Showing horses was something that became part of Laurie Rylander's life at a very young age. Due to her very diminutive size, at just about 4' 10" tall, for years Laurie designed & created her own western show apparel & outfits. From chaps, shirts, vests & jackets-to some updating of her custom saddle suits, day jackets & vests she loved the arts, and especially enjoyed making unique show clothes.
Rylander wore many of her own "home-made" creations when she won several large All 'Round Awards on the National Appaloosa Circuit & at the National & World Championships, where she also earned Championship titles wearing her creations. Nancy Voeltz Cutbirth was the only person to have custom made outfits for Rylander, and unfortunately her new show wardrobe was used for less than a season, when a fire at Nancy's destroyed all the clothes in her studio. Rylander created extravagant, matching Parade Outfits and a banner, for a Team of 6 Riders & their horses for the Annual Provincetown, Cape Cod, Mass, 4th of July Rainbow Pride Parade. They were very received. One thing led to another the eldest Rylander child, now an adult married Mom, was also bitten by the horse show bug. Soon James & Laurie were coaching the local Youth Team, with 106 members. They all worked hard with that year's goal being to earn enough funds to provide the entire Team & not just those who did well competing, with stylish custom made Team jackets. By the time of the Banquet each Youth Team member received their own custom jacket! Today that same club, with a new name, but essentially with the same outlook of using competition to better one's horsemanship-more so than to simply collect another ribbon-continues on to this day. Now those now in charge are the very same kids we enjoyed watching grow & succeed on the Youth Team. When possible, the Rylanders would lend "extra" tack & even apparel to almost anyone who asked. Soon the Rylander & their huge "Ark" a very long, 4 horse, triple axle steel Trailette, with full living quarters, 2 separate tack rooms & a bunkroom, earned a rep for being something just short of a rolling tack shop-with plenty of "spare" show tack & apparel for loaning out for a class, the weekend or a day. The Appaloosa News, now called the Appaloosa Journal did a piece about the Rylander's called "Professional Amateurs" in 1986 when the NonPro program was then known as the A/O or Amateur program. In 1987 Rylander was ordered to bed for the duration of carrying her son, Bryan. Not long after getting back to showing, after the birth of Bryan, she and Breezin' Bull gave it their all- with National Wins in Versatility, Buckboard Driving & other events. Unfortunately, Laurie found herself literally in a body cast after fracturing her back, pelvis and developing a psoas hematoma, when a horse overreached with its hind foot, causing the big mare to literally somersault over with Rylander still in the saddle. On the bright side, was the shock of having unexpected free time, during which she'd been given specific doctors orders to stay out of the barn-at least until she could walk on her own again. Thanks in great part to the encouragement of her family, Rylander devoted much time to mastering her craft, as a multi-medium artisan, willing to use a variety of objects as her canvas & just as many mediums to create the image. That year off provided Rylander with the time & opportunity to join one of the nation's oldest and most respected Artisans Guild, the Cape Cod Artisans Guild. This provided an audience of paying clients to display her work-primarily the essence of the horse & that of Cape Cod's natural beauty at indoor and outdoor Art Shows. Rylander's art was hung in a beautiful Cape Cod Gallery which overlooks Cape Cod Bay. There, her Multi-Medium Art was assessed and Juried by other Juried Guild Artisans to be judged for acceptance into the Guild based on the quality, uniqueness and originality of the work. Rylander became an Award Winning Equine Artisan, with her work appearing on the covers & within the pages of breed journal and magazine-long before the computer age and use of Photoshop became common. Rylander used her artistic talent to design show premium covers, signs, wrote & published the CCRR Rule Book, and even did the art work & hand-screening of limited edition, hand cut & screened horses on clothing, pillows, Porcelain and China. Portraiture was done on a varied roster of canvases, with a variety of mediums used. Equine portraiture & sculptures can still be ordered by commission. Although formally trained to be a large animal veterinarian, specializing in Equine Repro, being a Mom, working on her own farm & developing her own home grown her horses for competition was her life. She, her husband & the family also competed and that took priority over working full time as a large animal veterinarian in what was then more of a man's world. The Rylander's son, Bryan has worked on the farm since he was a youngster, enjoys horses & through osmosis probably knows as much, if not more than many who take lessons but was not interested in showing. He is the proud owner of the AQHA reiner, The World In My Corner. During the summer of 1989, Laurie, owner of Sweetwater Farms, with a degree in Veterinary Medicine, focused more on her family and her own farm, where she handled the stallions with an 87% conception rate. Although formally trained in Large Animal Veterinary Medicine, in the early 1980s mares were required to be bred at the farm the stallion was standing at. Although there were not many Cape Cod breeders who bred to Breezin' Bull, those who saw him as he and Rylander earned World & National Championships in 16 different events, did make the trip, resulting in 6 Medallion winners out of only 29 registered foals. In 2008 Jamie & Laurie Rylander became the delighted owners of The Secret Pardon, an HYPP N/N Appaloosa weanling stallion, full of charisma and color who they, and the late great Doug Schembri, felt was destined for greatness! The Secret Pardon became a World & National Champion and sire of World, National and Futurity Champions! Our Show Boutique was providing an in-stock inventory suitable to meet the many needs of those who compete with living horses-and included a section for the ever growing groups of Model Horse Enthusiasts, Collectors & Competitors. Currently our Model Inventory includes LSQ (Live Show Quality) & PSQ (Photo Show Quality) with some stunning CM'd (customized) Model Horses & Artists Equine Resins-some Painted & others Unpainted & waiting to be brought to life via the talent of Model Artisans. Most of our Model Horses and the tack, dolls and props used with them are traditional scaled, also referred to as 1:9 scale and were created by what Rylander calls the best of the best. The details that go into creating the Tack, Riders & Props results in items that resemble the tack we use on our living horses in an almost uncanny way. The work that goes into creating these miniature works of art requires an artistic talent not all have, or can learn. Available for sale are levels of quality ranging from Novice & PSQ to top LSQ models, resins, tack and dolls, created by some of the industry's renowned designers & artisans. As an Appaloosa breeder for 40 years, I believe success in painting life-like resins in a manner which seems to bring them, & their essence to life is all in the details! Not enough detailing & the model seems asleep, or half done. Yet, to many details especially those that genetically cannot occur as real colors are especially disappointing to see on a beautifully done resin. With Appaloosas some of the characteristics are not proportionate to the size of the model, which makes the overall image seem almost done by a cartoonist. We are ready to help horse owners & model competitors create the image they've chosen to be judged on, and can provide a number of details & finishing touches.
