 Just documenting the, uh, first, uh, show ever, show ever, with plastic glasses. That, uh, so when you become famous you can look back on this and remember me. Aww. That's a lot of plastic in one room. This is Nicole. She's my best friend. And for some strange reason, she loves coming to model her shows with me. This is a bigger turnout. Who would have thought? He won fourth. Surprisingly. Yeah. Yes, but that was because there was only four entries. I mean, she's been to pretty much every single one. My mom is also a big contributor to my live showing experiences, helping me drive, pack, and show on the day. So what exactly is model horse showing? Well, it's an organized event put on by collectors themselves to show off the collections, custom work, and the love of horses. It's a day where people come together to celebrate their love for the hobby rather than doing it behind closed doors. You can win ribbons. You can show off your artwork. Sometimes you might be able to meet a real horse. This is actually super unlikely. I don't know why there was a Parisian horse at the show. And you can meet like-minded people who share the same passion. Usually there's a lot of other shenanigans involved as well. There's a tractor in the subway parking lot. Live shows are usually listed online. I find my information through other hobbyists on Facebook. Because I live in Canada, we don't have as many live shows as the U.S., but if you go on namhsa.org, they have a list of all of the live shows according to your region. Depending where you live in the U.S. or Canada, there's a list of shows available in your area. So this particular show that I'm going to is called Damn Town Live. It's in Bassano, Alberta. It has all of the information on the website of what you need to know, where it's located, the day schedule. It also has all of the information you need, such as the class list. A lot of these shows are considered nan-qualified, and what a nan qualification means, that all first and second place horses receive a nan card. Green cards are rewarded for breed classes. Yellow cards are rewarded for gender and color classes. You can also receive a pink nan card, which is for performance classes. These cards qualify you for the North American Nationals, which is a yearly event that is hosted by Nan, where you can enter your models if you have qualified in any live show and received a card for your model. This is highly sought out for collectors who are intense showers, and it adds extra value to your model if you're looking to sell it in the future. I have a pretty large collection, so it's difficult to choose who is desirable enough. But in order to live show your model horse, the judges are looking for perfection. This means that you should have no flaws in your model. You should have an accurate breed and gender assigned to it, as if the model was a real horse. I like choosing models that are desirable in both paintwork and sculpture. It's fun to come up with creative breeds as well, depending on the confirmation. Some models simply aren't good enough to enter the show ring, such as this Esprit model. Esprit does not have good confirmation in the shoulder, and it looks off. He never places well. I also don't like entering other sculpturally challenged models such as this stock horse stallion. I find his face is really bulky and doesn't look realistic at all. The idea is to show a horse as close to realism as possible, and the judges will often pick newer sculptures that represent that significantly more. You also don't want to show models with obvious flaws, such as ear tip rubs, rubs along the body, scratches in the paint, or anything that is considered an imperfection. This is a common term used in the hobby for selling models. You want them live show quality, which just means that they have no flaws and are able to be shown in the ring. So here are some examples of models that don't particularly have good body condition to them. There's a lot of shiny marks, a lot of scratches. They wouldn't do well in the ring. I have gotten away with showing models that are not 100% perfect, such as this American saddle bread. He has a fine scratch in his body and he had some pretty bad ear tip rubs, but he's still placed despite these flaws. Sometimes the model has a striking enough color and the flaws are disregarded. It's completely dependent on the judge. Some judges are much pickier than others. Now you are able to repair your models slightly before entering the show ring. You're not allowed to alter the original finish paint, so you cannot enter etchies into the Briar class and you cannot enter anything that has been painted because then it is considered a custom. That being said, you're able to make minor repairs such as this donkey, which I fixed his leg. It's undetectable. He looks original finish. You're able to touch up nose rubs, ear tip rubs, and hoof rubs. Small things that would be easy enough and would seem undetectable to the judge as custom paintwork. As soon as you modify the model in any dramatic way, such as repainting this Isidore cruise's eyes, she is no longer original finish and could not show. This particular horse has a giant flaw on his ear. He would also not be able to enter the ring. How do you breed a model accurately? For this particular horse you would consider an Arabian. She has a dished face. She has a flat top line. She has all of the traits that consider her Arabian. That being said, there are several subtypes of Arabian such as Egyptian Arabian, Russian Arabian, and Polish Arabian. To add a little spice, I'm showing this mare as an Egyptian Arabian and she has done very well in the shows I entered her in. Some models are boring and it's easier to just show them as what they seem. This model is a paint horse. I can't get around it. She looks like a paint horse. She will probably do best being shown as what she is. Now for models of a warm blood type, it's a common thing for young showers to just show them as a warm blood. There are many subtypes of warm bloods so this particular one is going to be showing as a Hanoverian. So make sure you do your research and create some