Bronte resin
This mare is coming along rather well. I managed to pastel her to a chestnut that I was pleased with, then covered most of that chestnut with pinto markings. I can't say the entire process went smoothly though. About 2 layers in one of her back legs snapped off, again. She came to me with this leg lovingly taped to her barrel. Since the leg is so small, I wasn't able to pin it like normal. It was glued and a thin layer of apoxie was added for support. I was so mad that I just about threw her across the room. I decided that I was going to finish her anyways, missing a leg, and reattach it when I was finished. The white markings on that leg are high enough that I can glue it back on, send it, then paint it to match the horse. I figured matching white to white would be easy enough. I am still getting her pinto pattern to where I want it, hopefully she will be finished this weekend.
Zappoli
Zap had some touch ups done today. After carefully looking him over after Off to the Races, I decided that his little white cat spot on his neck needed to go away. Although that spot is true to the horse, it's just too small for a judge to consider it a true spot. Most people that see it figure its a mark on the horse, so I'm guessing that its not helping him in the show ring. So, I painted over the spot, sigh. He also got his eyes toned down a little, and a few funky spots on the edges of his pattern touched up. He is still just as nice as ever.
Standardbred
After getting back from the show, I went through a removed several horses from my string. In doing this, I happily provided myself with some nice bodies to work on. The first one was a G2 Standardbred. The red roan OF wasn't realistic enough for me, so I pasteled him to a faded dapple gray. I like him, I feel like his legs are too dark for the rest of his body, but he still looks nice. I found the perfect name for him and of course now I cant remember. Oh well.
American Saddlebred
My new pride and joy. This horse came from the cast offs from the show. Watch My Socks had some ear rubs and some paint missing from a few hooves. Things that I missed in my pre-show hazy glory. After the show, I looked her over and thought that she was a perfect horse to get a shiny new coat. So she also became a dapple gray. She is darker than the Standardbred, and I believe she is the best dapple gray I have ever done. I just have to paint her one light colored hoof and gloss the feet/eyes. I was going to leave her mane braids black, to bland them in a little, but after looking at her (I do a lot) I have decided to paint them blue. I have a bright blue the I will use, I think it will really bring out some of the highlights in her coat.
Other than that, there isn't anything else. The show I was on the wait list for had an opening, so I got in. That means 2 horse shows 2 weekends in a row. They are both rather large shows, so I'm going to have to have my A game both weekends. I second one is out in WI, it is a 2 hour drive for me. Hopefully I get plenty of sleep the night before so that I'm not exhausted half way through the show and still have to drive home. After the 2 shows, I have nothing for the foreseeable future, so I will be focusing more on jumps and props. I hope to have some things ready to list by the end of June. The butterfly jump will most likely be the first thing I list. I like it, but I feel like it's something that I can pass on for now. Oh, I did buy a new horse. I got a nice chestnut PS Pebbles trotting horse. The painter is going to add some nice white markings for me. Should be really nice when it's finished.
On a side note, today it rained and snowed, then rained again. In May. I hope Mother Nature decides which season she would like to be in soon.
Happy Monday