Sunday, November 27, 2011

LRH Antar Al-Ahmar Delayed

Truthfully, what it comes down to is that I've been getting gradually sicker this past week. It started off with fatigue and a mild upset stomach, then right on Thanksgiving, I found out that me and turkey aren't agreeing with each other right now. I can keep sweet potatoes and green beans down, but everything else is iffy at best, and makes me feel dizzy, and gives me a headache similar to a mild migraine. Why I had to get sick in the lead up to Thanksgiving and my birthday, I don't know... Needless to say, it's tricky working on a model horse when you're feeling nauseous, so I've been making very slow progress over the last week.

Due to some unexpected bills, my birthday present's going to be a bit late too, I have to wait for the next paycheck before I can go get my camera. Even if I wasn't sick and had finished him, Antar was destined to be a late foal. And that's fine by me. If he needs more time, he needs more time, but I really really want to have him done before the end of December, because I really want to help someone else achieve their breeding goal for the year.

This past day, I've been continuing to finish the final touches on what sculpting needs to be done. I was watching Gone With the Wind yesterday, and during the jumping scenes with Rhett and Bonnie, I noticed Antar's face still needed a lot of work. As is typical of Stablemates, he had almost no real detail to his face, it was just a horse-head shaped blob, really. So I got started working on restoring missing details, because I want this model to compete in head study as well as halter classes. He's an Egyptian Arabian, and the classic head contest is where the inspiration for photo show head study classes came from, so I thought it a must to have something presentable in a head study class. Right after Gone With the Wind finished, in went my DVD of Black Beauty to watch while I worked, because it'd be a convenient quick reference to glance at when I got stuck. By the end of Black Beauty, I still had some work to do, so in went The 13th Warrior, where I could watch Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan (Eben) and his "dog" to get more details.

As of 17:05 on the 26th of November, Antar's head is looking a billion percent better than it was. He now has his jibbah, and a nice muzzle, and a much more chiseled cheekbone and brow, but I still need to resculpt his right eyeball and lower eyelid. My boy is starting to look really nice and chiseled now, and I'm really proud of my progress, even if I am behind schedule.

Still on my to-do list is finishing his stallion parts, which are being stubborn, and a touch more work on his neck and throat to blend the work I've done on his head with the style on the rest of his body. I'm hoping to have him in his first coat of primer by the 28th.

Today's movie to work by: The Neverending Story. The scene with Artax makes me cry every time, but then, so does most of Black Beauty. Perhaps after The Neverending Story, I'll put in The Horse Whisperer. At about that point, I'll only have The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King left in my list of movies with lots of horses, but I think I want to leave a whole day for working to the whole trilogy.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Upcoming Races

LRH Wafiyah to race in Iskoola Stakes

It's going to be young filly against mature stallion in the Iskoola Stakes, unless more entries come in. It's also going to be a great exhibition race for those who want to see Egyptian arabians.

LRH Wafiyah is matched up against Cherox Park's Majeed, an ABRB 2011 Triple Cup contender. Whatever happens, this race will be good for Wafiyah, we think she'll benefit from running with Majeed.

The track is expected to be springy, which will suit both horses well. We expect a fun, fast race, and we'll be happy even if Wafiyah loses, because it'll be wonderful to see these two racing together.


LRH Backfire to race in Vristina Stakes

Another two horse race, the Vristina Stakes will be run on muddy track, which won't suit either horse very well, though we anticipate White Pine Stables' Liberty An Justice to have more trouble with the conditions. Arnold's looking forward to this race. We switched his originally planned ride because we think Wafiyah needs a more active jockey.

This is the first race Backfire will actually have to work at, since she was the only runner in her maiden race.


LRH Shes All That to race in Tarn Lake Maiden

Once again, Cookie's racing Black Cauldron. This time, Shes All That is at a disadvantage, as the track conditions are expected to suit Black Cauldron better. Cookie was calmer this afternoon, we think keeping her at the track has helped. This time, she'll be backed by Ryan Kelly, one of our more junior jockeys. Ryan's been out there exercising Cookie for us, and they're working well as a team. Yesterday morning, he got Cookie to load with less fuss than she made in her last race, so if all goes well, Cookie will be keeping her gate card. We're not hoping for much from Cookie in this race, we just want her to get used to life and work at the track.

