Better Know a Region: Region 2

NAMHSA splits North America into several different regions. Each region has their own rep, many have their own championship shows, and all have their own unique way of doing things.

A giant thank you goes out to today's guest blogger, Mary Thomson! Mary has written the first of what I hope is an ongoing series "Better Know a Region":

REGION 2 (CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, HAWAII, MEXICO)

Note: Hawaii and Mexico are at the children’s table of Region 2. When one speaks of Region 2, one is speaking of California/Nevada. Though one can dream, about that Hawaii part…

Region 2 is one of the largest and most active showing-bases in the USA. With our famous good weather, and barring the occasional earthquake or fire, it is rare that a month goes by without at least one model show or event occurring - while December shows are rare, we are once more into the breach right away as early as January each year, and definitely by March. In the past we have even had a show every weekend, during the summer months.

Region 2 hosts shows of all sizes and calibers, from past NANs and West Coast Model Horse Jamboree, to the current BreyerWest and Peter Stone Jubilee and Eureka Live shows, popular repeaters such as Las Vegas Live, Fall Fiesta, specialty shows such as Fantastic Plastic Classic, Mini Mayhem and customizing/workmanship/breed specialty shows of all sizes (NAN-qualifiers and not), and the highly successful “K.I.S.S.” annual performance show series (a high-point earning, multi-show traveling competition). There is literally something for everyone in Region 2, and if there isn’t, we create one. Region 2 hosts a Championship show each year (except 2009) in a central location in the state so that everyone has a chance to attend. Shows even outside Region 2 may qualify, all they have to do is ask permission. The R2 Champ Show rivals NAN in both scope and caliber, with several thousand models qualifying each year.

The one word that best describes Region 2 is “polarized.” Northern and Southern California have definitely different showing foci and styles. But generally collectibility is the name of the game in OF (particularly SoCal), and we have a lot of high-caliber tack makers, customizers and performance showers throughout the entire state.


The one word that second-best describes Region 2 is “volatile.” Pretty much no one in Region 2 is quiet. We all have opinions and are more than happy to share them loudly with anyone who will listen. Occasionally we bicker strongly amongst ourselves even on our own boards, which has earned us an outside reputation of being the “mean girls” (some of us even had shirts made), but we do it because a) we like it and b) we are all very passionate about the hobby in R2. Yet the instant our somewhat-combative-at-times style is attacked from the outside (and it has been), we definitely circle the wagons and will shove back!

That being said, we LOVE new showers and will help anyone who needs it. We do not have many novice divisions in our shows; we pretty much encourage newbies to just ‘dive in’ and go for it. No shrinking violets in Region 2, rest assured!

Region 2 encourages youth showing and good sportsmanship - Some Northern Cali showers are 4-H leaders and utilize collecting and live shows as part of their area's "4-H Horseless Horse Project." The 4-H'ers not only assist in planning and running live shows, but also participate and show in the R2 year-end Championships.


It says a lot for Region 2 that our favorite Arizona and Texas friends come out to judge and show here whenever they can. A Region 2 show guarantees good fun, general mayhem and hilarity, juicy gossip (!), chocolate and Chris Jones crying when she wins! Come check us out! We accept you, we accept you, gooble gabble gooble gabble!

Once again, thank you Mary! If anyone would like to guest blog about their own corner of the hobby (or country--I would love to include information about showing outside of North America) please drop me a line at laskillern *at* comcast *dot* net.