Headin To The Mountains Show Recap

What a fun weekend we had!  Headin' To The Mountains Live Show 2023 was jam-packed with fun and friends.  The Great Hall at Tin Mountain was beautiful and their gardens and grounds were just lovely, as were the people.

On Saturday, the Novices showed with Kayla Lovejoy judging while a Buy/Sell/Swap meet attracted visitors from all over New England and beyond.  Ponies found new homes, people made new friends, games were played, and everyone went home with well-earned ribbons and prizes.

In an exciting twist, two exhibitors who were showing for the very first time took Overall Champ and Reserve!

Overall Champion: Rusty - Missy Ayers

Overall Reserve Champion:  Nadeem - Kathryn Caulfield

 

On Sunday, the Open Show was TOUGH competition!   I don't know how Judge Christie Richardson survived it.  This was Breyerfest Live / NAN - level competition.  I mainly walked around, mouth agape at all the rare beauties lining everyone's tables.

(This picture below is for you, June!)

We even got to see several models that Triple Mountain has sold through the years, including the Copenhagen Brighty in the group above and a couple of lovely customs.

 

The Performance classes were incredible.  Here are a few photos:

Performance Reserve Champ is above:  Belle o' The Ball - Hannah Clark

Champion is below:  Nevada - Katherine Dwyer

 

Breed Halter was overwhelming.  Classes sometimes numbered over 40 entries! 

Color?  We got color!  We had to split Appy and Paint because there was so much color!  The pic below was taken before the split was made, as everyone jockeyed for position for their ponies in the ring.

(Below) Halter Reserve Champion:  Cypriot Star - Hannah Clark

(Below) Breed Halter Champion:  Dante - Jennifer Bolton Johnson

 

Custom  / AR Workmanship had so many beautiful horses it was impossible to decide which to stare at first!

(Below) Reserve Custom / AR Workmanship Champion:  Llamativo - Claudia Rallis

I should have had him turned around for the photo - He has sculpted bows in his mane and tail - So pretty!

(Below) Custom / AR Workmanship Champion:  EH Petit Prince - Elizabeth Freeman

 

Collectors Class and Collectability Section are always my personal favorites.  Here are our Collectors' Class entries, which include 8-10 models of the exhibitor's choice, designed to show off something special about their collection:

This entry consists of 8 Empress models with various shades and shading, and includes some special accessories from the exhibitor meeting Empres and his humans at Breyerfest.

This lovely group of Peter Stone Woody models was displayed with leaf-shaped tags:

This one was titled "Not Just a Phase"

and the winner, with  - I have to say - the most hilarious group name I've ever seen, was "Beefy Booties Daycare," featuring a rainbow of Stone Weanlings:

 

The Collectibility Section included models I've never seen in person before, and that's the best part of Collectibility - Getting the opportunity to see models you rarely get to see in person:

Wait, is that a BLUE Buckshot?  Yes!

(Below) Collectibility Reserve Champion:  Gifford - Hannah Clark

(Below) Collectability Champion:  Cadenza - Jennifer Bolton Johnson

Since this show was also a birthday party of sorts, we had some fun model-related games with prizes, and thanks to my mom, cake both days with pictures of me on them.  Big thanks to my mom for arranging and managing the lunches, cake and ice cream for both days!

Our Fun Class was Birthday Bash, and every entry got votes, but the top two were really close and showed a lot of work and creativity:

In the end, the group below won by a nose!

 

Thanks to Tin Mountain Conservation Center for welcoming us to their beautiful Great Hall.  If you ever find yourself in need of a facility in central NH, check in with them.  They're a non-profit that does conservation as well as educational outreach centered around the beautiful ecosystems of our region.  If you don't like taxidermy, you may want to skip this final part.  They have some incredible displays of animals and minerals that exhibitors enjoyed seeing between their classes. 

 

Thank you to all of our amazing exhibitors for traveling from all over New England, New York, even Pennsylvania and Quebec to join us!  Thank you also to those who sent raffle items - There were more raffle items than I've ever seen, and they all found great homes.

Special thank you to our judges!  You rock!

Together you all made this a wonderful weekend and an amazing birthday celebration.  I'll keep the card you all sneaked around the room (how you managed without me seeing is a fun mystery!) forever.

We hope to see you all again next year!

 

(I can't reply to comments in the blog, but if you leave one, I'll see it.)