#horses rule

[drsteggy]

I judge the children/youth show at HorseCon and have been asked to do it in cosplay the past couple years. It’s really fun to be a Zelda character when there’s a new game.

Top left is me and a couple friends in the golf cart we had for the weekend. I decorated it with vines and there are some lights you can’t appreciate. Another friend stuck that unicorn horn on it. I joked this was an ultra hand build that included a beam emitter which is why everyone is laughing.

Top right is me dressed as BOTW Link wearing a pair of 8 bit shades taking my friend Malanya to visit the grave of the great Man O War.

Bottom is Malanya in front of the larger than life (and recently restored) statue of Man O War, arms raised to attempt to revive him. This is sort of a sacred space at the horse park, though it seems to get few visitors these days. I hope this big red horse understood that while we were being silly, he was the only one we thought we been worthy of a try.

[drsteggy]

Last week I was at my favorite con on Earth. It’s been 3 years since I got to gather with my nerds.

I went to BreyerFest.

I work at Breyerfest. One of my jobs is to judge at the children and youth show. The show organizers want to keep things fun, so they asked people to dress up if they wanted. I was specifically asked to show up as Link. I had friends dress as Aierth and Rainbow Dash as well.

Anyway. It was a good show

Afterwards, I went to the Horse Park proper and introduced myself to as many guest horses as I possibly could, starting with Danish’s Northern Tempest (aka Dani) an appaloosa/Friesian cross mare who was the 2021 BreyerFest Celebration horse. Dani’s owner had me and my friends pose with her for their Instagram, so that was fun.

I also met Adamek, an Akhal-Teke stallion who was a big sweetheart. He was begging for cookies, and enjoyed some scratches on his neck. Horses like having a deep scrub on their neck where their mane grows. It’s an itchy spot they can’t reach, so they have friends do it. I enjoy trying to get horses to give me a big loose lip when I do this, and I got one from him.

Next up was this year’s celebration horse, Nikolas (the buckskin) and his friend Avatar’s Jazzman. They were getting ready for a performance so it was quick, but Niko did a nice piaffe for me.

Morganquest’s Native Sun’s handler handed me the reins when I asked for photos. He was a nice horse, too-much smaller than his Breyer model would make you think.

Got a selfie with Patrick the Mini Horse! My wig was completely over everything by this point. The saddlebred was named Jax and he also loved getting his neck scritched.

Tumblr mobile is being dumb with formatting, but that final image was a spur of the moment decision. I’m so pleased Kentucky Horse Park uses Champion blue.

[drsteggy]

ALSO. There were horses outside of Comic Con as I went home. I was warned this one bites (clearly)

[drsteggy]

This is my 1:9 scale model horse barn and that doll is a 1:9 version of Link from Breath of the Wild. When you could still go to model horse shows, I sometimes played Breath of the Wild in my setups. I have a Guardian Stalker that I built, too, but I digress.

My friend who made Link for me reminded me today that she sent me his approval pictures two years ago, so this is sort of his birthday and suggested we have a party for him. I thought this was great and the work beat me like a rented mule and I almost didn’t do these but I felt bad not commemorating my favorite doll’s birthday. Link does not have any doll friends, but he probably likes the various denizens of my barn just as well.

Someone gave him that Switch last year, and it included a bunch of games. He is probably playing Animal Crossing.

Anyway, what’s a birthday without a bunch of food and friends?

Happy birthday 1:9 Link. I hope we are both celebrating birthdays in 2022 in louder places.

[drsteggy]

I have a bunch of new followers since I posted horses, so, to summarize: I collect and competitively show scale model horses. Before I discovered cosplay, I was trying really hard to play Breath of the Wild in 1:9 scale. I even commissioned an amazing doll, who I have played with more in the past 18 months than any other doll my parents attempted to get me to interact with as a child.

Isn’t he great? The horses are Might Bananas (jumping), Fauxpona (he is a gelding) and Urbosa- her elaborate base is filled with flora and a few critters from BOTW. Link has become a bit of a celebrity in the model horse world, and people send him presents.

Today he received a 1:9 scale Nintendo Switch with a bunch of games and I am SCREAMING.

The model horse hobby can be a bunch of drama, but omg they are my people.

[drsteggy]

WORK IN PROGRESS WEDNESDAY

Hey I have a thing I can share!

I’ve half joked about writing the Horse Girl!Link story and what finally kind of pushed me was a writing contest in my other weird hobby. The story needed to be about a horse, and original, so that’s what I wrote, and then I redid it to fit into my AU. I’m not sure when you might see the entire thing-submission deadline is tomorrow and I have no idea when winners might be announced. I retain rights to my work so I guess maybe it doesn’t matter. We will see.

One afternoon, Link was finishing up his duties with his pink pony before moving onto other chores when his older brother, Kagun, walked in leading a sturdy bay gelding. Kagun was five years older than Link and Link desperately wished he could be everything his brother was. Kagun was tall and slim. Horses liked him. Girls liked him. Kagun was always there to comfort him when their father was loud or worse.

Link hoped one day he could make Kagun proud of him.

“Link! How is that birthday pony working out?”

Link grimaced and gave one final rub with the curry comb. Kagun would see through him. “She’s okay.”

“Just okay?” Kagun cross tied his gelding and leaned over the half door.

Link shrugged. “She’s pink. And she has spots.”

“She is also marked Farore. Didn’t you see?”

Link met Kagun’s eyes. He seemed completely serious. Link reached up to Fancy’s thick black forelock and pushed it aside. He knew there was a little white marking, the kind called a star no matter what it was shaped like. Fancy’s star was a rough triangle, short at the top, with two long sides tapering to a point aimed at her muzzle. A long, thin triangle, like the tip of a lance, a spear, an arrowhead.

Farore’s Signpost. Farore gave courage to those who needed it, and horses favored by her with this mark were said to be bold and looked out for their riders. They were prized by knights.

Why had she marked this fat pink mare?

Link rested two fingers on the mark.

“She’s special,” said Kagun, turning his attention back to the gelding. “She’ll look out for you. She might be pink, and she might have spots, but she isn’t ordinary.”

[drsteggy]

Okay that fact about horses' respiratory rate was super interesting, any other Nifty Horse Facts??

Oh boy, you have no idea what you’re asking. I am full of nifty horse facts.

-horses can see almost 360 degrees when their heads are down to graze. However, they cannot see directly in front of them. When horses jump, they can’t see what they are jumping and judge where to take off by looking at the sides of the fence, which is why “skinnies” are very tough.

-horses cannot breathe through their mouths. They also cannot vomit. They CAN and DO sleep lying down though, and need to do so for REM sleep, but they don’t need as much of that as we do.

-Arabian horses have one less lumbar vertebrae than other breeds and I used to know why but that information has been dumped out of my brain to make room for song lyrics.

-A horse’s heart is about the size of your head. They can contract their spleen to push more red blood cells into circulation, giving them increased oxygen carrying capacity in emergencies.

- most horses have a moment of suspension-all four legs are off the ground-during the gait cycle of the gallop. Really fast ones have two moments of suspension during the gait cycle of the gallop, which means those old time images of galloping horses are not entirely incorrect.

-appaloosa is actually an ancient color and not a newer one as once believed

I love horses. I learned better coping skills from horses than I ever did from my own species. I love the smell of them, the way they sound and how they feel. I love rubbing their withers and have them attempt to groom me back. I miss them.

[drsteggy]

I’ve been marinating in my horse collection this afternoon. Warning for horse pictures.