Here's some photos of my resin Mule from Carol Herden.  I picked up him at BreyerFest, on Thursday, July 24, 2004.  He was so new he still smelled like fresh paint. When I talked to Carol about a week beforehand, she was still sculpting him and promised to have some done (painted and unpainted) by the time she got to BF.  I didn't believe her, but fortunately I was proven wrong.  She had some unpainted resins, as well as this buckskin and a seal bay (both painted by herself).  As soon as Carol and Brian walked into the Artisan Gallery, where they had a booth, I scampered over and helped them unload their truck, as I was quite anxious to see this fellow.  As we were unwrapping stuff, Carol handed me the Mule and told me this is what I was waiting for.  As soon as he was unwrapped I told her he was sold, but she could display him.

I'm so thrilled to get him and add him to my showstring.  I've got two other longear resins by Carol that I've successfully shown and I figured I'd do equally well with him as well.  Comstock (the mold name is Shazzam) made his showing debut at the Emerald City Live, in Edmonds WA, on August 23, 2004.  He ended up taking home Grand Champion in Performance (I didn't show him in halter) and Overall Grand Champion of Show!  Pretty neat, huh?  Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day, so I didn't get any photos of him.

I did take my digital camera to his next show, which was Rose City Live, held in the Portland OR area on September 27, 2004.  At that show, he once again came home with Grand Champion of Performance, as well as Overall Reserve Grand Champion of Show (once again I didn't show him in halter).  I hardly ever show in halter and would much rather concentrate on the performance division.

Following are some photos I took at that show.  Enjoy!  And when you order one from Carol Herden, be sure to tell her where you saw photos of him.  :-)

Parade outfit by the Queen of Costumes - Cary Nelson.  I picked up this Ms Las Vegas outfit years ago at The Event, which was held in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Cary was there with a bunch of costumes and I managed to snag just about all of them (except for Arabian costumes as that's the one performance class I don't enter).  This is one of the coolest costume I have and one that everyone wants to get their hands on if I were to ever sell it (not likely!).  The drape has miniature cards and dice to go with the Las Vegas theme.  The blond doll is wearing a tight gold bodice that shows off her "attributes" quite well.  At NAN 2001 (in KY) I got National Champion with this costume on another Herden longears, the standing Mammoth donkey (Bailey).  Someone came up and told me she was told "to go look at Laura's tits and ass".  We all rolled around on the floor laughing.  HA! 

This was actually a set up for Other Performance, where I did a Ride and Drive (since he had already shown in harness - forgot to take a photo though as I was so rushed - got lost getting to the show and my watch was 20 mins slow, so I got there 5 mins before the show started.  Ick!).  Saddle by Terry Newberry and blanket by Deb Messner.

The judge, Melissa, getting in the way of my photo. Darn those judges that have to be there!  HA!  :-)
Roping set up - calf by Carol Herden, forget who did the saddle and bridle, doll by The Clothes Horse (aka Jan Wagner) and saddle blanket by Deb Messner of Simple Pleasures.

Western Trail - natural trail, of course.  I made this set up with the help of my brother, who recently got into model railroading.  Comstock is out for a pleasure ride along a little used railway line.  It took many hours to make this set up and lots of glue.

This entry is called "Campdrafting", a nifty class that comes from Down Under (aka Australia).  He took 2nd with this entry.  Calf is by Carol Herden (now discontinued).

Bringing home the Western Performance Championship.  All decked out from his Western Pleasure class. Saddle by Terry Newberry and blanket by Deb Messner.  I got this blue saddle blanket, as well as the red one, just before the show in August.  Deb put a rush on them as she knew I was looking forward to showing my new fellow and she wanted to be a part of it.  If I ever need more saddle blankets, I know I'll be calling on Deb, as she makes the coolest blankets.  All handstitched into some really cool patterns and colors.  If you want to see more of her work, go to www.modelsaddlepads.com

Comstock got 3rd with this Dressage entry (my weakest class of all).  Tack is by the English Tack Goddess herself, Jennifer Kistler.  Dressage rails came from the Sturhanns many, many years ago.  Dressage letter from Polly Cleveland.

Here he is with his two rosettes for Misc and Western Perf, as well as Grand Champion of Performance.  Since the last class was english, he's still in that tack (by Jennifer Kistler).

Carol's web site is www.cmherden.com and she's the one known as The Cow Lady (COWs for Carol's Original Works), as she did all those resin hobby cattle that us performance showers love.  You can email Carol at info@cmherden.com for prices and availability.