🔷 River City Classic 2026 🔷

Like last year, I kicked off my show season with the River City Classic, held annually in Evansville, IN. This year marked the eighth year of the show! It's also one of my farthest drives, being a whopping eight hours without stops. This year I didn't do it alone! I carpooled with Sarah, and we picked up Amanda B. (of Riker's Den) along the way. Having friends makes the time in the car fly! We drove down Friday, and arrived with plenty of time to set up our models in the show hall and grab dinner with the other hobbyists who were in town for the show.

My favorite part about River City is it's hosted by one of my best hobby friends Angela. She's a gem in the hobby, and she's willing to open her home to her friends to stay. We had six of us there! It's wonderful to get to talk ponies all weekend (even if it never seems like enough time!)

The show kicked off on Saturday, and the string proved themselves well! I had models across four divisions, and I took champions in three of those. The Stone mini subdivision was stupid competitive, and I was pleased that I had placings and NAN cards in that division at all. The Breyers performed better - I was especially proud that my rares held their own! Angela splits out Breyer traditional and classic runs of 350 or less and minis runs of 200 or less into their own division.

I was also judging at this show. It was a very rare case where I was able to judge Breyer while showing Breyer! Angela not only splits out rare Breyers, but she splits out classics from the non-rare Breyers into their own division as well. I was pleased to not only judge classics, but to have some pretty decently sized classes! The Classics collectors showed up! I'm happy with the models I pinned, and I loved getting to stretch my Breyer collectability muscles outside of my judging clinics! It's more fun when I didn't make the class myself.

River City also gave out several awards for fun this year for entrants - one of which was the Road Warrior Award for the furthest distance traveled "as the crow flies." I figured it was probably going to be Sarah or me who got it. Well, Sarah was second and I got the award. It's funny because Sarah had to drive a half hour to get to my house. Best we can figure is I'm slightly further east, and it was specifically "as the crow flies."

I would be remiss if I didn't once again sing the praises of my hobby friends. River City is one of those shows where I get to see friends who I don't get to see as often due to distance. A special shout out to my friend Kelsey B., who realized after lunch that I had lost track of the OF Breyer Trad ring, and started running my entries for me without being asked. Most of my stock horses would not have made it on the table without her, and it shows how incredibly kind the people in this hobby are.

Picture courtesy my friend Kati S. - we swept three of the four overalls in Breyer Rares! I was very excited to see Kati, because for all that we live in the same state, I never get to see them!

One thing I love about River City is Angela and her husband Dave are always striving to make the show better and easier for entrants and staff. They already have a number tag system for the show, which I find annoying when making my tags and appreciate when I'm judging and checking results (nationwide tag system WHEN). This year Angela not only had the mini rings on risers, but also added a stable center riser down the middle of the table, eliminating the need for acrylic risers. I loved this change as a shower, as it made sure everyone had plenty of space to place models down and make sure they were seen. I'd love to see more shows adopt it in the future!