Snow, snow and more snow!

Here in the northeast and much of the atlantic seacoast had a low pressure dump enormous amounts of snow. This is odd for this time of the year as here in southern New England we normally do not get snow til January and certainly not this much! In Westport we got 19 inches and in nearby New Bedford they got 24 inches.

here is a photo of my backyard yesterday morning


And this morning with about 15 inches of snow before a few more fell.


getting to work was interesting. Most of our scheduled shifts for the day called out with three of us getting in for 11am and opening the store for 12.

I'm hoping to go for a ride sometime this week in the snow, though it might be a tad too difficult for Princess!

trouble is only 32" at the withers so I will have to shovel out a space for her!

the cold and snow will keep me indoors where I hope to get some prepping and painting done.

Time flies when you are having fun... A little about Princess Pony

It is hard to believe that my pony turned 31 today. Today also marks 8 years that I have owned her and 8 years that I have had horses at home.

Princess was given to me by a friend who raises Welsh ponies and wanted princess to go to a good home. Princess is a Fell/Cross and was not getting as much attention and time as she deserved. I was looking for a companion for my gelding Tempa, so Princess came home the same day Tempa did. Dec. 17, 2001.

Princess was extremely fat when she came home. She had been living for about 8 years at the farm, eating lots of grass, and unfortunately foundering as much as twice a year. She was also in the sun alot so instead of being black, she was orange

Here she is a few days after being home.


This is what i dealt with the first spring she was home. She had to be clipped. Can we say Cushings pony?


After being clipped and losing some weight over the winter.



she was so fat and had so much fur. it was obvious that she needed a different life style and diet. She has a dry lot here and I control what she eats, which was definitely needed in her case. She got barely any grazing, time, but some as she also needed to be out for exercise. Her owner claims she rarely if ever saw her gallop.

here she is getting a little grazing time with Tempa and then enjoying a good gallop




The new diet and dry lot in combo with exercise has done well for Princess. The vet is very pleased that she sheds out completely on her own.

Princess is a good girl. Well trained. She can pull a cart, she can be ridden bareback and with just a halter and lead rope and the only thing I've found that she does not like and spooks just barely at is the flash on a camera. She loves to lick people and give you kisses if you bend down near her mouth. And she loves to stick her tongue out at you when you are taking a picture



Princess also loves to wear her hay on her head and will parade around with it.


I was worried how Princess would react when I was forced to put Tempa down in the winter of 2009. They had always been together, even if during the past 8 months she and Tempa had been separated by fence so that i could control what Tempa was eating. She was depressed for some time and would spend alot of time by Trouble's paddock. Then suddenly this amazing personality sprouted that didn't shine nearly as much when Tempa was there. Suddenly I received very enthusiastic greetings from her at all times of the day. I'd see her bucking and running around when it was windy or she was feeling good. She took naps when she felt like it.



She had become content, without Tempa and suddenly her and I developed a similar bond to what Tempa and I had. She was no longer the pony only interested in eating. She wanted to be scratched and loved.

I bought her a new lighter saddle. English instead of western. And her and I have enjoyed several rides together.




While Princess is not as energetic as tempa was or as lean and beautiful. She is special in her own way and am I forever grateful of my friend to give me this wonderful pony.

I'm back!!

It has been absolutely forever since I have posted to my studio blog. Truth is that working as a manager in retail and doing web design and animal care at a farm keeps me very busy. Unhappy with how things are going in retail I made the decision in october to go to part time and step down as a manager. As of January 1st, I will be spending more time at the farm and....more time in the studio, which I am very excited about.

I will be working mostly on custom plastics on Maureen Love molds as these models very much inspire me to do my best work. I also want to keep any models I offer in the affordable range with the economy. This does not by any means mean that it will be lousy work. Just my work on less expensive, but still desired bodies.

I did paint a few models this year. My most recent models below.

This was a Chickory I finished recently. he is for my personal collection. His name is Chico.


I also recently finished a cold painted Hagen Renaker Maydee custom which is for sale on the MH$P



Many more pictures can be seen of her in her photobucket album.

I bought this body at Breyerfest in 2008 and prepped him and painted him over the winter and early spring. This is "Skipper's Mirror Image" who is loosely based off of Skipper W a foundation QH Stallion.



Skipper's Mirror Image did well this year showing and picked up 3 NAN cards and was Region X Regionals 2009 Custom Breed Stakes 1 Breed Champion. He also picked up a top 5.



This year I also painted a Love SM Arabian stallion. This is "Sheikra" Also for my own showstring. He received 3 NAN cards this year and a top 5 at Random Mini Show



Earlier in the year I also decided to try my hand at painting some Safari horses that I purchased at work. Below are Achton (Jutland Stallion) and Bromwell (Suffolk Punch) who did fairly well in the showring this year.



Achton earned 4 NAN cards this year and a top 10 at NEMHC.


Bromwell earned 5 NAN cards this year, a top 5 in workmanship at Random Mini Show and a top 10 in breed at NEMHC.

Stay tuned and follow this blog for progress of new models in the new year!