Live show highlights and musings

I don’t know if I’ve ever been to two live shows within a week before, but that’s what I managed to do recently, and very nice it was too.

First up was the Mini Manes Live Show organised by Sarah Hindmarsh. I’m very flattered that my British Breeds Live in April inspired Sarah to hold this show! When she announced a show containing 4 in hand divisions for mini models only, along with mini performance and open British workmanship, I knew I had to go. The great majority of my collection is minis, and also it was nice to be able to compete my repainting against other British artists.

I was particularly pleased to see the minis-only performance classes, as mini performance really is a discipline all of its own! It’s been a long time since I’ve entered many performance classes at live shows – it’s too much hard work! – but duly inspired, I set out to resurrect some of my set-ups from the past, and was pleasantly surprised when all of them placed and received MECS/LEMS qualification! I was particularly happy to bring this chap out again:

I first made this set-up almost 20 years ago; the gig I assembled and painted from a white metal kit, the horse was customised by me, I also made the harness, and the base was made by my brother-in-law. It did very well for me in the 1990s before being consigned to the attic, where it fell to pieces in a box and was ignored for several years. However, the week before the show I got it out, fettled it up again, and was delighted when it was placed Reserve Performance Champion!

I forgot my camera at this show, so for the photo I’m indebted to Clare Goss. Congratulations also to her for taking the Performance Championship with this Indian costume entry:

 

The second show was Equifest, organised by Debbie Davis and Nicki Collins, and was quite different. Here the performance ‘big guns’ were out in force, with the Performance Championship being taken by this stunning dressage ‘pas de deux’ by Angela Docherty:

There were in hand classes for custom-glazed china, Animal Artistry, other artist resin/china, and customs. With so many stunning models on show, mine didn’t do so well here, but it was still a good day out for the eye candy, the chance to meet friends, and the shopping, with several ‘artisans’ having stalls. I sold several minis and bought a couple of resin seconds and some fascinating second-hand books, which I might review here sooner or later. The eventual In Hand Champion was this cold-painted bisque Valentin owned by Ann Sheppard:

I’m moved now, though, to offer a few musings on trends in live show judging – the culmination of some things I’ve been thinking about for a while now. Please don’t take this as a criticism of the judging at any live show I’ve attended – it’s more a reflection on impressions received over the last twelve months or so, more from conversations I’ve participated in, than any actual judging.

What’s struck me is that when judging has been discussed at the shows I’ve been at, it has been overwhelmingly about the finish-work on models: for example, does a particular OF have moulding seams showing, or paint overspray from one part of the body onto another? What is the quality of painting on a custom or resin? Does it have ear-tip rubs or other damage? Now while these things should undoubtedly form a part of judging, in my opinion they should take second place to the more fundamental questions of conformation and breed type. In a breed class, those are what I would look at first, to determine my basic order of placings – then I would take finish-work into consideration to decide between horses that had little to choose between them in terms of conformation and type. And yet I hardly seem to have heard conformation discussed at live shows. I wonder why? Is there a newer generation of judges who see the priority differently?

It’s true there is a lot more awareness of what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ for various breeds these days, but often that seems to be limited to ‘does it come in this colour?’ rather than actual knowledge of what the breed looks like in real life. Again in my opinion, by far the best way to study this is to go to some real horse shows and/or studs and actually immerse yourself in looking at the animals, taking in their make and shape. Seeing a group of the living animals like this tells you much more than looking in a breed book, which will often only have one or two photos of each breed – bear in mind that those could be atypical or out of date. I know of at least one breed book in which the same pony poses as both a Dales and a Highland!

Of course this is not to deny the usefulness of breed books – I frequently consult them while judging, and have no problem seeing other judges doing the same. I’m just pointing out their limitations. I realise also that a model horse judge has to look at a bewildering array of breeds and crossbreeds, not all of which could you ever find a real example to look at. However, by the same token, many more breeds have been imported to the UK in the last few years, and I’d venture to say that there can’t be many breeds of which you would be unable to find a living example somewhere in the British Isles!

To end on a positive note, in contrast to what I’ve heard at live shows, it’s been really encouraging to see the use of this Facebook group launched recently by Jan Sedrati. Here there’s been lots of discussion of conformation and breed type in regard to various model moulds, with examples of real horses also being posted. Granted, it’s a shame the arguments have occasionally become a bit antagonistic, but at the end of the day, at least these folk are arguing about the right things.