The Marwari and the Pintaloosa

The photographer of so important a show as NAN is not supposed to have any favorites.  Yet out of thousands of horses, I fell madly in love with one foal.  Out of dozens of fantastic costumes, I found myself taking way too many pictures of just two (the other was the Horse with the Golden Saddle).  I promised a blog on them at the time, and the two paragons have stuck in my mind ever since.

The Marwari first.  He initially appears in a table shot, his owner close by.

 He's the entry on the corner.  This horse is a customized Carol Williams Valor, made into a Marwari, the breed with the curved eartips.  Colette is amazingly good about documentation.

When I saw what she was wearing I laughed out loud.

Of course this splendid work is by Cary Nelson, a paragon herself when it comes to costumes.  I could not believe this outfit when I first saw it,... and I still can't.

 The reins alone would take me weeks.

I believe those are metal bells on the top of the rump.

Cary's good at embroidery, but, yeesh---!!!!!

The more you look, the more there is to see.

 It must have taken her months.

There is nothing I'm aware of in the model tack world to equal this kind of dedication and skill.  The density of detail, the materials, the color choices and textures all scream "rabbity" at me (her email).  I've seen a number of Cary Nelson costumes and I own one myself, but this takes the cake.

The horse's name turns out to be Boom Shakalaka, and yes, he did win the class.  : )

The next day I was covering Foal classes.  This is the CM Stock Foal table.

 The photographer moves left, trying to capture everybody.

Three shots for one class is a bit unusual, but they've caught my eye.  They're so cute!

Glory morning. Everything else fell away and I came in close.  I had no idea what mold this was, what resin, whether it was a custom.  I only knew I was falling rapidly.

He had that rough, old-fashioned look, something I'd seen so often in the early years of the hobby.  It's a coarser texture of fur, but for a foal it's appropriate.

Hand painted.  Everything worked well together:  color, shading, conformation, pose.  That nose!  those cute little ears!  that stunning, yet realistic, color choice!
I'm including this shot, despite its obvious flaw, out of sheer equally-obvious love-madness.

A Pintaloosa, or possibly a strange varnish roan appy. 
I found out later he was quite old for a model, several decades.  That would make him a custom on the Stock Horse Foal... if so, a rather drastic custom.

I just loved this little baby!!  Given I'd spent 3 days photographing the best of the best, every possible breed, pose, color, type and material, it says something that I could still find it in me to get so soft.   "Out of all of them..."
I was told, by his owner, who did him, but alas I'm not remembering; this was a year ago.  It was a name I recognized, however.

Other news:  Be sure and check out our website! and Tack Sales Information page.  Most of our news fit to print is there.  I have dreams of making Mechanical Hackamore(s) and a Western Saddle alongside others.  Further out, I'm looking at Parade set restos. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody!