Feeding the Addiction, again

Its no secret I have a slight tack addiction problem.....and another goal this year is to expand my tack collection. Scary as that may be...First off is I did need one horse for myself to wear some of this new tack. This is Khemonahari, the counterpart to Naharasabi. He will be a sooty buckskin Morab and will be wearing some of my new pretties......
I am happy to say that despite being busy with the Scholastic Bowl season, I am working away on getting these trade pieces done to start off the year!


This little drafter was traded for a super cool trad sized plow. I don't know who made it, but the detail is incredible.

This pebbles mule got a bit of a neck lift and some smoothing, and she is feeding my new mini tack addiction, hope you like her Rachel!

This big walking mule was a tricky one. Somebody had a Duncan buckboard I really wanted, and she wanted a walking mule, but I didn't want to copy the custom one I have done before....so this guy is the RESIN version! That way they would never compete with each other, and they will be in totally different areas of the country. The PS TWH resin has some differences to the plastic, and this guy is a more pleasure type. lower action than the custom plastic version. The buckboard is stunning by the way!

You know, Schmitterling, the warmblood mare, isn't sold, any body got some stuff to trade????

This guy is going to Jen for,,,,,uh,,,,,hmmmm, oh who am I kidding I have totally lost track at this point!

This eberl was a nightmare to prep and sports a new tail. He an another paint job are going to get a Paso set that I have always wanted....if only I had a Paso horse...oh well, so I put the tack before the horse, tack happens!

And finally a baby update. This is the colt, at 3 months he is 12.2 hands, only about 2 hands smaller than mom! He is a total sweetheart and looks like a polar bear doesn't he?

Show Report

Yesterday, after a hectic holiday season, I had a great time at the Milwaukee County 4H Live Show. This is a great show that not only offers a full, NAN qualifying open show, but a HUGE class list for 4H showers as well. The new WB mare was fantastic to show, not only did she win in halter and get reserve breed champ, but she was awesome in performance. She got English champ, then got overall since she did so well in her division. This is one of my favorite Buxton huntseat sets.

This is her Handy Hunter entry, special thanks to Jen's reference sheet! She won this class.

She looks so elegant under saddle!

She is still offered for sale at $575ppd, sale price, I do have a lot of Christmas bills to pay...LOL okay okay, I maybe bought a few too many Mieka dresses.

I am still suprised at how pretty this Memphis Belle head is on the Keltic body. I did resculpt the head a lot, but it really gives a feminine appearance to the horse.

Spotted Assets was reserve overall custom champ.

Freedom Generator was overall custom champ.

Moonpie won her pony class and got division champ. I didn't get her qualified in costume yet since I didn't get her doll or circus ring done....thats for the next show!

Silverado Alibey really is proving to be a top notch show horse. I still need to go back and layer some more grey over his body, but he did qualify in halter and get Other Performance champ. He won the showmanship class in his amazing Buxton halter!

Then there is the Potato Head.....first I showed my favorite Shannon tack piece. This costume is the very first thing Shannon made for me, and this is where it all started (downhill giggle).

Whoa, me showing an OF????? Yep, Shannon asked me to show this OOAK to get some performance cards on it, and I have to say, it was fun! He won the other performance class...

And won western champ with my dark brown Shannon set, so thats five cards, two divisions, if only I had a light oil oak leaf set..........

Resolutions

One of my New Year Resolutions was to sort through my multiple boxes of clutter I have accumulated over the years....old tack and props that I just don't use anymore. One thing I found was this old circus costume from years ago. I don't remember who made it, but with some simple resizing I got it to fit "Moonpie" (thank you Kate!). It doesn't really fit her great and I am dying to see what a certain favorite tack maker of mine is going to make to truly fit her, but I couldn't resist taking a picture with Gizmo. Gizmo is my amazing French Bulldog sculpted by D'Arry that I hold very dear to my heart. I do plan to sell a lot of old tack, but things that I have that were made by my friends I will never part with and are my favorite thing about this hobby. Being able to trade horses for such incredible pieces of artwork is a great blessing.


Now Gizmo is amazing, but she is a carriage dog, don't you think Moonpie needs a little Mieka to be her performance companion?

This is where Gizmo normally sits, on the lap of the Tiffany Portrait that Kathy Wiggins made, another very special, very talented, best friend of mine that I am so lucky to have in my life. Kathy also remade the Harley to look more "Tiffany". These guys sit in the curio I have that belonged to my beloved grandmother that passed away years ago. My first Jen Buxton saddle, the endurance one with its NAN cookie and my first Sheridan Shannon saddle sit in there too.

So I want to clean out the clutter, get some cool new pieces done, and especially get some super special pieces done for my horsie buddies, so yes Jen, a Purdy pony is coming your way! Kathy's Marwari is the next one to be done this month, wait till you see the costume Kathy is making for it!

First Customs of 2012

A new year and some new customs to start it off! These are the first customs with a 2012 label. The circus pony is finally done, horray! This little gal took a lot of hours to paint, let alone sculpt, but I love how she turned out. Here she is from a bunch of angles..

Okay, okay, I couldn't resist. My poor husband drowning in estrogen....he doesn't want to admit it but he loves his Barbie princess pillow...almost as much as Mieka's pink satin leopard print dress...giggle

Back to the pony. I know its a shock to see what color her mane accents are right? I think she really needs a circus costume, don't you all agree?

I changed the background color for the blog photos to what I was told was the only correct color for my blog. The pink sheet was rather full of cat hairs so it was gone getting a bath, I apologize for the blah beige, it really wasn't Purdy.....

The hardest think about a black horse is not using a lot of true black. She is actually highly shaded and her white areas are pinked in the right places. The mane and tail get the hair appearance by going back and forth with black and white paint with a very fine long haired "script" brush.

