see one of my very favorite model horse friends, Kenzie. We had arranged to trade my extra blue Short and Sweet Zebra for her red, but since she's in Canada we mutually agreed to wait until we could meet in person for the swap rather than shipping internationally. Luckily, she's from the part of Canada that's close to me, so we swapped at BVG. I'm happy to have the full set (minus Coal) united!

While at BVG, the Breyer dealer Paint Pony Studios had a table with some current and recently retired runs available. I was glad to see the recently retired Clydesdale was one! I've been wanting to hand pick one in person, but all of my local dealers had him out of stock when I would stop by. He retired at the end of 2025, and Breyer sold out of their stock online so I wasn't sure I'd be able to find one for cost. This copy was the only one Paint Pony Studios had for sale, so I snapped him up! He seems to be a nice copy too, so I'm happy. 

When I visited the Stone headquarters during the Little Horse Show last year, Erin gave us some sneak previews of upcoming releases. One of those previews was a Quarter 4 Design-a Horse color called Berry Flavor, and I fell in love with it. Now we know I'm not a large Stone collector, so I was eyeing the October and November Pebbles DAH offerings. I ended up waiting for the December Pebbles release, which happened to be the Saddlebred (who may be one of my favorite Pebbles scale molds?). I put in my DAH at the very last minute (no seriously, I sent in my DAH form on December 30). I didn't expect her to arrive quite so soon, but I'm so glad to have my first DAH! 

When you judge at Are You Kitten Me, you're treated very well. Not only do you get the typical entrants swag bag, you also get a special judge's swag bag. This year, that included a NIB Traditional. I ended up with Arachne, which was great. I hadn't gotten around to purchasing one yet, and free is the best price!  

So I was bad. A friend reached out asking what models I was currently looking for, and I said "well, I'm always looking for Stablemates rarities and G1s." Cue my Messenger receiving several photos of models. I ended up with two - a Frankenstang and yet another upgrade of the G1 Arabian Stallion from the Horse Play Card Game set. I've been after a Frankenstang for a while, and this brings me one step closer to obtaining all of the Event Stablemates - Hear Me Roar, I'm coming for ya! 

Actually, I was extra bad. At Island Time, my friend had this Hope N Glory for sale on her table. I told her I was very interested, but I had just paid off the aforementioned Frankenstang, so I wouldn't be able to make a payment on her for two weeks until my next paycheck. My friend said that was fine, and insisted I could take her with me that day. Her show name is "Not a Red Cent," because she made it onto a show table with me before I paid any money for her! She's the third Connoisseur model in my collection after Jazz Fusion and Reverse Polarity, and she's one I've wanted for a while.  

Have I ever mentioned I have the best friends in the hobby? I was chatting with my friend Danielle and she mentioned she had a gift for me the next time she saw me, as long as I didn't already have him. It turns out that she had a dapple gray mail order Clydesdale Stallion to match my mare and foal. I'm so grateful to have the best hobby friends - now I have to find a way to pay her back (or pay the kindness forward!) 

We're capping off the April post with my required Stablemates Club purchase - Westley! We all know I love a G1, and this guy is no exception. First of all, The Princess Bride is my favorite movie of ALL TIME, so I love his name. He also has these wonderfully detailed eyes, which almost makes up for his poor ears. I'd love to see some of the G1 molds get retooled and restored to their former, fully detailed glory. I didn't have to search very hard to find a new home for my second copy. My friend Mel (find her blog here!) congas the G1 Quarter Horse Stallion and didn't have a membership this year. When he was first announced I reached out asking if she'd like to buy my second copy, and I shipped him direct to her when he was released. A win for both of us! 

I lied - my Maya order arrived at the last minute, so she made the April post! I ordered three copies, and alas all three were the leopard Appaloosa. I guess if I ended up with three of them, at least it was my favorite colorway and I could handpick the nicest! I'm waiting to see what my friends get before seeking out to solicit trades - we always agree we get first dibs on Gamblers Choice trades, which usually works out well for us.