Ryan brought up an interesting point in our phone conversation yesterday morning: he thinks Cookie might still be a bit mentally immature for this. He mentioned that when he was walking her around the yard she was making the "baby face" at a lot of the other horses. The "baby face" is where a horse raises its lips slightly, then slaps its gums. It's a submissive sign that young horses use to say "Don't kill me! I'm a baby!" to other horses. I'm really hoping it's not that she's immature, because I really expect better from my late three year olds.

(Why am I mentioning the baby face? I think I actually want to make a few customs that are doing the baby face, since it's not something you see very often. Cookie will be one of the baby-face horses.)

Also, I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner yesterday! Because my mother-in-law was working yesterday, we're having ours today instead.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

All Breeds Racing Board Annual Starters Auction

The All Breeds Racing Board Starters Auction just ended. I bid on a few horses, but some of the bidding was crazy competitive, and I didn't have as many points to bid as some of the older members. I bowed out of bidding on two of the horses I was interested in, and put in bids on two more horses toward the end. I lost one, but kept the other, and I'm very happy I picked up at least one of the lots I bid on.

Here's the details for the horse I won in the auction:
2008 Arabian colt or filly by Before The Storm (Silver Prince X Layla) out of Johar (Dahess X Truely A Dream). Consigned by Emory Oak Stables.

I got to choose some of the details, like color and gender, and I've chosen to make a one of a kind custom.

Here's what I've decided on:

She's going to be named Aasifa Bint Johar.

She's going to be made from a Classic Andalusian Stallion, with a lot of customizing to turn her into a mare breaking from the start line. Here's a basic idea of what I want to do for the pose. I'll be replacing the neck, mane and tail with original sculpts, and the head's going to get a lot of detailing, and I suspect I'll be doing a lot of remaking around the flanks. This might just be one of the most drastic models I'll do.

Color wise, I want dapples like this, but with a chestnut base:

Aasifa is my next project for myself after I finish Antar, and get a few sales pieces done. I'm going to get bits and pieces of her done whenever the mood strikes and I've got some time to spare to get on with it.

Who knows, perhaps one day, an Antar Al-Ahmar X Aasifa Bint Johar foal might show up in the Starters Auction? ;)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Custom in progress: LRH Antar Al-Ahmar

As a complete newbie to the idea of strains of Arabians, I've been doing some hasty research to get LRH Antar Al-Ahmar finished in time for my birthday. I needed to know what differentiates an Egyptian Arabian from other kinds, and wanted to find a good source of pictures of them to make sure my custom is on the right track. (It's a bit late to change anything major at this point, so I'm not sure why I even looked.) I came across this very useful blog, for the love of a horse, which is all about Arabians (and seems to have a focus on Egyptians). It's packed with history, pictures, stories, and even current sires, dams, foals, and champions. Very nifty, and very useful for me as an Arab newbie.

I'm getting close to crunch time with Antar at this point, since he's still not in primer, his head fell off (now partly fixed, I have to go back in with the bondo glazing putty again to fill in the cracks), and he insisted on a new tail and new boy parts. He didn't like his G3 Mustang tail (now lost! darn, I might need that for someone else!), he wanted a flippy tail, come hell or high water. This gave me a bit of a problem, since I've never sculpted tails before.

Fortunately, inspiration arrived in the form of Samantha Kroese's fantastic Friesian x Arab Legionario custom Ethereal Knight. Ethereal Knight has a string mane, tail and feathers, and is absolutely stunning. Well, honestly, my mind stopped somewhere between "oooh! pretty!" and  "string". I'm thinking "string tail? I can do that, how hard can that be?"

I built Antar a tail with paperclip coated in superglue/baking soda resin, and got to work gluing on sections of tail. The problem is, I only have runny superglue, so it's a bit tricky affixing the pieces of tail without fixing myself to the model.

I did find a trick for wiping up any excess, however. I've been using a tiny piece of craft felt to wipe the wet superglue. That way, it soaks into the felt, rather than bonding to my fingers or taking too long to fully cure.

