Show Report: BreyerFest Open Show 2026

🔵 BreyerFest Open Show 2026🟡

Welcome to the second show report from HorseFest, covering two days of the BreyerFest Open Show! Yes, I did five days of showing in a row. Yes, it was a lot. Yes, I might second guess myself before doing this again! 

I did put a little bit of strategizing in regards to my week when I was figuring out my show strings. I ultimately decided to take the least amount of horses on Thursday, which was Mini day. Yes, I know that's weird for me! But in my mind, I was doing a Collector's Class (which will have its own post next week!), and several of my best minis were showing NAN and I didn't want a ton of overlap for the strings (no one likes midweek repacking!), so it made the most sense to bring more trads. Plus, this way if I felt tired after three days of NAN, I wouldn't feel bad bailing if I only brought a small amount of horses. 

In total, I showed 28 minis - two in the new collectability division, and 26 in the regular run division. Probably half of what I brought for the regular run division had either only photo shown for me or never live shown at all! I came home on Thursday with eight placings and two NAN cards, which felt respectable, and a sore throat from cheering so loud for my friends who won sectional championships. 

It was also nice how smoothly Thursday ran - I think we were done by 3 at the latest? It was really nice to have a short and relaxing show day!  

My Mini Collectability Entries aka the "Named by Beth" pair

Friday was traditional and classic day, and my string was all over the place - some regular runs, some in both special run divisions, and some foals. I ended up with 13 placings and one NAN card. I was very close to getting the ribbon rainbow this year! I only missed out on the first. For a while on Friday the ninth was eluding me - I kept getting tenths! I swear I was more frustrated over not getting a ninth than not getting a first. I finally got my ninth in the RR Standardbred class, and it was the most exciting part of the day. 

I always go into the Open Show with no expectations - it's a huge show, with hundreds of entrants, and judges that you often don't know and haven't shown under. There are always some hiccups throughout the day. It's best to keep a good mindset - I'm there for the air conditioning and to hang out with my friends. The ribbons and NAN cards my horses bring home are a bonus. 

The NAN Qualifiers:

Stella - Mini RR Warmblood Breeds Solid

Depressed Damsel - Mini RR Foals Spanish Breeds and All Mustangs

Chocolate Drizzle - Special Run (non BreyerFest) Arabian Stallions & Geldings

Gay Prancer, second in the Mascots Fun Class!