A little about me and the model horse hobby...

       Around the age of eight, I started to play with Breyer Horses. It all started with a small playset of Stablemates, harmless right? Well, that herd grew over the next few years and soon enough I was trying to collect them all. Every mold and shape! No one else in my family had ever had any connection to horses, so my fascination with them kind of baffled my parents but they kindly supported me. I started riding lessons and was 100% hooked on all things 'equestrian'. 
       It wasn't until my teens that I was first introduced to the world of customizing models. I had signed up for Breyer's magazine at the time, JAH (Just About Horses), and each one had a 'how-to' article on customizing your models. The results and pictures were amazing; to take an already realistic sculpture, take it a step farther to a port where you had to guess if it was a photograph of a model or a real horse? I couldn't believe it! I had to take part! Luckily, at that point, had been creating art my whole 14-year-old life and just went for it. I thought it couldn't be so hard - I drew and painted horses all the time on canvas and paper. How much harder could a 3D horse be? HARD! I made many mistakes early on. It took a lot of learning about the right mediums to use, and time spent studying the anatomy of horses. It was an extremely involved process, but I loved it and have kept up with it ever since. 
     After years of honing my skills, I have reached a point where I am extremely confident in the quality of my work. My customized, resculpted, and painted pieces have gone on to win NAN championships - some have even traveled across the globe to win across Europe and Australia. I still have so much to learn and can't wait to see where I go with this hobby! It truly is the perfect combination of horse appreciation and art. Thanks for reading this and taking the time to look at my work.