A little about me:
My whole life I've been a horse nut. When I moved from Michigan to Colorado with my folks in 1987, I was lucky enough to acquire my bestie, "Yankee" a Lippitt-style Morgan. He was my rock through high school, and after. I sold him to my mom's riding instructor in 1994 shortly before my first son was born. It was one of the most painful decisions I've had to make.
Besides the obligatory horse addiction, I'm a life-long auto and automotive enthusiast, as well as an avid skier. I've competed (a loooong time ago...like, 1993-ish, so it really doesn't even count any more) very successfully with the SCCA in Solo II (Autocross) racing. We also dirtbike, every weekend we can. Other favorite passtimes include reading, running, hiking.
In addition to the fake horses, I have a small collection of (live) Leopard Geckos. Fantastic little critters.
Hobby background:
In 1984 I was first introduced to the hobby via Pam Young's information table at the Lansing, Michigan Stallion Exhibition. There, she had examples of "R/R/H" horses as well as issues of Breyer's Just About Horses publication. I took the JAH and whatever other pamphlets she had available home and studied them with glee. I wrote to every hobbyist listed in Michigan out of the classifieds section of the JAH. Melissa (then Klutchko) was the first to respond, and she and I have been friends ever since. I held my first live show with her the following year, in a church in Dexter, Michigan. Since then, I've held the Ft. Collins Holidaze with Becky Henson in Ft. Collins, Colorado (December 2000), the Little Devilish Kokopelli Warmup with Teresa Fedak in 2003, the Spooky Turkey in November of 2003, and the annual Devilish Kokopelli Live held with Teresa that started in 2004. In 2004 and 2005 I was the showholder for the Stone Co. for the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous in Grand Lake, Colorado. In 2011, I'm the showholder for the Stone's Springamathing Live! in Golden, Colorado.
My first R/R/H horse, "DQ's Commanding Whisper" was purchased from Linda Leach (Hardy) in about 1984/5. He was the stretch Morgan remade with his head turned, and painted/haired a flaxen liver chestnut. I paid $25 for him. Since then, I've owned many multi-grand champions, among them Whatever, a D'Arry Jone Frank Houdini resin, and Frank, a Sarah Rose Khan customized and painted to a bay blanket appaloosa by D'Arry. I started focusing on mini resins, and had Hopi, a Rose Nevada finished by Chris Nandell to a bay blanket appy, a Rose Chevyo finished by Sarah herself to a black and white overo, and Phaedrus, a Rose mini Nahar finished to a dark dapple rose grey by Steph Michaud. There's been many more, as well. There are so many incredibly talented artists in this hobby - I'm so thankful that I've had the chance to own and be touched by some of their creations.
On September 2, 2003 I started the hobby forum Blab that was the first of its kind, and it unexpectedly and quickly became one of the most popular community websites in the hobby world wide. In April of 2005, an unexpected job change and resulting commute sapped all of the extra time that I had been accustomed to devoting to the hobby. Owning and managing the site was far more than my life could handle at the time, so in July 2006 the site changed ownership and shortly thereafter I completely removed myself from it and to a large extent, the hobby.
Presently, I'm working on the Redline Revival, a series of live shows in Boulder, Colorado, as well as the Stone Company's Springamathing Live! in Golden, Colorad.