Now she really needs a little dog to go with her....wouldn't a little Mieka in a pink tutu be perfect?

What a show off!

The warmblood mare turned out very soft and feminine looking as I hoped. I plan to show her in performance and halter this coming weekend.

I love these resin bases, so much nicer than those little plastic disks.

I left the Hanovarian brand on the mold, I thought it fit the head profile of the Memphis Belle head. She just needs a good German name. The pony needs a name too, any suggestions?

An elegant, lady like expression

This dappled, blood bay color was done using layers of pastels over airbrushed acrylics. She is available for sale for $600ppd to the lower 48 states.

And lastly the haired Eberl after her mane and tail were properly shaped. I used a high quality mousse and fine spray to set the hair. I do'nt do a lot of hairing, but I do like the appearance of a haired model with a styled mane and tail. I think she will look great in costume!

Happy New Year

Well you had to see this coming.......Mieka in Pink! Actually she loves clothes and gets all excited when you hold something out for her. So needless to say I love buying the outfits! She is doing super after a trip to my vet. She had developed an upper respiratory infection (probably a reaction to the Kennel cough shot she got at the shelter) and she was a bit constipated, but she recovered well from that and we had a wonderful first Christmas together. She is still underweight and her skin is slowly recovering, but considering this is her third home in couple weeks time she is adjusting really well.


She and the kittens (they were dropped off with their mother this past summer, mom was too dehydrated to save but the three siblings are wonderful, anyone need a house cat?) have decided being Purdy rescue cases isn't such a bad life!

Mieka loves laps, if you sit, she will cuddle! Payton has more fun dressing her than I do, if you can believe that.

Okay okay, horse stuff! This one is a trade order for a wonderful tack piece I can't wait to get. I have to really want something to willingly hair a model. I swear it looks like I skinned a raccoon by the time I am done and more hair is glued to me than the horse.

This next one (sorry for the repeat photo) is one that I am just loving...the new Eberl pony remade to a bowing circus pony mare! She isn't done yet so the Zombie blue eyes are a bit creepy, but I think she will be a blast to show. And yes, she has a bow in her forelock...hmmmm wonder what color it will be?????

Her mane was something new. I decided to fishnet the roots for the mane to have a polished, ready for the center ring look. I will have colored bands on it when its done, again, what color???

An encore bow....no not really, just added the picture twice....

Wonder what ever happens to all those Keltic headless bodies I have? I used that Memphis Belle head I had and it fit the body perfectly, for something you rarely see, a warmblood mare from the Keltic mold. I am very happy with how she really looks like a mare, and a great performance prospect at that! She still has detail work needed, but I liked the blood bay color for a change.

If you are interested in the warmblood or the pony I am open to offers until they are completed, just email me at purdyhorsefarm@yahoo.com

Happy New Year to all!

A Christmas Story

I have already had the best Christmas surprise, and its all Jen's fault.....
I know many of you that read this blog read Jen's, and know how her family lost their beloved pet Basil. Losing a loved one, two legged or four, is never easy. I lost my dog Mieko two years ago now. I loved him so much that every time I tried to get a new dog, all I could do is cry. My girls have been dying for a house dog (Mieko was a Husky/Malamute cross, not a lap dog) and I kept promising we would get one. It just never felt right. Every time I looked at a puppy all I could do was cry about how much I missed Mieko. It probably didn't help that right after I lost him my parents split up after 33 years (my step father adopted me). It been a very difficult past two years. Well yesterday, I got a reminder that when sometimes it seems like things are just being taken away, that if you keep strong the world finds a way to give back, and its all Jen's fault....
I drove down to a Petco (about an hour) to get Jen's boys a gift card to spend on a new pet's supplies. We only have a Petsmart here in town. I dropped the girls off at Mom's and was going to do a little Christmas shopping too. I walk in and there is this darling little dog. Perfectly trained, just looking at everyone walking by as she sat patiently on a leash next to a table. I knelt down and she crawled in my lap. I just assumed she was the lady's pet. The lady said she was up for adoption.....what? It was the local animal shelter that happened to be visiting the Petco. The dog had just been dropped off two days before. The family, also with two young girls, lost their home and had no choice. I can't explain it, but looking at that face I felt rescued......



So many hours later, a cell call to my vet for references, paperwork, trips to multiple stores for supplies, I came home with Avika, now Mieka. She is three years old, perfectly trained, a non stop cuddle bug, even trained not to bark. I still can't get over the fate of this little angle ending up in our home, thank you Jen, this is all your fault!
Merry Christmas to all!

Show Report

Yesterday I got to go to one of my favorite shows of the year, the December "Pot Luck" No Frills show. A wonderful day of showing, good friends, and eating, who could ask for more? These "little" shows have gotten to the point where they are packed and the competition is at the same high level you would see at any live show. This picture was a true highlight of the day. Chris was there with all of her Purdy ponies...does anyone else see a disturbing trend here?


All I can say is thats what happens to you after years of being a middle school band teacher!

I am loving this Indian Silver remake. "Silverado Alibey" is so much fun to show in performance. Here he is showing of the stunning dark brown Shannon WP set

Then he won the incredible harness class with his Buxton harness. The entries in this class were amazing. I have rarely been to a live show with so many nice harness entries! I was honored to win it.

This endurance set is one of my favorite Buxton tack pieces.. Its amazing and so realistic looking! I feel so lucky to have it. I do need a better doll for my late fall endurance ride, but thats coming soon.

He looks stunning in his arabian costume too! He won this class, was champ in this division, reserve in western, and was Overall Reserve Performance Champion.

And the new "Waseeka's Purdy Rouge"? Watch out for him and Rachel at NAN, he is going to be a performance star!