documentation cards. Documentation just includes a few pictures, a short description of the breed, pictures that match the model that you're showing. This will surely get you good placing so the judge doesn't have to do the work. You've done your research and you know that this model is suited for that particular breed. You will need to take a few things to your live show. I recommend taking a makeup brush kit so you can dust off your models when you set them on the show table. I also recommend taking some form of stand. Now these were free dish racks that I picked up and put some fabric on so that my models can stand up without tumbling at the live show. You're also going to need some kind of a blanket to lay on your show table so that your models don't get damaged. I prefer to use a table cloth as it's not lumpy and the models have an easy time standing on it. I like to keep all of my bases in a plastic bag so I don't lose them. I also like to take merch such as this t-shirt and also business cards so that people can get my information if they're interested in my work. You're also going to want some cash. Model horse shows often have sales so you will surely be spending all of your money at the live show. I like to have a binder that keeps everything together including all of my class list and information including a pencil pen and a highlighter. I keep that all snugly tight in a little handbag. Once I look at my collection and decide who is live show quality and what breeds everybody is I will sort them out so I see how large my show string is. I like to take notes and pick which models should be entered into which class and when I have a final class list I will copy and paste that from the website into Word and make a nice organized sheet that I can follow along with on show day. I whole punch this and throw it into my binder. Highlight all of the classes that I'm entered into. Now as my models place I write in what placing they got beside their names so I don't lose track of the ribbons. Classes such as color or gender there's usually a limitation of how many horses you can enter per class and so at this particular show it was three models. When I write up the class list for these classes I write all of the models that I have in that particular color and then depending who does best in breed I will enter those models in the color class. Now you're going to need some of these little hang tags I just get these at staples and you're going to want to write the horse's name, the breed and the gender on one side and your name on the other side of the car. I prefer to write the breed in pencil so that I can change it depending on how the model does with that breed and then you're just going to loop that hang tag on the back leg of the model so that the judge can identify what breed the horse is. When the judge places your model they'll flip the tag and find out who you are. So then I'm going to need some really large tubs. I like to take a lot of models to my horse shows so I have these big totes that live out in my shed outside and I like to use pony pouches when packing model horses so I just have a lot of fabric squares and little fabric pouches that I quickly sew together. They're nothing fancy just a square. Before you pack away your models I recommend dusting them with a cloth so that you have the least amount of work on show day getting in there with a little makeup brush because my models sit on a shelf, they get dusty so before I put them into the bin I just like to dust them up, make sure they're all good. So some people use bubble wrap and foam. I just use blankets and I jenga the models all together. I use a combination of laying them just exposed and then I'll put some in pony pouches on top. I will throw extra towels as I go and I just make like a model horse lasagna basically. The main priority here is that you don't hear any clanking so none of them are actually touching each other. Some people put a little more precaution but I've never had any problems with models coming flawed this way. They don't move around a lot. They go into the truck and they make it to the show. They unpack and then they're repacked in the same organization. Now for models that are a little more fancy such as my custom work I take more precaution in how I package them. For my miniatures I put them in little pony pouches individually and then compact them into a box so that they don't shift around and get lost. For really dramatic drastic customs I like to put them in their own totes so Finnigan here who has a crazy tail, lots of delicate ears and detailing. I just throw him in a tote that has a towel and lay him in gently and then wrap that towel all on top of him so that he will not shift around and the tote is compressed. So on show day you're going to unpack everything and display it on your table. It's very exciting to see all your models lined up. Everybody's going to organize their model also on their own table which line the walls of the show hall and then usually the show rings are put out in the middle of the show hall. Depending on your class you're going to place your models on the table with their tags clearly showing any documentation you have or any ribbons they've won for the callbacks. Then you're just going to make sure that they look great, don't have any dust on them, give them a good little dust with your makeup brush and then you let the judge do their thing. Models that place in each class either first or second are brought back for the callbacks in which they can win division grand champion and division reserve champion. At the end of the day there is an overall champion and reserve as well. Once the models have been pinned you are able to go and get your prizes, take some pictures and get ready for the next class. So I hope that this helped in your process of getting ready for a model horse show. It is super fun, super rewarding. I love showing my custom work. It is so satisfying to win ribbons. It's basically like an art competition and showing briars is fun. It tests your horse confirmation and knowledge of breeds. So thank you so much for watching and happy model horse showing.