I just returned from the Southern Model Horse Convention held at Laura Behning's Brookridge Morgans in Covington, Georgia, and I had to share this photo. The two horses are Foxton Frosty Dawn and her filly Positively Charmed - two of just a handful of silver dapple Morgans. Towards the end of what had been an overcast, drizzly day several of us spotted the rainbow in the distance. I thought this made a particularly neat picture given Laura's long-time involvement in the Rainbow Morgan Horse Association (a group devoted to identifying and preserving rare colors in the Morgan breed).
(I believe you can click the picture and get the larger version.)
Laura not only had the two silvers, but she also had her mare Coral Forest. I thought I would share her picture, too. I've always thought Coral was one of the prettiest mares I've ever met. But she's also such a unique color.
If I told you to discount the orange tones on her mane, tail and legs (those come from the red Georgia clay), what color would you guess Coral to be? She looks like one of the rare grey Morgans, doesn't she? But Coral is actually a palomino - easily the palest one I have encountered. Even in person, she would be easy to mistake for a white grey.
With horses like Frosty, Charli and Coral right outside the show hall, it would be hard not to have a good time at the show. But it was also special to me because of its history. This was the 20th annual SMHC, which makes it one of the longest continuously running shows in the industry. It was also, seventeen years ago, my first live show. While I had been actively involved in the model horse community since the mid-1970s, up until then my involvement was limited to clubs and photo showing. I'm still not sure what made me decide, in 1990, to pack up my small collection of customized mini models and head off to Georgia, but I'm sure glad that I did. Laura couldn't have been more encouraging to a new (and terribly shy, if you can believe it!) artist, and everyone was so warm and welcoming. I was hooked!
And here we were once again. Only this time, I was watching Paula Hecker's oldest daughter, Jessica, show for the first time. Seventeen years ago at my first show, I was too intimidated by Paula's fame as the editor of the Hobby Horse News to actually speak to her. That magazine has long since ceased publication and Paula has since moved on to other things. But our friendship (I did eventually get brave enough to talk!) has remained, and I was especially pleased to see Jessica win an Original Finish Plastic Championship with a "Keepsake" - the special run I had designed for the Hobby Horse News (during Tina Ferro's tenure as editor). Seeing our community's past tied to our future made me smile. Well, that and cool-colored horses and rainbows!
3 comments:
Gorgeous image! And a sweet story.
Cool photo of the rainbow and wow on the palomino. I kept looking at her darker legs but didn't know if it was the clay or not. Cool. Thanks for sharing your day for us folks who don't get around to too many hobby events.
Yes, that's all clay staining her legs. I don't know how southerners keep the legs of their Paint horses white. I know my collie was sable-and-pink, no matter how often I bathed her, and she was an indoor dog.
And Mel, I should see if there is a way to insert a picture in the comments section. You would appreciate a photo of the other thing I discovered (besides live showing) that same week. I met a certain dashing young physicist at a party a few days before the 1990 show, but he looked rather different then than he does now. Try picturing Alan with an earring and a ponytail!
Post a Comment