Show Report: BreyerFest Open Show

 🔵🟡BreyerFest Open Show 2025🟡🔵

Content originally posted to Instagram July 30, 2025

It's time to talk about my Open Show experience! This year, the Open Show was two days for the first time ever. For the past two years I've done the Open Show, I've maximized my mini string. This year, I wanted to show both days so I added a few big guys into the mix! I was thrilled to see how my models held up. I came home with 16 placings across the two days, and four NAN cards! No sectional champs this year unfortunately, but I'm going to keep working on my string and make it a goal for next year. I'd love to win one of the glossies at least once! I did complete the ribbon rainbow 😁 Most importantly, I got to hang out with so many of my friends in the air conditioning! Especially on Thursday, because mini showers stick together!

The NAN Qualifiers: 

Love and Poetry - Mini RR Other Pure, Mixed and Rare Breeds

Whole Place Shimmer - Mini SR Warmblood/Carriage Breeds - Solid

Wollstonecraft - Mini SR Pasos and All Other Spanish Breeds/Crosses

Moon Child - Foals RR & SR Classics Gaited Breeds

Collection Spotlight: What's a Gold Baby?

 This Collection Spotlight we're scaling down to one of the smallest models in my collection, but don't let her size fool you - she's probably one of the most valuable horses in my collection. 

I'm talking of course about Gold Baby. 

When the second wave of Stablemates Mystery Surprise Foal sets were released in 2013, hobbyists were intrigued by the copy on the back of the boxes implying that there was a surprise foal in some of the boxes. It was speculated whether they were real or if it was a marketing ploy. 

And then someone found one. 

They were tucked in as a bonus foal in the set with the Walking Arabian and the Tennessee Walking Horse, dubbed "Family 4" (model #5881). The gold foal did not replace the cremello Scrambling Foal that came with the set. 

My gold baby is one of my luckiest purchases - I saw her in an eBay lot in 2019 for roughly $30. There were other models in the lot I was eyeing, and I still wasn't convinced she was the real deal. But for the price, it was worth the chance. Imagine my surprise when the lot arrived and she was the real deal! 

There are estimated to be somewhere around 10 of these girls in hobby hands, so she's ridiculously rare. Because of that, she's one of my top collectability show models. 

With good reason, her show name is Golden Child! 

Show Report: Big Orange Bash 2025

 🟠Big Orange Bash 2025🟠

Content originally posted to Instagram and Facebook June 10, 2025

I’m home from BOB and slept for 10 hours so it’s time for my show write-up! BOB (short for the Big Orange Bash) is an annual show held in Knoxville, TN to benefit the University of Tennessee’s Large Animal Clinic. Every year, I try to attend a model horse event in a state I’ve never visited or a region I’ve never shown in. Additionally, whenever Kelly tells me there’s a show I ABSOLUTELY MUST ATTEND, I listen to her. BOB checked both of these boxes for me - although Tennessee is in Region 7, it’s a state I’ve never visited (I don’t count going to Nashville when I was two) and it’s one Kelly has recommended to me several times. So, I loaded my ponies up and traveled eight hours down south.

Saturday was OF halter and CM performance day. As a strictly OF collector, this meant all of my models would be showing. I brought around 30 trads, and 107 minis (which is what happens when Kelly is judging). The OF Breyer division was the most competitive I’ve seen since Are You Kitten Me! My horses fought for the two NAN cards they came home with, and my sole breed card winner Gotta Love a Tight End took it all the way to overall reserve champion in breed, so I was thrilled (incidentally, she went stock section champ at Kitten as well). In mini, I went all out with my collectability entries, coming home with several sectional champs and a public callout to the entire show hall about having a perfect collectability entry. A good day for sure!

What a perfect collectability entry looks like, as announced to the entire show hall

Sunday was CM/AR Halter and OF Performance. Since I don’t show any of that, I offered to judge AR Trad Breed. It was nice to just judge and not have to worry about missing classes for my horses. Plus, I got to sit! If you show with me, you know I rarely sit during shows. My co-judge and I meshed well together, and her show is on my list to attend when she hosts it again! 😃 I had a shadow while I was judging, and it was interesting articulating what I look for in a breed entry and my judging process. I hope she learned something. 😅 The AR Trad division was small but mighty, and the quality of horses on my table during callbacks was insane. I could have picked any of those horses to champ, and it would have been the right decision.

This weekend was such a blast! I got to see so many of my lower region 7 friends who I don’t get to see as often, make new friends, judge some pretty ponies, enjoy some of the best food I’ve had in my life, and enjoy the beautiful city of Knoxville. BOB may be a little far for me to make it out EVERY year, it’s definitely a show I’ll return to 🧡

The Champions: 

Everyone's Type - OF Mini Gaited Breed Champion and Collectability Reserve

Psychotic Love Theme - OF Mini Gaited Collectability Champion

Coincidence - OF Mini Draft Collectability Champion

Himbo - OF Mini Draft Collectability Reserve

Three Shots, Lemon Drops - OF Mini Pony Collectability Champion

Slow Disco - OF Mini Pony Breed Reserve

Heartsick - OF Mini Foals Collectability Reserve

Belli - OF Mini Foals Collectability Champion

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

Conga Time! Alborozo

Everyone knows Alborozo

The 2008 BreyerFest Celebration Horse, with the mold famously broken after that year. I was lucky enough to attend that year.