I've got half of Antar's tail done, and hopefully can get the rest done today. After that, I'll need to finish his boy parts, then get prepping like fury to meet my self-imposed deadline.

Of course, the deadline isn't just looming close because my model's taking a long time. I'm possibly one of the worst procrastinators in the history of procrastinators. I can always find a way to do something other than what needs to be done, and end up leaving things until the last minute. Fortunately, I'm lucky to thrive under that kind of pressure. My best work is always the stuff I bang out quickly and close to deadline, where I don't have time to edit/tweak a bajillion times and ruin all the good stuff. Here's hoping that works again this time.

No progress on the show halter though, I need paperclips, and I have none. Another thing to add to my list of things to do today.

Racing Results

Sorry, no long article this time, I'm busy at work on my Arabian custom, now named LRH Antar. Here's a quick write up of the races my horses ran.

Little Eagle wins Band O'Green Maiden
The Band O'Green Maiden was raced on springy turf, with underdog LRH Shes All That breaking handily from the gate, followed by pre-race favorite Black Cauldron and solid contender Little Eagle. LRH Shes All That dropped behind as Black Cauldron and Little Eagle found their stride. Little Eagle made the push to win by a neck over Black Cauldron in this very close race.

LRH Solar Eclipse beats Big Red in second meeting
A fortnight after their matchup in the Empire Bay Maiden, Big Red and Sunny met for the second time in the Copperley District Stakes. The fast ground suited LRH Solar Eclipse, who went on to win his second against Big Red.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Upcoming Races

LRH Shes All That in the Band O'Green Maiden

After a tough time settling in at the track over the last fortnight, LRH Shes All That will be running her maiden race in the Band O'Green Maiden, scheduled for 12-11-10. We're hopeful that Cookie's nerves have settled enough for her to get the job done, the handlers at the track tell us she spent the first four days at the track pacing and weaving, and that she found the new conditions very stressful. We're glad we decided to trailer her in last fortnight when we took the rest of the horses for their maiden races. Ruth plans to spend as much time as she can with Cookie on the morning of the race. We're hoping that a lot of time spent grooming the poor girl will settle her down some.

The track condition is predicted to be springy turf, which should give Cookie and Stable For Champions' Black Cauldron a bit of a leg up over Rose Water Ranch's Little Eagle, for whom the conditions will be challenging. Both of Shes All That's challengers have run several maidens and have yet to win.


LRH Solar Eclipse in the Copperley District Stakes

We've trailered Sunny in for his second race of the month. We want to get him used to running tight scheduled races in preparation for a possible Triple Cup run somewhere down the line. Alfio's under instructions to let Sunny decide his own pace, the horse knows what he can and can't do, and we don't want to push him too hard.

This race, he'll be up against Rose Water Ranch's Big Red, a horse whose track preferences are exactly opposite to Sunny's. This time, we anticipate the track conditions will favor Sunny, since it'll be a fast track. We're glad the track's going our way this time, Sunny could use the help in his second race. We don't think Big Red's going to scratch, since unless there are more entrants closer to post time, he's guaranteed a win or place finish.

This will be Sunny's last run of the season. After that, he'll be taking a well-earned break through December, and going back into training in January. We think the snow we get in the winter will probably do him some good because it'll cool his legs and give him some light resistance training when he's out in the paddock.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

My birthday this month

At the end of November, it's my birthday. I've been trying to think how I can share that with people, but I don't really have anything I can give away as some kind of prize. I need good pictures for that, and I don't have a good camera.

One of the two things I want for my birthday this year is a new camera.

So, in anticipation, I've decided to finish a custom that's on my workbench right now in time for my birthday. I have no idea if it's possible. Just when I was ready to put a primer coat on him, he screamed "No! New tail! And how dare you not give me complete stallion parts!" So back to the workbench he went. I've got seventeen days to meet this deadline. Added difficulty: I want to make him a modern Arabian show halter so he doesn't have to be completely naked on his debut. He's a Stablemate, so this could be interesting to puzzle my way through. I bet there'll be snow on the ground by the time he makes his debut, so he'll be the first horse photographed with my new camera, and in the snow.

I'm actually going to show off a half finished model too. Right now, he's chestnut, and actually quite handsome (if a bit creepy with unfinished eyes and hooves), but until I have a better camera, he's stalled and going nowhere. I'm going to document how I turn him into a roan, so people can see how I do roans in pastels and acrylics, but before I do, I want to show off the first chestnut horse I've ever done, because I'm kind of impressed with it.

Hopefully I'll be able to show off my handiwork in a big way. Who knows? Maybe the workmanship might appeal to someone, and I'll pick up a commission or something?

In any case, I'll be putting up a countdown clock on my blog and my new site (it's pretty, go check it out!) Countdown clocks are exciting, and maybe you'll get a kick out of counting down with me to my 26th birthday.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Racing Results

The results for the November MHFC Race Meet are in! I got a great early birthday present from several of my horses.
All highlighted horses are Long Road Home horses. Results are trimmed to include only those races in which Long Road Home horses ran.

The Quarters
Race 1
Winner: Mister Hawke
Place: WS Doctor Pep
Show: Chicks Black Beauty
Also ran: Soft As Smoke, On Watch, Bubba, Dragonsblood, WS Nu Imperial Jewel, Red Skelton, Freckles Leone

Race 3
Winner: Ed Sonja
Place: Smart As Jones
Show: Hey Mister
Also ran: The Big Event, Magic Quest, DirtyDeedsDoneDirtCheap, Kiss Upon A Star, Zoom Zoom, Bold One, Splashed With Moonlight


Paints
Race 2
Winner: Heza Custom Blend
Place: Sweet Talkin' Man
Show: Masked Badger
Also ran: Shes No Princess, Odd Colored Skittles, Blue Suede Shoes, VnV Say My Name, Gonna Getcha Good, Winx Club Girl, WS Zippin It Shut


Race 3
Winner: Solstice Eclipse
Place: My Mocha Dream
Show: WS Color Me Angel
Also ran: WS Zip Mac Hustler, Dash Splash Cash, Ceshire Cat, Smooth Criminal, Bahama Breeze, Bleu Ghost, Raggedy's Eclipse


Standardbreds
Race 2
Winner: Moravian Empress
Place: Summer in Darley
Show: Wasabi Sensation
Also ran: Escrow Blizzard, A Girl Called Johnny, Ahrodie, Miss Sokys, Broadway Yankee, Its A Dream, Wild Fire Red


Thoroughbreds
Race 1
Winner: WS Big Red Prodigy
Place: GOS Never Lookin Back
Show: Andromeda
Also ran: The Hawkes Belle, Lordoftherings, WS Sic Transit Gloria, Airs And Graces, GOS Ima Smarty Pants, I'm Lit, Knight's Legacy


Race 5
Winner: Parliament
Place: A Bid For Courage
Show: Hello Operator
Also ran: GOS Sheza Party Girl, Fame N Fortune, GOS Black Silk, Firewind, Bold Count, Irish Dancer, Villainous


Points Summary
Mister Hawke: 10
Hey Mister: 8
The Big Event: 7

Heza Custom Blend: 10
Smooth Criminal: 4
Wasabi Sensation: 8
The Hawkes Belle: 7
Hello Operator: 8

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Alternative Performance Events: Kyz Kuu


This is a traditional sport among Kazakhs and Kyrgyz (who call it kyz kuumai). The name means "girl chasing". It is referred to as a "kissing game", but is also a racing game.

A young man on horseback waits at the start line. A young woman on horseback starts galloping from a set distance behind the young man. When she passes the young man, he starts galloping. The man's goal is to catch up to the woman, and if he can reach, to steal a kiss from her, before she reaches the finish line. If he succeeds, he is the winner. If the woman reaches the finish line before he catches her, she turns around and chases him back to the starting line. If she is close enough, she may use her whip to beat the young man, and this marks a victory for the woman.

What will I need for a Kyz Kuu set-up?
  • two horses
  • a male rider
  • a female rider
  • a whip
  • culturally appropriate tack
You could also set-up a variation of this as a gymkhana or mounted games contest, where the aim is to grab a flag from the other rider, rather than to steal a kiss or to hit them.