Equally, you all know he was shrunk into a Stablemate in 2018

I've been collecting him since - I have nearly a full conga!

This unicorn blind bag was the first release of the mini Alborozo mold

Appaloosa Valerio is my most recent addition

I think mini Chalice might be my favorite - he's the 2021 Deluxe Collector Club model, painted in the same color as the 2019 live auction Alborozo

The regular runs

The non-unicorn blind bags

The unicorn blind bags - just missing the new Fire and Ice release

The chase models

The Mystery Unicorn Foal Surprise models

Sarge and Spaetzle, the BreyerFest releases

Chalice, Dazzle, and Cepheus, various Club releases

Valerio - the 2020 Stablemates Club Gambler's Choice

Which do you prefer - the original or the mini?

Show Report: Rainbow Rave Live 2025

 🌈Rainbow Rave Live 2025 🌈

Content originally posted to Instagram and Facebook May 21, 2025

Rainbow Rave Live is a show that's always been held near and dear to my heart. Not only is it hosted by a dear friend, it's also a half hour from my house and benefits The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis services for LGBTQ+ youth, a service that is very much needed now. This is the fourth year Sarah has hosted RRL, and I believe it's the smoothest it's run yet!

This year I volunteered to judge OF Breyer Breed, the division with the most classes by far. My wonderful collectability co-judge and I made the decision to double load from the start of the day. We kept our pace moving throughout the day and we're done with our division by 5 - absolutely unheard of for 64 classes!

I could not have managed judging and showing, so my friend Mackenzie took on the task of managing my show string - a whopping 113 minis. I asked her several times if she was comfortable with the number, as I could cut back if needed and she assured me she was. And she did a fabulous job! All of my horses made it to their classes, and she even got photos of my placings. Thank you so much again! I can't wait to see you at BreyerFest 💜

Finally, since the show ended at a reasonable hour (show hall taken down by 6:30??? A miracle), a group of us headed to a local Mexican restaurant known for the size of their margaritas. What followed was a post show dinner with lots of laughs, tears, stories, and staff that was definitely viewing our conversation as their own reality TV show 🤣

It was such a fun time, and I'm so glad Sarah decided to host again this year. Hopefully RRL sticks around for many more 💖🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

The Champions: 

Twin Telepathy - Foals Collectability Champion

Psychotic Love Theme - Light Collectability Champion

Eras Tour - Sport Collectability Reserve

Masquerade Reveller - Sport Breed Champion

My Tears Ricochet - Sport Breed Reserve

Slow Disco - Pony Breed Reserve

Himbo - Draft Collectability Champion

Clandestine Meeting - Draft Collectability Reserve

Denial is a River - Longear/Exotics Collectability Champion

Golden Child - Decorator/Fantasy Collectability Reserve

Sarah additionally gives out awards for documentation - Drown the Sound Out received one!

Collection Spotlight: Cardinal

It's probably not a coincidence that my next collection spotlight is another Karen Gerhardt sculpt. The two sculpts she's done for Breyer (the Cleveland Bay and the Shire Gelding) are two of my favorite sculpts in the Traditional lineup. They have the softest, sweetest faces, and they have wonderful ABCs. Several of them are in my show string rotation, and I think a decent amount of them have at least one NAN card. 

 I was lucky enough to receive my Cardinal directly from Breyer - while I was not drawn for him, my friend was and she kindly offered him to me at cost. Hooray for plastic pony friends! 

Cardinal was produced in 2022 as a Collector Club Web Special. He was offered to club members through a lottery drawing. Designed by Sommer Prosser as part of the Birds of a Feather series, he's done in a lovely shaded chestnut sabino. 

Cardinal is a run of 500. At the time, he represented a jump in the Web Special numbers - the Birds of a Feather releases from 2021 were all runs from 375-380. This numbers have continued to rise since then. The 2025 Exotic Destinations series are all runs of 600. I don't foresee this changing as the hobby continues to grow, unless the tariffs and inflation hit Breyer especially hard. 

Fun fact: Cardinal's show name is Birdhorse. Extra fun fact: My Peregrine's name is 2 Bird 2 Horse because I went with the Fast and Furious naming conventions for these two. They were also both drawn by the same friend. Flamingo is my final horse of the series, and I was drawn for her myself. Ironically, the last Web Special I was personally drawn for before Flamingo was Sanibel, another gray Arabian!

The Birds of a Feather series is a lovely, well-designed set. At some point I'd like to pick up a Crane and an Oriole, but they aren't currently priorities for me.