That's all of my alternative performance events for this go-around. I hope they've been of some help to you. Hopefully I'll be back with more some time soon.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

All Breeds Racing Board Racing Summary

Advanced Race Meet 21

The first race of the day, the Willomurra Purse, was a two horse race won by SMS Sky's On Fire, a Silver-Moon Studfarm colt by Northern Spur, out of Cassie's Gold. Cherox Park's CP Top Secret, an eight year old stallion, romped in second.

The Taralee Estates Stakes was run on wet turf, with a field of seven. EOS Jumper, the pre-race favorite, got off to a bad start, the wet ground not suiting him. He broke second to last from the gate. It was Wicked Lovely from Yankee's Secret, with War Front chasing them down after a few hundred meters, The Red Terror in close pursuit. Yankee's Secret and the tiring Wicked Lovely dropped back, finding the going rough. EOS Jumper put in a herculean effort on the wet turf to come up the outside, but finished half a length behind War Front, with The Red Terror one length back, the rest of the pack behind by eight lengths, led by TroubleInParadise. Dame de Pique had a rough time, boxed in by the pack, and ultimately couldn't break clear of the torn track.

The Invitational Stakes was on a muddy track, which didn't suit pre-race favorite Spectacular Dreams, but the aged mare still broke nicely from the gate, to romp in with an impressive lead of 9 lengths. In second was Day Dreamer, Dressed for Success behind, with Indy Storm coming in last to the post. The old mare appeared to outmatch her competition.

The Tare Reign Maiden was a blistering fast race on firm turf. Twilight's Dreamer was the pre-race favorite, but broke poorly from the gate, behind Anna's Speed and Back in a Flash. Back in a Flash struggled with the track, and was passed by Twilight's Dreamer. Anna's Speed and Twilight's Dreamer battled hard for the race, with Back in a Flash on their heels for the entire race. Anna's Speed won by a neck from Twilight's Dreamer, with Back in a Flash trailing by only two lengths.

Undecided and CP Hex All Klass ran an in-stable match race for Cherox Park on a fast track in the Bar Seven Purse. Undecided broke clean and fast, and dominated his stablemate, breezing in with a massive lead.

The Glen Valley Stakes, a G4 sprint, was won in a walk over by C. Winchcombe aboard Cherox Park's CP Spanish Lace. C. Winchcombe also walked to a win in the AWH Stakes trophy race aboard 14 year old stallion Jet Breeze. Winchcombe's easy day continued with walk over victories aboard Aaliyah, and Silver Prince* in the Arabian G3 and G4 races of the day.

Emory Oak Stables jockey A. Bilyeu rode to walk over victories in the McTaggert's Stakes and Speedy Bee Maiden aboard Ziyadah and Johar to finish up the day's racing.

October MHFC Results

MHFC October results are in! This month, some classes were triple judged! Way to go judges! I wasn't entered in any of the triple judged classes, but I'm really pleased for everyone that was.

LRH Heza Custom Blend
Novice OF: Paint 5th Place
Novice OF: Minimal White Pinto 9th Place

Total points: 8
Points for the year: 16

LRH Rum Runner
Novice OF: Other Pure Breed 3rd Place
Novice OF: Bay/Brown 2nd Place

Total points: 17
Points for the year: 37


LRH Nighthawke
Novice Custom/Resin/China Judge #1
Young Mare 9th Place
Warmblood (open registry) 1st Place
Bay/Brown 2nd Place

Novice Custom/Resin/China Judge #2
Young Mare 3rd Place
Warmblood (open registry) 1st Place
Sport/Carriage Breed Reserve Champion
Bay/Brown 2nd Place

Total points: 78
Points for the year: 168

LRH Xiwang
Novice Custom/Resin/China Judge #1
Senior Stallion 1st Place
Senior Horse Champion
Fantasy Equines 1st Place
Fantasy/Decorator Color 1st Place

Novice Custom/Resin/China Judge #2
Senior Stallion 1st Place
Fantasy Equines 1st Place
Other Breed Champion
Fantasy/Decorator Color 1st Place
Other Color Reserve Champion

Total points: 140
Points for the year: 410